Nubiyan Twist

Mark Lear

Oct 7

3 min read

Locker, New Century Hall, Manchester - There's a little déjà vu about me tonight as I head towards New Century Hall in Manchester, as I was here only a mere seven days ago to see Mica Miller - and a fine job she did too.

It’s not the exact same déjà vu mind, as tonight is the opening weekend of ‘Locker’ based at the opposite end of NCH’s ‘upstairs’ entrance and on street level too, so no stairs to navigate. A brand new, sparkly 400 capacity venue with raw concrete and black curtains for aesthetics and all the electrics and air con on show, as is the fashion these days. I suspect big vibes to come from this place and even bigger beats from those that play here.

There’s a Support of sorts, that comes in the form of…

Living Room Dance Club - Ailsa McLaggan has the job of warming everybody up for a night of dance and improvised mosh-pit activity by playing a vinyl-heavy mix of sample-centric soul, jazz, rare groove, and afrobeat. The set included, I’m reliably informed, some deep cuts, gospel, jazz-funk, global beats, and leftfield disco.

It would appear that I was about to be educated as I knew not what half of that meant - or indeed, if I needed to - if the groove is there and it gets me moving, I care not which genre it fits into. I grew up in the 80’s when music really was an eclectic mix of ‘genres’ and seeing as everything she plays tonight will be on vinyl it’s the technology of my generation that is leading the way regardless of tonight’s age demographic.

It’s perhaps enough to say that Ailsa did a fine job – all two hours of it, which is a fair shift in anyone’s language - and the room was suitably warmed up and the vibe pulsating nicely. My education was complete and I am now familiar with all the aforementioned genres - but don’t test me on them !

Now for the Headliner…

Nubiyan Twist - I first got the bug for Nubiyan Twist two years ago when they were one of the Headliners at the Manchester Jazz Festival where they created an almighty party at Band on the Wall with their infectious blend of styles and a sound that just pulsed and excited the audience from the off.

The brainchild of Tom Excell, from back in 2011 at the Leeds College of Music, they’ve since released five albums and become a staple at most festivals over the summer months. Normally a nine-piece, but tonight we’re down to seven, with a few changes to the line-up since I last saw them - there are many members in the squad, but only so many make the team each night. It doesn’t change anything though as the musicianship is still as tight as ever, as the basslines and beats, delivered tonight by Luke Wynter and Junior are as punchy and as solid as ever.

Eniola Idowu takes over the vocals, Lewis Moody is in charge of keys, and there’s a two-man brass section made up of Jonathan Enser on horn and Nick Richards on sax. Guitar, percussion and orchestration is handled by the man himself, Tom Excell.

Much of the set came from the new album ‘Chasing Shadows’ released in March (2026), in fact the first seven songs did, opening with ‘Azimuth’ and ‘Red Herring’ which thumped their way around the new venue and shook it with a set of infectious grooves that had Manchester creating their own mosh pit and loving every minute of it.

A huge political message about AI replacing real musicians that had to learn their craft and how to play their instruments got a huge cheer from that adoring and enthused Manchester crowd, before that mosh pit kicked off again for ‘Message’.

As the band started to run down the clock for a gig that seemed to be over in an instant, it was the ‘oldies’ that really hit the mark, with ‘Breeze’ sending everyone wild with Ensor’s horn solo that went on and on and on, to ‘Body Flows’ which had enraptured singing to add to the dancing and finishing it all off with ‘Bassline’, which damn near ripped the roof off the place – as new as it might have been.

All in all, a pretty good way to christen a new venue, if you ask me.

Nubiyan Twist Setlist