LIVE: BAND OF HORSES – 08/06/2010

– THE RITZ BALLROOM, MANCHESTER – It’s been a long time since I last visited the Ritz. Many a Monday night of my youth (I) was recklessly wasted there before I was old enough to get into real clubs. It’s hardly changed – by which I mean: ‘they appear to have done no maintenance whatsoever’. […]
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Band On The Wall is a classy venue that attracts quality acts for genuine music lovers. The first support Dan Whitehouse sings alone onstage with his guitar to an attentive, silent audience. After the song he comments on how nice it is to finish a tune and realise […]

LIVE: THE MISERABLE RICH – 08/06/2010

LIVE: AGAINST ME – 02/06/2010

– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – In the eight years since the release of their debut album ‘Reinventing Axl Rose’, Against Me have gradually transformed from the angry anarchist darlings of the underground punk scene, into fully fledged rock stars. The shift to a more mainstream sound and the commercial success that comes with it has […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – One of my favourite bands of the last couple of years, Thee Oh Sees have been building into something much more than another side project from the prolific and prodigious talent of San Francisco’s John Dwyer. The last time I saw them, around two years ago, they packed out […]

LIVE: THE OH SEES – 01/06/2010

LIVE: DE STAAT (DOT TO DOT) 31/05/2010

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It’s been a busy weekend for music festivals in Manchester. Hungry Pigeon has been and gone, Euro Cultured is still ongoing. Dot to Dot Festival’s placement on the Bank Holiday Monday is perhaps not ideal but Oxford Road is a buzz with people nevertheless. The bulk of today’s acts […]
– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – To level with you, I came out tonight to see Fun. I did not know (much to my shame) that they were playing as part of a larger festival. So you can imagine my delight when I discovered that lots of other fine acts were playing the Academies for no […]

LIVE: DOT TO DOT 2010 – 31/05/2010

LIVE: HUNGRY PIGEON Pt2 – 30/05/2010

– NORTHERN QUARTER, MANCHESTER – If you love watching live music then you have probably asked yourself this question many times before: just why is this band or singer not a household name? There’s no accounting for taste, but some people are just so talented that not even the most musically deadened, tone deaf oaf […]
– SPACE, MANCHESTER – The beauty of street festivals like Eurocultured is the chance to stumble upon rare and unexpected gems. So it is with Paper Tiger, the live front of a collective of musicians and producers from Leeds. The roof terrace in Space is the venue, where the humidity and low ceiling on the […]

LIVE: PAPER TIGER (EUROCULTURED) – 30/05/2010

LIVE: THE WHIM WHAM CLUB (EUROCULTURED) – 30/05/2010

– THE THIRSTY SCHOLAR, MANCHESTER – The Whim Wham Club is about to celebrate its fourth birthday, which makes Manchester’s best loved vintage night about ninety four years old by my reckoning. Like some long lost dream of the libertines of the Weimar Republic, an officer’s mess far from the danger of the enemy lines, […]
– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – Having begun life as something of a Nottingham indie institute, Dot to Dot has recently spread its wings to include stints in both Bristol and Manchester. Compromising a series of gigs at various venues (forcing you to go, quite literally, from dot to dot), this festival of sorts offers an […]

LIVE: DOT TO DOT 2010 – 31/05/2010