Through The Lens: JAAW / [slab] @ The White Hotel, Salford, 20th September 2023

One of these days I’ll finally catch up on the backlog of photos I need to sort through after a recent flourish of gigs. For this Through The Lens feature though, we go back to the 20th September when I took a short trip to the unique, yet awesome venue that is The White Hotel in my home town of Salford, when The Beauty Witch played host to JAAW.

I guess you could call them a ‘supergroup’ of sorts compromising of Andy Cairns of Therapy?, a band, I will be honest, I could take or leave back in the day, but when joined by Jason Stöll (bass), Wayne Adams (guitar/vocals), Adam Betts (drums) and now Aron Ward on electronics and vocals, who collectively have played in far too many bands to mention, its a very different kind of beast.

The result is an abrasive take on noise-rock, post-punk and psych so when the tour was announced and they were playing down the road from Shaman HQ, it was a no-brainer to get my arse there. I was also meeting our very own Reza Mills, who drove down from Lancaster for a gig he refused to miss as he reviewed and shouted positively about JAAW’s debut album Supercluster which is out now through Svart Records.

Opening for the night was [slab], a band I still know little about, except the Manchester based three-piece played a solid set of post and noise-rock to get the night warmed up. Then it was time for JAAW, who, as a live entity, were still finding their feet with it only being their second-ever gig, but ripped through an engrossing set to a small, but appreciative crowd and an experience that was an absolute pleasure to bear witness to, which we all hope is the start of a long and creative journey.

Now check out the photos I managed to salvage from a dark, moody and very red venue below…

JAAW

Slab

Photos by: Lee Edwards