LIVE: GLOVE / CHINA MOON / FURROWED BROW – 06/09/2019
Glove -THE PEER HAT, MANCHESTER- Furrowed Brow With additional personnel and two months of gigging since their live debut, Furrowed Brow has (much to my predication) significantly gained in confidence and cohesion, akin to a unit of conscripts surviving the very skirmishes that would make or break their service. Having a more technically proficient guitarist (albeit with some awkwardness) in turn allows the vocalist to Howard Devoto his way through rather charming lyrics about... Read More
LIVE: SASAMI – 04/09/2019
SASAMI -YES (THE BASEMENT), MANCHESTER- Sweet relief. The basement in Manchester’s finest establishment Yes is a safe haven tonight, a place to take refuge from the bonkers weather that has plagued this city on this early autumn day (and plagued the England cricket team all day across the city at Old Trafford), and a place to forget and escape the never ending omnishambles of the goings on in Parliament. There is a roof over our heads to shelter us from the wind and sideways... Read More
LIVE: MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST 2019
Manchester Psych Fest 2019 -VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER- As the title shows, the event primarily caters towards a genre half a century in age, although that didn’t stop the promoters from cherry picking enough non-psych bands to give off the impression it was a name only title. I mean understandably you need a healthy balance of differing styles and realistically festival organisers are often hard-pressed to find idyllic people-pleasing line-ups, but it does appear a little on... Read More
LIVE: THE BETHS – 31/08/2019
The Beths -GORILLA, MANCHESTER- Gorilla is sold out for The Beths tonight. We arrive a little later than most and the crowd is already one pensive mass of energy and anticipation. Managing to find a corner at the top of the stairs, we have a clear view of the whole scene, the stage and audience. Jackpot. It is the perfect reviewing vantage point, just outside of the ‘no go zone’ staircase patrolled by the bouncer. The Beths’ debut album Future Me Hates Me is fast and... Read More
V FEST 97 – LEEDS 2019: A LOOK AT FESTIVALS THEN AND NOW
V97 When Dave Grohl tells 2019’s Leeds Festival audience on Friday night that some of the “old school” Foo Fighters fans had seen him before at Leeds, he was referring to people like me who saw them at V97 – and the fantastic, high-energy set they played sandwiched between Beck and Prodigy. For a lot of the 2019 set, I am watching a different band to the one I saw 22 years ago, not least of all when Grohl’s daughter, Violet, joins Foo Fighters on stage for My Hero.... Read More
ISOBEL CAMPBELL ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM WITH RELEASE OF LEAD SINGLE ‘ANT LIFE’
After a prolonged absence and major changes in her life, Isobel Campbell returns with her freest, finest album yet in There Is No Other, released 31st January 2020 via Cooking Vinyl. Thirteen tracks of hook-driven melody across a wide spectrum of subtle, alluring arrangements and moods, from intense to mysterious to carefree, topped by her trademark gorgeous soft-spun voice. Campbell has shared a video for the LP’s lead track “Ant Life” directed by Mike Aho (Bonnie Prince... Read More
ALBUM REVIEW: PARSNIP – WHEN THE TREE BEARS FRUIT
It’s very rare that I start listening to something and immediately fall in love with it but that is exactly what happens when I get hold of Parsnip’s debut album ‘When the Tree Bears Fruit’ and hear the delightful opening track ‘Are You Taking Me For a Ride’. In the nicest possible way, it’s utterly ridiculous from the off. It’s gloriously and unashamedly silly at the same time as being immediately likeable and very poppy, punctuated by the occasional dab of melancholy,... Read More
SEPTEMBER 2019
We have trawled through the forthcoming gigs in and around Manchester so you don’t have to. We believe that if we are going to recommend a gig to you, then it should be exactly that, a recommendation. Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list. It has been compiled by the ears of our editors and not by any promoters, band’s management or PR’s. If we’ve missed anything please feel free to plug any gigs in the comments... Read More
OCTOBER 2018
We have trawled through the forthcoming gigs in and around Manchester so you don’t have to. We believe that if we are going to recommend a gig to you, then it should be exactly that, a recommendation. Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list. It has been compiled by the ears of our editors and not by any promoters, band’s management or PR’s. If we’ve missed anything please feel free to plug any gigs in the comments... Read More
LIVE: JOSE GONZALEZ / JESCA HOOP – 22/09/2018
José González -ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Reader, I am hungover. I wish this were not the case, I only had two pints last night, but after waking up much too early, my head is humming, and I don’t know if drinking any more is a good idea oh but Tracy has bought me another pint so I guess I’ll just have to deal with it, I don’t think this is going to be a particularly noisy gig anyway [reader, how wrong I will turn out to be] because we’re here to see floaty ethereal indie... Read More
