LIVE: ALL THEM WITCHES – 29/02/2016

 – GULLIVER’S, MANCHESTER – Heady psychedelia & Southern sweet-sour blues? I can’t think of a better match. Apart from gin & tonic, I mean. We are getting far from 9.30pm at a cramped Gulliver’s Victorian ballroom, when a silent guy with a plain ‘Maine’ cup enters the stage and starts checking the keys. He disappears […]
 – MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL – “You must be crazy coming to see the Fun Lovin’ Criminals in a church on a Friday night, but that’s what I like about you,” the charismatic Huey Morgan says to the massed ranks of his congregation. Crazy or not, there is no hotter ticket in town tonight – the touts […]

LIVE: FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS – 26/02/2016

LIVE: BLOSSOMS – 27/02/2016

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – ‘Hello Manchester, we’re Blossoms from Stockport.’ A swelling of lights, then smoke fills the bosom of The Albert Hall. From the balcony, straps that hold the bulge of the room, I scream back ‘SK2’.  This is postcode code.  We can locate Blossoms more precisely than Stockport.  These blossoms sprouted […]
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – It’s only a short trip from from Sheffield to Manchester, but a gig anywhere here always feels like a home-from-home for Hawley. It was a quick return to the city for Hawley who played his “beloved Manchester” back in November. It was a set that borrowed heavily from his last […]

LIVE: RICHARD HAWLEY – 24/02/2016

LIVE: SAVAGES – 22/02/2016

– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – The chances of being bored at a Savages gig are small, but when we arrive at the Albert Hall and situate ourselves in the upper echelons we’d be forgiven for thinking we’re at a Daniel O’Donnell concert. Shining out through the gloom are lots of little lights with people staring […]
 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Bone rattling bass lines and spine tingling guitar riffs echo throughout the heart of The Ritz and threaten to burst the eardrums of anyone within a five-mile radius. In an explosion of rock and roll chaos, the whole night proves to be one giant tailspin towards a mind blowing finale. […]

LIVE: CAGE THE ELEPHANT – 20/02/2016

LIVE: SPRING KING – 19/02/2016

 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Warming up the crowd tonight are two four pieces called Beach Baby and FEWS. For me, both sets are very similar but nevertheless great openers for those kings of spring. A driving rhythm section paired with swirling yet aggressive guitar playing from Beach Baby is enthralling to say the […]
 – GORILLA, MANCHESTER – An array of blinding technicolour lights fill the shadows of the grimy tunnel that is Gorilla. A Friday night in Manchester consisting of sweat, beer and live music – there’s not much more you could ask for. The back drop of the stage donning Mystery Jets’ latest album cover, Curve Of […]

LIVE: MYSTERY JETS – 19/02/2016

LIVE: WHITE DENIM – 15/02/2016

 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – White Denim’s vocalist/guitarist James Petralli and bassist Steve Terebecki have recently posited “loud, fast-playing, rock and  roll” as their motivation to get back on the road and into the studio, having recently shed their original rhythm section.  I’ve wanted to see them live since catching their appearance on “Later” […]
 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – “Keep the music going for a second?” asks Julia Cumming of the sound man, as the rest of the Brooklyn hailing trio, seemingly consisting of a young Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan circa 1967, race to the stage of Manchester’s Soup Kitchen to perform an impromptu half-cover of Parquet Courts’ […]

LIVE: SUNFLOWER BEAN – 16/02/2016