NEWS: FESTIVAL NO.6 – FIRST ACTS ANNOUNCED
Festival No.6 is excited to announce that Welsh trio Manic Street Preachers have been persuaded to end their self-imposed two-year exile to headline one of the nights at this year’s event, which will be a UK festival exclusive. The cover of their fifth studio album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was shot in 1998 on the beach at Portmeirion, North Wales – home of Festival No.6. This year’s festival falls on the 15thanniversary of the album’s release, all of which helped... Read More
Live: Sigur Ros – 04/03/2013
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – For the majority of the noughties, Sigur Ros transcended being Iceland’s most successful export to characterising everything that was best about the country. The band did that rare, seemingly impossibly feat of not only recalling Iceland’s wild, rugged and beautiful landscapes, but of providing a direct musical portal to the mountains and glaciers they so clearly love. It was only natural and fair then that ‘Hoppipolla’... Read More
LIVE: MAPS AND ATLASES – 03/03/2013
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Sunday. The day of rest. And with it being the first Sunday of the month, there’s a hazy, hungover vibe around the centre of Manchester as people realise how much of this month’s pay cheque they’ve already spent. So, there is a somewhat sigh of relief as the small yet perfectly formed audience crawl into The Ruby Lounge this evening to find that tonight’s opening act is a man and his guitar backed by two violinists... Read More
Album Review: Caitlin Rose – The Stand-In
Anybody that fell for 2010’s ‘Own Side Now’, the first full-length from Nashville singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose, will be aware that sheer force of personality was the key ingredient that separated her from the countless other country-tinged starlets vying for your attention. And it wasn’t confined to her live shows – the ten tracks on that album were bursting with a witty, spiky and vibrant character that locked your attention for the duration. Three years on, and the... Read More
LIVE: FOALS / THE INVISIBLE – 02/03/2013
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – I think it’s always exciting when a band that you’ve been following since their beginnings, released new material and go out on tour to support it. Particularly when a band challenge themselves with each record and know how to kick it live. It’s also even better when said band take out another band you love and who are superb live on the road with them. This all seems to be the case for Oxford outfit Foals who are on a virtually... Read More
LIVE: CAITLIN ROSE – 01/03/2013
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Caitlin Rose first began to grab our attention a few years back when she arrived on the scene with her debut album Own Side Now, which heralded her gorgeous ‘country-velvet honeyed’ vocals backed by an intelligent country-soul sound. Now on her follow up The Stand-In completed with ramped up production values, Caitlin has gone ‘big screen’, where her debut album hinted at future glories the follow up has delivered in ‘widescreen... Read More
LIVE: ELIZA AND THE BEAR – 28/02/2013
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – As someone who has spent the winter months living on a diet of dubstep and dark electronic beats, this evening definitely offers me a change in tempo. We’re at an evening at The Castle Hotel (ace pub, great wine) entitled Thank Folk For That. The evening’s genre needs no further explanation. We are stood in the Castle’s back room space, full to the brim (40 people). Mostly the audience members are not a whisker beyond 22 years... Read More
EP Review: Joe Banfi – Nomads
Joe Banfi’s Nomads is the second EP to come after 2012’s Iron EP and it is evidence of how far he has come since then. Banfi is a relatively new artist, but this is in no way clear – the production (Ian Grimble of Communion) and feel of this EP is outstanding. “Please don’t let those, please don’t let those boys, fight”. From this first line you are hooked. Rarely does a song paint such a vivid picture in your mind with strong lyrics, backed up with some... Read More
LIVE: REEL BIG FISH – 27/02/2013
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “A little faith goes a long way” It only seems like 5 minutes since Reel Big Fish played Manchester. They are a band that tours and tours and tours yet still entertain, changing their set list to suit, yet still providing a night of smiles, skankin’ and high quality musical entertainment. The Ritz is an ideal venue, the disco ball is still there from the years where the bouncy dance floor let the jumping feel like a gravity (and 10... Read More
LIVE: BRETON – 29/03/2012
Photos: Peter Rea – ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – By going through these doors, we agree to let ourselves be filmed for a commercial. I was under the impression that this gig would be a little shy on punters tonight, so the scenes inside the mill come as a complete surprise. Breton‘s debut album ‘Other People’s Problems’ was released through Fatcat Records on Monday. They came to my attention through hype following a popular support slot with Tom... Read More