LIVE: FOREST SWORDS – 08/02/2014

– DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It is typically busy upstairs at The Deaf Institute and with good reason; Forest Swords, aka Matthew Barnes, is in town for a rare headline show. Fresh from supporting Mogwai in Europe, there is a sense of anticipation in the room long before a note is played.  Fortunately, punters don’t […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Another great electronic night organised by the lads of The Warehouse Project hosting Moderat, one of the biggest names from the last few years in the European dance movement. WHP may not need much presentation, but they have now been programming shows like this one since 2006 when they started […]

LIVE: MODERAT – 07/02/2014

LIVE: SEX HANDS / THOSE ROTTEN THIEVES / MISTOA POLTSA / FRUIT TONES – 06/02/2014

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – My arrival at Night and Day cafe on a rainy Thursday night coincides with that of a group of lads, all clearly in good spirits, bearing guitars & snare drums wrapped in plastic bags to keep out of the rain.  Their good mood and familiar greetings to friends […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Club Academy is the underground venue in the Manchester University Student Union. It is a venue with a huge amount of seating space at the back and it is sold out this evening for Little Comets. Unfortunately for tonight’s support act Catfish & The Bottlemen, the space at the back […]

LIVE: LITTLE COMETS – 05/02/2014

LIVE: MOGWAI – 27/01/2014

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – It seems to be another rainy night in Manchester, but with a small difference: Mogwai are in town, and for an instrumental music lover like me, it is a MUST to go and see them. The ‘plan’ is organised at the marvellous Bridgewater Hall, home of many classic instrumentalists […]
– FALLOW CAFE, MANCHESTER – Fallow Cafe is the venue for this evening’s gig headlined by Sheffield duo Algiers. This is my first visit to the venue, opened after the people behind the The Ruby Lounge took over and rebranded what was the original Trof site in Fallowfield. I arrived to learn technical difficulties would […]

LIVE: ALGIERS – 31/01/2014

LIVE: JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – 24/01/2014

– MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, MANCHESTER – One of the first things that catches my attention and makes an impression is the name of a band or an artist. And James Vincent McMorrow’s name is among the loveliest ones I’ve heard. The singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland released his second album, Post Tropical just this month. He kicked […]
– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – On arrival at the Students’ Union, I’m greeted by the sight of tonight’s headliner’s Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip manning their own merch stand. I would guess that it’s partly born out of necessity, but I admire the personal touch; it is nice to see a hip-hop act who […]

LIVE: DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP – 19/01/2014

LIVE: CASS MCCOMBS – 10/01/2014

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – I rarely ever mention support acts in a review, but only one man has led me to break that mould – Frank Fairfield. With a barely comprehensible Southern American accent, baggy trousers and a belt buckle which would take Alex Turner’s belt buckle efforts to town, he sits on […]
– ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – When Pura Vida Conspiracy was released this summer, I didn’t agree with a lot of the blogosphere hype that surrounded it. Sure, the New York gypsy punk’s sixth album had maybe a handful of memorable hits, but it fell short of comparable in positive light to the likes of their previous […]

LIVE: GOGOL BORDELLO – 14/12/2013