STARSTRUCK! at Eagle Inn: The sonic revolution wears denim and sunglasses

Words by Jake Pearson

On approach to The Eagle Inn, one would be forgiven for believing Google Maps had led them astray. Winding Salford back alleys present a gallery of nondescript retail units and peeling "No Trespassing" warnings, all shrouded in the dim light of the dystopian Colliers Yard development that seems to replace the sky above – no place for the artistic minds of the future. Turning the last corner, a beautiful Victorian red-brick pub comes into view –salvation in a sea of grey.

With a continual existence of over one hundred years, it is difficult to comprehend the change this building has witnessed: from wartime destruction to modern upwards construction, The Eagle Inn has held fast as a beacon of the local community.

Inside, punters are greeted with décor that sits halfway between traditional boozer and your grandparents' living room, endless doors off the central bar leading to rooms pocked with hanging lamps, picture frames and ornate mirrors above fireplaces. The venue space requires a further journey up narrow corridors towards the inside of what was, until the early 2010s, the last remaining terraced house in the area, causing a combination of the feel of modern DIY house shows and local pub performances.

STARSTRUCK! is a night put on by his promotion company Instant Karma!, who have facilitated various small venue gigs across Greater Manchester since December 2024. Usually a five-piece, Goya’s Lunch step onto the cosy stage as a four, deploying guitar riffs reminiscent of South London in 2019 without so much as a "hello". Despite performing with one fewer member than usual, the band play with evident chemistry, engineered by twins Tom and Martha Kelly on guitar and vocals, who act as band leaders to coordinate a blend of spiky, complex guitar tones with vocals that can shift from a spitting barrage to Blondie-esque coolness in seconds.

While the band lack the haunting darkness of their artistic namesake, they undoubtedly share the desire for experimentalism, twisting genres and employing unorthodox instruments such as Indian bells and maracas to create an artistic feast for the audience who filter in steadily throughout their set.

Credit: Jake Pearson @ The Mancunion

After a thirty-minute break, Tom’s Earring take the stage to rapturous applause. The University of Manchester cohort have enjoyed a steady nine months since their first performance at Fuel, honing an eclectic folk-rock sound that brims with palpable creative energy. Their opener 'Pinball', recently released as a demo on Instagram, is anchored by Sami Atuallah’s sliding guitar as singer Macy Bate displays her lyrical prowess and penchant for earworms, leaving the audience with “when will I want this?" bouncing around in their heads for days to come. 'Cruel God' is a set highlight, creeping in midway with piano lines that recall Joni Mitchell’s 'Morning Morgantown' alongside Riyah Naik’s soft drum strokes, as if summoning the return of spring.

As Bate introduces her bandmates, various sections of the eighty-strong crowd roar in support of their friends. Tom’s Earring bring a beautiful community feel to their performances: these are five people who love music and simply want to share that passion with their friends, regardless of who else happens to be there.

Buoyed by the support, the group pick up the pace; bassist Tom Quertier, fittingly clad in a Stax Records tee, adds an undercurrent of funk flair as Atuallah and fellow guitarist Kieran Ward turn to each other with confident smiles, direct competitors in their own Robbie Robertson emulation contest. With the sixties-driven 'You Are', one of the first songs they wrote together, Manchester’s best ear-based band crescendo into rapturous applause, bounding off stage into the arms of their friends, confidants and a sizable collection of new fans.

An anticipatory thirty minutes pass before the final band of the evening emerges on stage. The Speed of Honey and Her Oscillations are a growing band, literally and figuratively. Beginning as a three-piece with their debut performance in Lincoln last July, they have, with increasingly regular performances, grown into a five-piece. And, for the first time tonight, they were a six-piece – with the addition of Joe Doughty, who many may recognise as a staple of Deaf Institute's Thursday nights as Whip Round DJ, on keys just 48 hours prior to tonight’s events.

This recent addition does not, however, disrupt the evident chemistry these lads have; the self- proclaimed ‘benefactors of the polka dot overground’ sit somewhere between performance art and music. With Elliott Whitworth’s Rickenbacker as a cherry red beacon, fellow guitarist Arlo Cooper and six-string bassist Zaim Choudhury bring a sonic revolution to the Walls of Spector and Floyd with stratified repetition – as ears are ringing, a fellow audience member shows that the band have reached 107dB.

Vocalist Adam Stewart’s northern nasality swims above the drone, providing flourishes of the Madchester scene, albeit with more abstract lyricism, while Ben Curtis’ drumming follows Happy Mondays’ line in blending sounds of dance with more straightforward rock percussion. Drawing on an amalgamation of late twentieth-century sounds, particularly the pervasive, almost too-obvious-to-mention The Brian Jonestown Massacre style, it would be hard to describe these lads as modern, but, with their unique artistic vision, they are undoubtedly fresh. As the band themselves state: “if you can’t dig this, you ain’t got no shovel”.

STARSTRUCK! at the Eagle Inn offered a taste of everything great about the Greater Manchester music scene: a beautiful DIY venue bursting at its seams with potential as an interconnected audience watches guitar-driven performances that span genres and decades in equal measure.