LIVE: FAIR OHS – 04/6/2013

 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER –  It’s always a wonderful feeling when you finish work on a sunny day. I’ve rolled up virtually every item of clothing I’m wearing and I don’t intend on taking off my sunglasses until it’s real dark. My soundtrack to this glorious afternoon? The tropical pop grooves of London based […]
 – SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  About 10 years ago as a younger, thinner gig goer I saw Allister play in Manchester supporting their then new release Last Stop Suburbia. A decade later Allister are playing that album in full, plus more. It’s at Sound Control, a venue I’ve heard about but actually not been too […]

LIVE: ALLISTER – 30/5/2013

LIVE: IRON & WINE – 30/05/2013

 – THE OPERA HOUSE, MANCHESTER – Everything about this gig was luxurious, from the opulent setting of the grand Manchester Opera House, through the twelve musicians on stage, to the two hour, 22 song running time of the set, it was an old school occasion, the likes of which we don’t see much any more. […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Things are really moving fast for Obaro Ejimiwe, a.k.a Ghostpoet. His bedroom produced debut album ‘Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam’ was nominated for the Mercury Prize, which thrust him into the limelight with a little help from Gilles Peterson’s label Brownswood. Two years on, he has released his 2nd album (through […]

LIVE: GHOSTPOET – 28/05/2013

Besnard Lakes

LIVE: THE BESNARD LAKES – 23/05/2013

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER –  Formed in 2003 by Québécois husband and wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, The Besnard Lakes are something rather special live. With earlier albums The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse and The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night erring towards the intellectual indie side of indie rock, over […]
 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER –  I’ve only relatively recently gotten into Mount Eerie, the moniker adopted by Phil Elverum after he stopped the incredible Microphones (seriously, if you never have, check out The Glow Pt 2 album…all sorts of amazing), so this show at the ever brilliant Soup Kitchen was my chance to see an […]

LIVE: MOUNT EERIE – 23/05/2013

LIVE: NOMEANSNO – 22/05/2013

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – There aren’t many bands that have been playing to mosh pits around the world for longer than I’ve been alive, but NoMeansNo are one of that distinguished few. Having formed in 1979, and released their first record in 1980, NoMeansNo have been a dark undercurrent in the world of rock […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – The punters inside the city’s most opulent venue tonight are at the more mature end of the gig-going spectrum, and they’re stood in rapt silence at Nataly Dawn. Her short blonde hair is swept forward from left-to-right while she flicks at a decrepit looking guitar which could have been […]

LIVE: LORD HURON – 23/05/2013

LIVE: CHARLIE BOYER AND THE VOYEURS – 21/05/2013

 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER –  I think we’re all starting to lose count of the number of bands like Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs who have emerged in the last 2 or 3 years. You know the ones – bands in a perpetual haze of smoke, with brightly coloured imaginations and great swathes of static […]
 – ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – This year, electronic pop gods, The Postal Service celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their 2003 release Give Up, the band’s only album. Tonight’s gig at Manchester Academy is the first of only 3 UK gigs on this special tour to mark a decade’s hiatus from the much revered state-side duo. […]

LIVE: THE POSTAL SERVICE – 18/05/2013