LIVE REVIEW: Timber Timbre – 28/04/2011

– The Deaf Institute, Manchester – Timber Timbre (that’s one ending in an ‘er’ followed by one ending in an ‘re’ – how Pan-Atlantic of them) are spooky. And spooky is ostensibly really rather cool these days. Unlike say, Zola Jesus, whose Kate-Bush-meets-Lady-Haversham schtick one suspects extends beyond her on stage repertoire,  Timber Timbre seem […]
– Club Academy, Manchester – It’s easy to tell with one quick sweep of the room whether you’re at a major gig in Manchester. Major as in must-see, not large, as the city’s musical elite are a fussy, discerning lot. Tonight’s gig, however, has earned their full approval and the regular faces are out in […]

LIVE REVIEW: Best Coast – 26/04/2011

LIVE REVIEW: GZA – 22/04/2011

– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER –  Me:  “Hi, I’m on the presslist” Mr Charlie Big Potatoes: “No you’re not” Me:  “Could you just check?” Mr Charlie Big Potatoes: “All the press are in and I didn’t put you down.  I’m the promoter.  I run the show” Me (a bit flustered, showing him my phone):  “But look, […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – If you like a bit of garage rock, one man who shouldn’t need any introduction is Kid Congo Powers. Legendary sometime guitar slinger with The Cramps and co-founder with Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club, and later six string hombre with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Kid […]

LIVE: KID CONGO POWERS & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS – 19/04/2011

LIVE REVIEW: THE JIM JONES REVUE – 17/04/2011

– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – The hardest working rock n roll band in the UK  are back in Manchester tonight, and the plaudits and column inches that they have been garnering have attracted a sizable crowd in the Club Academy. I think in some ways the name, or rather the ‘Revue’ part is a misconception, […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Wow. Good evening from The Deaf Institute – the venue that laughs in the face of health and safety. The venue that scoffs at the idea of personal space. The venue that puts the ‘mmmm’ in intimate. Seriously, there’ll be no cat-swinging here tonight, so tightly jammed in are […]

LIVE: STEVE MASON – 12/04/2011

LIVE: ESBEN & THE WITCH – 08/04/2011

– ST. PHILIPS CHURCH, SALFORD – Where better to see a prog goth band than in a church? The interior of St. Philips may be too well kept to be the perfect backdrop for tonight, some of Salford’s industrial abandoned and rain soaked buildings could offer Esben and The Witch possible music video locations, but […]
– THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – Smith Westerns produced one of my favourite albums of last year with the excellent ‘Dye It Blonde’, so to say that I am really looking forward to this gig is an understatement. The gig sold out well in advance, due to being headlined by the current darlings of indie […]

LIVE: SMITH WESTERNS – 03/04/2011

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