The Juan MacLean at The Deaf Institute, Manchester

After the glowing review I gave their second album last month it goes without saying that I was excited about seeing DFA’s The Juan MacLean live. The band were performing at the weekly Now Wave night in Manchester’s The Deaf Institute, so I had the added anticipation of visiting an exciting venue for the first time.

Walking up a flight of stairs that wouldn’t be out of place in a boarding school, I didn’t quite know what to expect as I entered what is called the Music Hall. I was pleasantly surprised when I entered a small room that looks like a funky attic in a country house. The bar is lined with speakers, the stage is more or less the width of the room, and there’s even a lovely area of tiered seating if you can’t quite hack the whole standing and waiting lark.

The first band on stage was local band MAY68, whose energetic electro-pop was the perfect start to the evening. They were followed on stage by Everything Everything, whose ever-so-serious and disaffected songs was a bit deflating. I was also a little disappointed to learn that their name doesn’t have anything to do with Underworld. All that said, the band’s vocal harmonies were unexpected and impressive, meshing together chords that you don’t normally hear in this branch of indie-rock (apologies for the genre labels by the way).

By 11, when the gig was supposed to be over, The Juan MacLean had only started to set up on stage, and this was a lengthy process. What made this more enjoyable was seeing Nancy Whang sing along to the Chromatics’ cover of Running Up That Hill as it played over the house speakers. Eventually main man John said “I just want to play,” and things got underway.

Kicking off with album opener The Simple Life, it was clear from the band’s manner that they were there to do a job: play some kick-ass music. There was no crowd interaction, the band just got on with their business. After song number one Nancy Whang asked for an increase of volume, and John quickly asked “can you make everything louder? That was a joke.”

Their set was short but powerful. New single One Day was played, as was Give Me Every Little Thing, from 2003’s Less Than Human. The killer climax came with a 20 minute acid freakout gleaned from the bones of Happy House. On paper six tracks doesn’t seem like much of a performance, but their extended rendition of last year’s piano-led anthem was something to behold. A thousand stars washed over Nancy’s face as she sang “Launch me into space,” and the irresistible throb of the acid workout was just the icing on an excellent, if all too brief performance.

After the band finished an indie-disco kicked off with tracks from the likes of Animal Collective, Aeroplane and La Roux, so if you ever find yourself in Manchester on a Wednesday night and you’re not going to Old Trafford, definitely make a beeline for this excellent venue. With excellent new and established bands playing a lush and intimate setting, and even some great drinks specials to boot, it’s not a place to ignore.