The Man From Delmonte
Stretford Fountain Records, Manchester
15th November 2025

To celebrate the launch of their album Better Things, The Man From Delmonte headed down to Stretford to celebrate with the folks at Fountain Records and their brand new store on the town’s new shopping street. With people packed in and outside the shop, The Man From Delmonte delighted with tracks new and old, interspersed with wit and humour, before signing anything put in front of them.

Way back in the summer of 1990, I attended a The Man From Delmonte instore in the HMV shop that used to sit under where the Arndale Food Court now straddles Market Street. A look around Fountain Records suggests that I might not have been the only one in attendance at a frenzied, chaotic gig that was very much in the style of a band who flew under the radar of the Madchester craze, but no less loved than some of their better-known contemporaries in the hearts and minds of the youth of Manchester. Fast forward thirty-five years and The Man From Delmonte have an album out, a microdot on the ubiquitous nature of the other reunion this year, but every bit as important to those who’ve made the journey on the tram or bus to witness another joyous, if yet a little more sedate, instore performance.

The location warrants a mention. Reel Around The Fountain Records has been hidden away on the upper tier of Stretford Mall for years, a veritable treasure chest of rare records from Manchester and beyond. We don’t get to speak to owner Nigel on this visit because of the sheer volume of people buying records in the newly-opened shop, but the shelves look stacked and worth a visit for anyone in the area or further afield, a proper old-fashioned second-hand record store rather than the sterile Discogs/eBay method of collecting vinyl. They’ve even added an exclusive 7″ single of Every Day and a live version of Drive Drive Drive to the vinyl on sale for the in-store – the band’s first song and their most recent sitting in tandem.

There’s no compromise on sound, even on an early Saturday afternoon. Drummer Howard Goody has a full kit, and guitarist Martin Vincent and bassist Sheila Seal are amped up. The eleven song set features six songs from Better Things, some new, some studio versions of tracks played live back in the later years of the band but never committed to record, and five old favourites.

The brilliance of The Man From Delmonte is that if you didn’t know which were which, you wouldn’t be able to guess. Whilst band and crowd are longer in the tooth than their late 80s/early 90s incarnation, the songs still have that magical otherworldly appeal to them, insanely catchy with hooks that you’ll sing along (and the crowd do, when asked) and lyrics that tell stories of life, love and the confusion of both of them. Frontman Mike West jokes that Better Things is part of a new niche of songs for divorced dads, a sign that while life moves on, the things that prey on the mind are still pretty much the same.

It may be thirty-five years or so since The Man From Delmonte split. But once they start playing, it feels like yesterday that we were throwing ourselves around the dancefloor, and Mike around the stage, to the likes of Drive Drive Drive, Australia Fair, and Mathematically Speaking. When Sheila teases Mike that his signature moves haven’t changed one bit, the crowd laugh along because they know exactly what she means and yet no one would change them one bit.

The eleven songs fly by, interspersed with stories about them and their creation. Mike speaks of his fondness for Gorton and Longsight, as featured in the song Ugly Part Of Town, and the way in which they’ve escaped the gentrification of most of the rest of the city. In many ways, it’s a metaphor for the band too. They might not be the coolest or the most successful band to come from the city, or even hail from here, but to those who know and love them, they represent the spirit of the city that hasn’t been sacrificed in the pursuit of money and even more money.

That The Man From Delmonte have even come back together is a minor miracle, driven by a few dedicated fans on the internet and a sense of right place, right time, yet it’s evident that it’s done with a sense of genuine passion and friendship rekindled. Better Things, and the earlier compilation of out of print Good Things In Life / Big Noise releases, feel like a sense of unfinished business being brought full circle. Their O2 Ritz show on December 21st promises to be a gig highlight of the year, a room full of love, joy and celebration of a reunion done for the love of it. The Man From Delmonte says YES, we say YES too.

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Lead and signing photos – Orla Evans, crowd shot – Danny Ibison

Better Things is out now and can be ordered from their website. The Man From Delmonte play O2 Ritz in Manchester on December 21st.

All words by David Brown, you can find his author profile here.