The Facades: This Feeling Stage, Truck Festival

Wigan outfit The Facades played a blustery Saturday afternoon on the This Feeling Stage at Truck Festival recently and we were there to check them out.

The beguiling single ‘That Letter’ kicked things off. The bewitching basslines of The Coral and Dead 60s set the platform for frontwoman Alannah and lead guitarist Evan to shine. A trait that echoes resoundingly through the set.

This was no more evident than on unreleased tracks ‘Silence’, ‘These Days’, ‘Muse’, and ‘Tell Me’ where they reignited Stevie Knicks and Lindsay Buckingham’s spellbinding partnership. Alannah’s vocals ranged from haunting to mesmeric and were always beset with great melody. She has a power that could fill stadiums, but she has something far greater in her armory. The knowledge of when to pull back, to soften, almost whisper to allow the drama and romance of the occasion to percolate is way beyond her years and startling to watch.

Evan’s guitar playing mirrors this wisdom. On ‘Beautiful’, his lines sauntered across horizons with the lightest of touches. On ‘Beautiful’, he races alongside the vocal feverishly pushing for the release that comes only in the final moments.

Their intuitive relationship on stage was a joy to behold. It brought back a strand of rock classicism that had seemingly been resigned to BBC4 documentaries and Mojo magazine features. Through the howling winds and driving rain, The Facades reimagined those halcyon songwriting days of the late 60s and 70s for 2023! 

The Facades: The Social, London

Wigan four-piece The Facades opened up for This Feeling’s Test Transmission night at The Social last week.

They roar out of the traps with their beguiling The Coral via The Cramps single ‘That Letter’. Satanic basslines and gypsy punk riffs allow frontwoman Alaanah to slide her vocals in and out of view deftly. There is a wryness to her delivery that enables her persona to grow an enigma throughout the song which, is elevated by Evan’s carefree solo.

This dynamic continues on ‘In These Woods’ and ‘These Days’. The former has the warped universe of The Coral’s ‘Skeleton Key’ and the ska-punk immediacy of Dead 60s’ ‘Ghostface Killah’. Whereas, ‘These Days’ combines Babyshambles licks with Stevie Knicks.

There are other points in the set where the guitars and the vocals are not quite in sync. However, they’re so tantalisingly close, no rock ‘n’ roll romantic cannot fall for this band’s charms.

*Image courtesy of RocklandsTV