King of the Slums are probably the most ‘under the radar’ and

     important band to come from Manchester. They started up around 1985 in

     the Hulme, area of Manchester but never considered themselves a

     'Manchester' band - just a band with an arty background, a little

     self-indulgent and gritty, story-type songs. A distorted electric

     violin was used throughout early recordings, along with guitar, bass

     and drums and they continued developing this sound throughout their

     initial singles and classic first album Barbarous English Fayre which

     received widespread acclaim. Following a switch to Midnight Music

     their second album ‘Dandelions’ also received favourable reviews in

     the music press. In 1991, following their 3rd studio album‘ Blowzy

     Weirdos’, they fell out with record companies, management and each

     other and disbanded – despite being considered as a vital live act and

     on the brink of a US tour.

     Following a lengthy hiatus in 2009 the band embarked on a new album,

     but again due to personal differences everyone fell out again and only

     a handful of new songs developed. The resulting album, “The Orphaned

     Files” combined these with a mixture of rarities and live tracks and

     was sold out many times. The band however did not pursue things

     further.

     Enduring adoration from critics and fans worldwide combined with a

     number of enquiries culminated in the band getting back together once

     more in 2016. A full brand new album ‘Manco Diablo’ was released on

     June 8th 2017. The date occurred on the same day as a UK general

     election with the band stating that they wished to ‘bury bad

     politics’. The new offering was lauded by critics and received

     widespread airplay. The clamour to hear more and see the band perform

     live again increased.

     One year to the day the follow up album ‘Artgod Dogs’ was released. A

     stunning collection of tracks featuring the familiar ferocious violin

     sound combined with observational kitchen-sink narrative vignettes

     which has led many to proclaim it as one of their finest works to

     date. Standout tracks include ‘Goya, Pinter, Honey, Bed’, ‘Cut-Throat

     Living’ and ‘The Broken English’ a biting social indictment of the

     authorities reaction following the Grenfell Tower fire disaster

     The album was accompanied by their first live performance since 1991.

     A low-key event aimed as a thank you to longstanding fans of the band

     King of the Slums are elusive and kind of like it that way. Interviews

     are rarely given with public performances even rarer. Songwriter and

     singer Charlie Keigher states “I have always found talking about the

     music, an irrelevant after event, which has nothing to do with the

     music. Everyone in the band does it for the music. The music is too

     important to us to undermine it with post rationalism. It is our art.

     We cannot change that art with more words. We paint our musical

     pictures, anything else after that is not really a relevant issue. We

     are all too busy to indulge in after the event conversations.”

     This scheduled performance will encompass tracks covering all of their

     wide back catalogue. Grab it with both hands – it’s a rare chance to

     see them before they flee back into the Mancunian shadows once more