LIVE: MATTHEW WHITAKER – 31/01/2013

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – The Weekend is here at last (who actually does any work on a Friday anyway?) and local promotion company Hey! Manchester has agreed to help kick start my festivities by putting on a stellar night of music at the Castle Hotel. First up on stage is John Ainsworth, a […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – There is a moment roughly 10 minutes into Metz’ set, not long after the call-to-arms opening salvo of ‘Knife in the Water’ has jolted the Soup Kitchen into a frenzy, and just as the first circle pit of the night materialises, that you could just take a moment’s pause and […]

LIVE: METZ – 28/01/2013

LIVE: DROP THE MUSTARD PRES. SBTRKT 25/01/2013

VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, MANCHESTER Usually, Manchester’s Warehouse Project season finishes on the 1st of January, a bleak time of year that forces the city’s population back into normal sized clubs just to get their regular bass fix. Back they go in their sad masses to low-key venues like Joshua Brooks, The Roadhouse, Kraak Gallery and Antwerp […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – ‘This is not an Interpol gig. This is not an Interpol gig. This is not an Interpol gig’. That’s my mantra as I walk towards Sound Control for tonight’s show. I’m on my way to see Paul Banks do a solo gig in support of his latest effort, the simply […]

LIVE: PAUL BANKS – 22/01/2013

LIVE: SERAFINA STEER / PADDY STEER – 16/01/2013

– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – We arrive a bit late to a full Castle and, lingering by the door, we hear music but can’t figure out where it’s coming from. The crowd seems to be collectively looking towards the floor to the left, and as we shuffle around trying to find a view-hole, Steve […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – So it’s fair to say that I’m pretty excited ahead of tonight’s events! Not only is today the day that the first albums of the 2013 have been released but I’m also at my first gig of the year at one of my favourite venues in Manchester for an […]

LIVE: DUTCH UNCLES – 14/01/2013

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 3

– Friday 11/01/2012 – Day 3 – Final coverage Right. I think I finally caught up with everything that went down in that crazy student town in the North of the Netherlands. Sure is clear that even 3 years after my last SXSW visit, the industry still knows how to work hard, play hard. As part […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – After a quiet few weeks for gig goers, the Manchester based live music promoters Carefully Planned helped wreck our New Years resolutions of a sober January by hosting the 15th CP All Dayer at Oldham Street institution, The Castle Hotel. I’m eager to see what the day has in […]

LIVE: 15TH CAREFULLY PLANNED ALL-DAYER – 12/01/2013

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 2

– THURSDAY 10/01/2013 – Day 2 – Let’s see what we stumble across So as a Dutch resident myself, I’ve been bombarded with dozens of great sounding Belgian bands that make it across the border and invade our radio playlists. Therefore, whenever there is a Belgian neighbour, whose music is described to be inspired by The […]
– WEDNESDAY 09/01/2013 –  DAY 1 – Less is more and more is better Kicking off with a quick visit to the European Border Breakers Awards, which culminates in French DJ quartet C2C pick up the ‘EBBA Public Choice Award’, we are off into the cold northern night to crawl our way from venue to […]

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: EUROSONIC 2013 – DAY 1