LIVE: FRANK’S FANTASTIC FAREWELL – 08/07/2010

– CASTLEFIELD, MANCHESTER – “How do you get 5p off your mum? Go to the shop, buy a tin of beans and change the 23p on the label to 28p. Bingo!” – Damon Gough quotes Frank Sidebottom. Considering I’m at Frank Sidebottom’s Fantastic Farewell – the last goodbye to alter ego of Timperley’s most famous […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – My knowledge of Holy Ghost, before I went to see them, could best be described as ‘cursory’ but those with their ears to the ground at club nights in Manchester such as Homoelectric and Now Wave, have been singing the praises of Holy Ghost for a while, so it […]

LIVE: HOLY GHOST – 08/07/2010

LIVE: THE WINDOW RIGHT – 02/07/2010

I’ve been intrigued by this West Yorkshire based bunch of sonic expressionists for some time now. To the uninitiated, The Window Right play instrumental music. Some might call that Post Rock or Krautrock; some might call it Ambient or Shoegaze. Whatever it is, The Window Right are bloody good at it. Having recently performed live […]
– THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – 11.30pm is pretty damn late for a band to start their set on a Monday night, especially coming off the back of Glastonbury and England’s dreaded World Cup debacle. The Night & Day’s policy of 4 bands on a night is certainly value for money and opening […]

LIVE: The Morning Benders – 28/06/2010

LIVE: THE COLD ONE HUNDRED – 25/06/2010

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – It’s not easy growing up in the world The Cold One Hundred’s dark pop alludes to, with its tedium and disenchantment, but for source material, it doesn’t sell them short. The hanging gloom of the Night & Day stage is a perfect setting for the live rendition of […]
– ST. PHILIP’S CHURCH, SALFORD – As we shuffle into St. Phillip’s Church in Salford there’s a feeling that we’re the cool kids in the know: This is a warm up gig for the band’s upcoming tour as support for The Coral. On come our heroes, entering without pretension and after a quick “y’alright?” they […]

LIVE: CHERRY GHOST – 21/06/2010

LIVE: PARKLIFE 2010 – 12/06/2010

– PLATT FIELDS, MANCHESTER – There’s something intractably lucky about any festival on Platt Fields. Despite the weather’s reputation for pissing on Mancunians day in day out year in year out – though it didn’t save a friend of a friend getting literally pissed on during Fake Blood’s set – every time there’s a festival […]
– FAC251, MANCHESTER – This is a night in which the old goes head to head with the new. Across the city at Platt Fields, Ian Brown is playing Stone Roses tunes to Manchester’s indie community, but here at Fac251, the future is taking shape. With Oasis gone for good and The Verve in statis, […]

LIVE: EXIT CALM – 11/06/2010

LIVE: THIS CITY IS OURS – 11/06/2010

– SACRED TRINITY CHURCH, SALFORD – Since its conception, I’ve been a fan of This City Is Ours. Pushing boundaries in the right direction and shrugging off stereotypes is an approach most events lack – more content to fall in line with their cheap drinks and latest flavour of the month sounds. This evening saw […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – Male Bonding have been making a name for themselves in London over the past couple of years releasing a truckload of singles and constantly playing gigs. They managed to get themselves signed to Sub Pop who put out their wonderful debut album ‘Nothing Hurts’ last month. It’s an album full […]

LIVE: MALE BONDING – 10/06/2010