poppedmusic

Mini Mansions

23rd May 2019, District, Liverpool

Words & Photography: Gary Lambert

A Bank Holiday Monday is normally a time for sitting in a beer garden with friends whilst getting sunburnt and drunk.  For Popped Music though, it’s obviously the time for a gig after a weekend of festivals. Who needs a break when there are three bands in District to entertain you?  It was obvious that we weren’t the only people feeling the need for music by the fact that the former warehouse was packed out.

For the last three or four weeks, Mini Mansions have been on tour with Sons of Raphael, and for the Liverpool leg they were joined by one of Liverpool’s finest rock-art bands, SPQR.

Traditionally a three-piece, their live sound is bolstered by a third guitarist creating a sonic wall that Hadrian would be proud of. Such is their reputation there were plenty of people in early to watch them and nobody would have felt short-changed if they had been the headliner.

Sons of Raphael are an experimental pair of brothers from London who mix electronic-pop sound with the scuzz that makes the world seem good.  Now the duo are not going to be to everybody’s taste as it is a very quirky combination of sounds. But there were many in the audience for them, and given the easy option of the beer garden at District to avoid bands not to your taste, that’s got to be a good sign. Whilst they were not my favourite act of the three on show, I am definitely going to listen to them again to see what they sound like on record as the brothers have something about them if it can be channelled in the right direction.

I had never listened to Mini Mansions before, and at the end of this set I vowed that by the end of this week I will have listened to every track available in their back catalogue. Famed for being made up of members from other bands, it is unfair on them to even mention those other acts. It might get people interested, but their music is what keeps them. Mini Mansions could easily become one of the biggest acts in the world if they so wanted as the unit has everything. Firstly, all of the band members have unbelievable levels of stage presence. I don’t know how tall they are, but everybody seemed about seven foot tall and impossible to take your eyes off them. Secondly, their music is an immaculate combination of pop tunes and rock music. Basically, it is balanced pop music for grown ups.  Thirdly, every tune sounds as naturally ingrained in the aural consciousness as Love Me Do, Satisfaction, or Umbrella.

With crowd members standing on benches, chairs and tables to get a better look of the four men on stage, and the band celebrating the end of their tour, the excitement by the time the band reached the end of their encore was ridiculous.  For a fairly mature audience on a Sunday night, this was unexpected to say the least. In fact it felt disappointing when the band actually finished.

Mini Mansions, they will become your favourite band and the biggest band in the world if you let them.