LIVE: THE POSTAL SERVICE – 18/05/2013

 – 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. […]
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER –  So picture this. Mass unemployment, disappearing high streets, strikes and burning effigies of Margaret Thatcher alight in crumbling pit villages. No, it’s not 1980. It’s 2013, and The Specials have never felt more relevant.  Given the political tension of the last few months, there’s a sense of adrenaline throughout the venue. […]

LIVE: THE SPECIALS – 15/05/2013

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING – 14/05/2013

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  Over ten mock TVs are set up around the stage of Sound Control tonight, each hidden beneath vintage drapery, giving away any and all clues that this gig is going to be so much more than just an audio experience. Surfacing the unearthed propaganda material of the yesteryears, Public Service […]
 – WHITWORTH GALLERY, MANCHESTER – I’m a relative latecomer to the stylised, lo-fi R&B sounds of How To Dress Well. At first listen, I was all “I really like this boy band”. And there are hints reminiscent of Boyz II Men and R Kelly but not in a bad way.  Rather, he is Chicago-born Tim […]

LIVE: HOW TO DRESS WELL – 15/05/2013

LIVE: BEACH FOSSILS – 15/05/2013

 – THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER –  In the past few years there has been a rise in bands, in particular American bands, making guitar driven pop music that’s heavy on the reverb and dreamy in its delivery. Brooklyn-born outfit Beach Fossils seem to have been there from the start of this lo-fi invasion, as frontman Dustin […]
 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER –  I find it hard to be critical of any band that manages to ad-lib ‘Surfin Bird’ into their live set (as part of Rhythm Revue) and so it is with The Computers. I think the term ‘reinvention’ would be a fair description of how they have changed or developed […]

LIVE: THE COMPUTERS – 11/05/2013

LIVE: JOHN GRANT – 14/05/2013

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER –  **WARNING** This review will be two things: 1) quite gushing, and 2) a bit sweary. Please do read on if you are comfortable with both those things. This is because tonight the magnificent John Grant is in town, and this gig is very, very special indeed.  In fact, I’d go […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, MANCHESTER –  Islington Mill tends to be home to the more freaky, experimental end of the live music spectrum in Manchester, so this visit of London-based indie-electronic trio Vondelpark is a little against type. Their music is vibey and textured rather than intensive or otherworldly, but on this occasion the setting works […]

LIVE: VONDELPARK / BLOOM – 09/05/2013

LIVE: LAURA MVULA – 07/05/2013

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –   Laura Mvula steps onto Gorilla’s stage, its backdrop a strange assemblage of archaic audio equipment, apparently salvaged from the recently deconstructed BBC building on Oxford Road.  The equipment looks almost steam-powered; incongruous perhaps, when set against the gorgeous, rounded voice that proceeds to part drift, part erupt, from the soul of […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Rushing over from Salford’s Media City following a live set for Marc Riley’s BBC 6 Music radio show, Unknown Mortal Orchestra appear unsurprisingly hurried as they check their equipment in front of tonight’s sell-out crowd. Frontman and New Zealander Ruban Nielsen apologises for any inconvenience caused… Axel Rose and […]

LIVE: UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – 06/05/2013