LIVE: KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD – 15/02/2016

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – The Melbourne-based band share this moment with us at Gorilla, starting off the night with a rapturous applause from the crowd. From the get-go, it’s a complete sensory overload and as all seven members of the band pick up their instruments, within seconds we are treated to ‘Robot Stop’, a new track that weaves […]
– MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER – Walking casually out onto stage to a packed crowed at Manchester Arena to screams that are enough to make you lose your voice, must have been a pre-Valentine’s treat for Foals. The Oxford band have made their mark as one of Britain’s most artful and expressive musicians. With four albums […]

LIVE: FOALS – 13/02/2016

LIVE: THE TUTS / BABY BRAVE / GURGLES – 11/02/2016

– THE EAGLE INN, SALFORD – A Carefully Planned Festival is best known for taking over the Northern Quarter every October to shine a light on some of the country’s unknown acts, commonly known only to those in-the-know *hush hush* *sniff *sniff*. Tonight I cannot stroke my beard or nod along knowingly though, as tonight […]
 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s been a long time coming, but Mancunian Sam Shepherd’s debut album Elaenia was certainly worth the wait. After releasing a string of outstanding DJ friendly EP’s and singles, since 2009, we’re finally able to immerse ourselves in a long player that ebbs and flows from danceable bloops and bleeps, to […]

LIVE: FLOATING POINTS – 12/02/2016

LIVE: TAME IMPALA / JAGWAR MA – 11/02/2016

– MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER – It has been four years since I had a chance to see Tame Impala play a gig in Manchester. Holidays, plus, I had missed them by about 3 months when moving here, and have been waiting ever since. Tame Impala, whether you know them, like them or not, have been at […]
– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – In a year where the great and the good are checking out at an alarming rate, it is important that we appreciate those still walking amongst us.  John Grant is such an individual. Thankfully that appears to be the case, if the praise for his latest album and string […]

LIVE: JOHN GRANT – 08/02/2016

LIVE: SUEDE – 09/02/2016

 – THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Thunder rolls over Manchester’s Albert Hall from behind a sky sized silver-screen. The whirring thrashes and builds until the sounds of post-millennial paranoia are greeted with silence. The floor-to-ceiling sheet is finally filled with oceanic endlessness, and from behind the separation an incredible otherness cuts through the waves in […]
 – GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – Swedish Death Candy for me stole the show. I’m sorry Yak, but their psychedelic musings were a lot more stimulating tonight than your visceral 2 minute “songs”. And Rory Wynne, I like that Heart Of Stone song you played at the end and your comment about how “amazing” we were as […]

LIVE: YAK / SWEDISH DEATH CANDY – 03/02/2016

LIVE: DANIEL KNOX – 25/01/2016

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – ‘This is a song about germs,’ breathes Daniel Knox. A few beads of sweat drip down his forehead as he introduces ‘Don’t Touch Me’. This starkly titled song taken from his self-titled latest album, he tells us beforehand, is about his germophobic tendencies narrated with a slight sense of […]
 – ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Great and wild Phil Campbell has this voice, so manly, so pleasantly throaty, that one could be watching his performance for countless hours. Even if he’s just singing a prosaic “Yeah-yeaaah-Naah-Na-ah-ah!”, in a hypnotic loop. Manchester’s Academy 2 is packed with fans of all range, from kids to those who […]

LIVE: THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT – 24/01/2016