On Saturday night Sydney Minsky Sargeant played the basement room at Yes in Manchester, part of a week celebrating indie venues. Tickets cost a ridiculously cheap £6. Syd's album Lunga was one of last year's highlights, a twelve song set of largely acoustic, downtempo songs, a bit folk but underpinned by electronics and FX. It was easy to listen to it and hear echoes of Syd Barrett, Nick Drake and John Martyn. On the basis of a fifty minute set at Yes in front of less than a hundred people those comparisons aren't going to go away.
Syd's an intense stage presence, often staring out from the stage into the darkness of the room in front of him, unblinking. The crowd are silent, listening intently to every moment. Between songs the FX pedals at his feet make noises, ambient/ FX sounds that link the songs, giving the set a glitchy feel that then vanishes as he starts playing the guitar, when his playing and voice fill the room. Even when he fluffs a line during Long Roads, one of 2025's best voice and guitar songs, it's endearing, bringing shouts of 'go on Syd' from the crowd. He plays much of Lunga- Long Roads, I Don't Wanna and New Day all stand out- and a couple of others I didn't recognise, and it's spellbinding. He's a proper talent and in this environment, a small room on a back street on a rainy night in Manchester, a world away from supporting LCD Soundsystem on big stages with his main band Working Men's Club, he's clearly got a lot to give with just an acoustic guitar, a loop pedal and his voice.
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