LIVE: DWARVES – 22/11/2011

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – The local support slot is occupied tonight by Manchester nutters Bad Taste Barbie.  If you can imagine Fuzzbox fronted by Divine then you might get the idea. They have a song that goes ‘SiegHeil, Jeremy Kyle’.  No, Really! The main support is from Girl Spit (I think) whose front man […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Another sellout weekend crowd at The Deaf Institute, Now Wave bring us a couple of Canadian bands tonight, both the established, and the up and coming. The crowd are a mixture of young and older post-rock fans, it’s possible to tell which band each audience member has come here […]

LIVE: THE BESNARD LAKES – 18/11/2011

LIVE: DUM DUM GIRLS – 13/11/2011

– FAC251, MANCHESTER – I said last year that it probably wouldn’t be long before the Dum Dum Girls were playing bigger venues.  It hasn’t necessarily turned out that way.  Well, not here anyway.  But tonight’s gig at Fac 251 is certainly a lot more rammed. It’s packed out and getting pretty bleeding warm for […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Fresh from touring America, appearing on Letterman and releasing their third album ‘Strange Mercy’ through 4AD, St. Vincent are set to face a sell out crowd in Manchester’s cosy Deaf Institute. It’s difficult to move in here, there’s a buzz of real excitement and it looks as though this […]

LIVE: ST. VINCENT – 12/11/2011

LIVE: RINGO DEATHSTARR – 11/11/2011

– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Texas band, Ringo Deathstarr are finally beginning to gain notoriety. Riding high on the waves of this years shoegaze revival along with bands such as the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Yuck, Deathstarr’s steadfast commitment to punk makes for a more boisterous sound, imbuing them with a sense […]
– ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – What a splendid venue. I must confess, gentle reader, that I chose to cover this gig almost as much for the location as the band. St Philip’s in Salford is a prime example of the modern use of churches as music venues, thus getting bums on pews and coffers […]

LIVE: NORTH SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA – 10/11/2011

LIVE: ANE BRUN – 08/11/2011

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Norwegian folkstress Ane Brun is back in the UK to show-off her new album It all Starts With One. This is her forth studio-release, which has reached the top spot across Scandinavia, hooking up with the likes of Joe Gonzalez, Ron Sexsmith and Peter Gabriel on the way. Yeah, […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Manchester is Cashier No.9‘s second port of call on their 13 stop tour of the UK. The Belfast band have received rave reviews for their debut album ‘To The Death of Fun’, from myself included (link), and it’s always a pleasure to see a band who’s on the verge […]

LIVE: CASHIER NO.9 – 09/11/2011

LIVE: ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE – 07/11/2011

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Where to start? Hmm, a bit of background to set the scene on tonights ‘happening’ would probably help. Wikipedia helpfully informs me that Acid Mothers Temple is “a psychedelic rock band, the core of which formed in 1995” So far, so good, but there appear to be a myriad […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Of the 4AD bands that lit up the late 8o’s and 90’s most people would cite the Pixies as the main draw. Myself, I loved the Throwing Muses. The dual vocals of Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly swirled around angular guitars with a melodic sensibility about their work. Donelly left the […]

LIVE: THROWING MUSES – 06/11/2011