LIVE: BLUEDOT FESTIVAL 2018 – FRIDAY

-JODRELL BANK OBSERVATORY, CHESHIRE- [The first of three parts of our Bluedot Festival 2018 review, one for each day. Come back over the next 48hrs for our coverage of Saturday and Sunday’s festivities.] “All things are artificial,” goes the famous saying of Thomas Browne, one of our country’s most acrobatic thinkers, “for nature is the […]
-ACADEMY, MANCHESTER- “‘The Holy Mothership’ is a means of transportation that can take you through not only space, but time, and we’re still travelling,” speaks all-star sonic architect and Parliament-Funkadelic founder George Clinton on his alter-ego Dr. Funkenstein’s musical voyager that was used as a primary means of mass-deliverance to a world that was unable […]

LIVE: GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC – 07/07/2018

LIVE: STONEFIELD – 12/07/2018

-NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER- Australia is no stranger to producing incredible musical talent as of late. The act of Findlay sisters, Amy, Hannah, Holly and Sarah is no exception. The band is also one of the latest products of the incomparable Melbourne-based label Flightless (home of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard). On their […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- There may have been several different Breeders line ups over the years, but for many, the foursome that takes to the stage at a sold out Ritz is the definitive one – the four who recorded the iconic album Last Splash in 1993 and more recently the new album All Nerve. Kicking […]

LIVE: THE BREEDERS – 13/07/2018

LIVE: L.A. WITCH / AFGHAN SAND GANG – 27/06/2018

-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Tonight’s opening act are Afghan Sand Gang, a three piece from Mossley. The band comprises Paddy Neville on guitars and vocals, Matthew Burgess on synth and vocals, and Will Owen on bass. The tunes instantly bounding from the stage are a menagerie of psychedelic guitars; full of shimmering reverb, pulsing synths and […]
-BALTIC TRIANGLE, LIVERPOOL- This year’s Positive Vibration festival, located in the heart of one of Liverpool’s most vibrant music and arts areas, shows once again just how positively diverse and culturally adaptable the land of Scousers truly is. Featuring DJs and groups specialising in all things reggae – including adventures into dub, 2tone and ska […]

LIVE: POSITIVE VIBRATION FESTIVAL – 08-09/06/2018

LIVE: OMNI – 13/06/2017

-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- It’s unusual for the lingering impression you are left with from a gig by a three-piece in a small music hall to be regarding the light and smoke settings. Entering the Deaf Institute tonight you are hit initially by the smell and then the choking intensity of synthetic smoke which makes it […]
-HEATON PARK, MANCHESTER- Parklife is a festival which has grown year upon year, I’ve witnessed this first hand as I remember the days when it was held in Platt Fields with only a few thousand people and an up and coming band Everything Everything! Fast forward to 2018, and I’m here at Heaton Park, a […]

LIVE: PARKLIFE 2018

LIVE: BORN RUFFIANS – 08/06/2018

-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Canadian band Born Ruffians have been releasing music since the early noughties and have toured the world, supporting the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip and Caribou along the way. Now, having just released their fifth studio album Uncle, Duke and The Chief, they are nearing the end of their own headline […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Courtney Barnett chooses a brave route for the first half of the show, playing the whole new album, Tell Me How You Really Feel, in full. No smattering of previous hits to keep the crowd appeased. But it pays off. The new album is brilliant and well received. There is a greater […]

LIVE: COURTNEY BARNETT – 04/06/2018