LIVE: KILLING JOKE – 31/03/2011

– ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Punk rock is supposed to be unpredictable, theatrical and ball-bustingly energetic, and if there is one band encompassing those elements with every fiber of their being, it is Killing Joke. Not only is their fourteenth and most recent album, Absolute Dissent, every bit as liable to strip paint from studio […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER –  I didn’t come to the Deaf Institute tonight to review  the support band for Dum Dum Girls, but the music of Mazes is so good I feel compelled to let you know about them. All the songs feel ‘killer, no filler’.  They play with boundless energy and come across […]

LIVE: DUM DUM GIRLS – 31/03/2011

LIVE: DUCKTAILS – 31/03/2011

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I’m not overly fond of the Ruby Lounge as a venue at the best of times- it might be that it’s dark and dingy, or the strange design, I can’t put my finger on it, but when I walk in and see about six people in the crowd my […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER –  The band are ready, lead singer Bradford Cox talks over the Foals tune that can still be heard and amusingly comments on the audiences startling red faces. The result of heavy backlighting. Technical difficulties allow him to break the ice with his natural wit as he urges the crowd to […]

LIVE: DEERHUNTER – 30/03/2011

LIVE: NEW YORK DOLLS – 29/03/2011

– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – As one of the true oddities of the New York punk scene in the mid 70s, The New York Dolls are considered to be the godfathers of American punk. The band imploded in spectacular fashion back in 1975, and articles in various music magazines, books and punk rock documentaries kept […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Looking like she has just arrived at Trof this evening by Gothic Express, Jesca Hoop cuts a rather striking mystical figure on stage bare footed and clad in a flowing black dress. This North Californian songstress now decamped to Manchester for the past two years after persuasion from our […]

LIVE: JESCA HOOP – 26/03/2011

LIVE: JAMES BLAKE – 26/03/2011

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – It looks like 2011 is the year that James Blake ate the pies.  I expect  the svelte foppish-haired waif that I’ve seen peer out of press photos, but the man who takes the stage alongside fellow traveller Rob McAndrews (guitar and sampler), minus Ben Assiter, who often provides […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Honing guitar fuzz and bright-eyed lyrics into hooky, melodic songs, The Answering Machine are a band that Manchester can be proud of. Having quietly helped restore indie pop’s good name with cuts such as ‘Obviously Cold’, ‘Animals’ and the title track of new album ‘Lifeline’, tonight’s rescheduled gig had gained […]

LIVE: THE ANSWERING MACHINE – 24/03/2011

LIVE REVIEW: Elbow – 20/03/2011

– THE ECHO ARENA, LIVERPOOL – Band as territory. Discuss.  I’m gonna be honest with you. Declare a vested interest, if you like. I’ve got a long standing love affair with Elbow. Wholly unrequited, but never mind. Each time their tours come round, I watch on with increasing incredulity thinking “It can’t get any bigger […]
– CROSS STREET CHAPEL, MANCHESTER – Here’s the great thing about getting to a gig in time to see the support bands. Nine times out of ten, it’s some bunch of spotty ne’er-do-wells churning out their take on whatever the vogue is this week. No matter, you’ve only lost thirty minutes of your life to […]

LIVE: HANNAH PEEL/LOVED ONES/RACHAEL & THE RED SOCKS – 19/03/2011