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My mum’s here tonight. Though this isn't a slight on the street credibility of LEVELZ , just another prime example of grime music’s continued infiltration of mainstream music in recent years. She’s even heard of grime legend Stormzy.

What's more, the Manchester International Festival (MIF) brochure describes the young grime collective as ‘Wu Tang Clan meets The Happy Mondays’, and mum tells me she was bopping along on the club scene when both groups were dominating pop culture. 

She's coming to this grime rave at Gorilla... whether I like it or not. 

For my mother and many others new to the grime music scene, the gig was a baptism by fire. The first of eight music acts curated by renowned BBC tastemaker DJ Mary Anne Hobbs for her Dark Matter series, the fourteen-piece group of MCs, DJs and producers delivered a rowdy, sweary, bass-ridden three-hour performance. 

On tonight's stage, a volunteer from the audience is allowing one of the MCs to cut his hair.

On tonight's stage, a volunteer from the audience is allowing one of the MCs to cut his hair. They’ve awarded him a can of Red Stripe for his bravery. The crowd chant “short back and sides!” MC Chunky warns that it may not be up to 'Barber regulation standards’. The willing subject goes from looking like an Oasis lookalike to having a trendy bowl cut. My mum doesn’t like it. 

Comedy moments like this break up the high-octane medley of hip-hop, grime and bashment music on a night where the tempo rarely falls below 140 beats per minute. 

All fourteen members dominate the stage. They bounce - sometimes literally - off of each other with abandon. Though their lyrics are barely comprehensible over the bass (shame really, they're known as talented lyricists), you're compelled to bounce with them. Or as one girl did, stage dive into the crowd for the hell of it.

I'll never be able to un-see my mum moshing amongst university hipsters with multiple nose rings.

This isn’t a slick, overly-polished production. Props are minimal - a door, a barbershop recliner and a few chairs (all used for an impromptu attempt at 'Blind Date' with Mary Anne Hobbs and a few very out-of-it members of the crowd). They perform in what looks like casts-offs from Sports Direct. One of the DJs is wearing pyjama pants (Mum says "he needs a rest, bless him").

Of course (if only by name alone), grime raves aren’t supposed to be slick productions, instead, they provide an opportunity for raw, aggressive, sweaty, angry expression. I'll never be able to un-see my mum moshing amongst university hipsters with multiple nose rings.

This night always promised some Manchester trademark mayhem. Born from inner city Manchester - amongst the late night chicken shops on Wilmslow Road and the shouty mouths of disenfranchised youths - it's a sound which feels at home after midnight, typically during one of their notorious 'Hit and Run' parties - parties that have been part of the Manchester fray for almost a decade. 

Though you'd be somewhat forgiven for thinking grime only happened just the other day on the Glastonbury stage, by way of a young man named Stormzy with a fondness for Jeremy Corbyn. But as grime continues to stride out as a genre of its own, with pioneers such as Skepta, Boy Better Know, Stormzy and the like no longer undermined by American hip-hop, LEVELZ continue to break free from the London-centric scene, delivering a sound with a distinct Manchester accent and swagger.

"I love seeing young people go out create something for themselves," says mum, breathless from the jumping. "Rock-n-roll was rebellious in its day too. Every generation has their defining sound - grime could be yours."

Dark Matter, Gorilla, 29 June - 15 July

Find out more about this year's Manchester International Festival performances on the website, or follow Confidential for MIF news and reviews.