LIVE: CRYSTAL FIGHTERS – 23/11/2013

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Unexpected, crazy, eclectic – are just several of the adjectives that describe Crystal Fighters’ gig at Academy 2. The five-piece come from London and are known for the mad live shows they throw. It’s almost half-carnival, half-rave. The band plays a total of 16 songs from Star of Love and […]
– PHONES 4U ARENA, MANCHESTER – Though in recent years we may see Josh Homme hidden under the radar as a family man with his two children and rock prom queen Brody Dalle by his side, most of us dreamt of the day we would see ‘Ginger Elvis’ take the stage again. True Rock n’ […]

LIVE: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – 20/11/2013

LIVE: WHITE DENIM – 19/11/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – It’s actually impossible to categorise White Denim, which is what makes them such an uncompromisingly brilliant live band. I saw a tweet from someone who had been to their London gig which said ‘White Denim are without doubt the finest rock-soul-jazz-punk-AOR-funk-garage-prog band I’ve ever seen.’ This is about as accurate a […]
THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER The Albert Hall is certainly an apt venue for an evening of conversation with one of the most admired alternative music figures over the last 20 years, and more. Black Francis / Frank Black or Charles Thompson is an icon of the alternative music, yet there is still so much to […]

ISSUES & TISSUES: AN EVENING WITH BLACK FRANCIS AND DAVE HASLAM – 20/11/2013

LIVE: STRFKR – 17/11/2013

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – STRFKR and I go way, way back – to my college days, to be exact. ‘Julius’ was one of the many anthems blasting through my car speakers at half six in the morning and four in the evening. The electronic band hails from Portland, Oregon and started off as […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – These guys haven’t had it bad supporting some of the UK’s finest musicians Miles Kane and Jake Bugg earlier this year. But this trio have their own stuff to offer, three brothers from Bath, hanging out playing rock. It is as simple as that, but their sound is something […]

LIVE: THE FAMILY RAIN – 18/11/2013

LIVE: QUADRON – 13/11/2013

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Quadron, although it sounds like an experienced campaigner’s Xbox Live username, is actually the name of a crystal-clean pastiche soul act who have more star supporters than you can shake a stick at, see Prince, James Murphy, Pharrell and Jay-Z. Stranger than that, the Danish duo, with two extremely […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Radical Face is the pseudonym of musical act Ben Cooper, who hails from Jacksonville, Florida. I’d been listening to him since his 2007 release Ghost, which contains a song (‘Welcome Home, Son’) that most of you have undoubtedly heard while watching a Nikon advert either in the cinema or at […]

LIVE: RADICAL FACE – 10/11/2013

LIVE: MARK LANEGAN – 07/11/2013

– RNCM, MANCHESTER – ‘Chameleon’, ‘Maverick’, ‘Man For Hire’ – whatever you would like to label Mark Lanegan, he is an artist in demand and a man of unique talent. Tall, snake-thin with a wide-screen face seemingly grafted from granite, he takes to the stage at the reverential ‘sold out’  Royal Northern College Of Music […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I missed Local Natives before. I promised myself never again. So imagine my excitement as I stand in The Ritz, proper chuffed with my splendid view of the stage. The only downside is that I am wearing a sweater. Outside, it’s sweater weather. Cold, chilly and icy. But inside, it’s […]

LIVE: LOCAL NATIVES – 26/10/2013