LIVE: MOUNT EERIE – 05/04/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Though performing with a backing band, Mount Eerie is at its crux the creative outlet of Phil Elvrum. Formerly operating as The Microphones, he ditched this moniker for the current one in 2004, even if he still occasionally dabbles under the previous name. Infusing the wholly characterless Ruby Lounge […]
– THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT, MANCHESTER – I’ve not had it for a while – that tingle that tinkles down the back of your neck as you approach the door that separates you from your night out, from your disco destiny. But this is a big one and my neck’s tingling like Cheryl Tweedy herself were […]

LIVE: CARL COX – 03/04/2010

LIVE: 1913 – 02/04/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I slowly sink into my couch with each stylish pair of killer heels that totter by. It’s not so much the thought of being stood in the mosh pit with four inch spikes wielding down on my toes. No, it is the glares from my wife searing into my […]
– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Alarm bells are ringing. A respected character from British music history has been given the budget and stage space to indulge a passion. Yep, in every pop band there is a Damon Albarn, desperate to elevate out of the pop sphere, to do something “serious”, something “worthy”. Jerry Dammers […]

LIVE: JERRY DAMMER’S SPATIAL A.K.A. ORCHESTRA – 30/03/2010

LIVE: ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT – 28/03/2010

– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – They’ve been away and now they’re back, with a cracking new album and live show to further blow our tinnitus fizzing ears. ‘Coconut’ released on the 1st of March has been widely praised, and much has been made of the input of DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy on the sessions Stateside for […]
– THE BRITISH LEGION, WIGAN – It’s cold and dark and I’m walking down a street just on the outskirts of Wigan town centre looking for the British Legion. Now I know you might be wondering what the hell I’m doing spending my Friday night at the Legion, well it’s not because I’m meeting up […]

LIVE: SIDEBURN LAUNCH PARTY – 26/03/2010

LIVE: THE TWIGHLIGHT SAD – 25/03/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Blessed with chunky frames and even chunkier beards, Glaswegian monsters, Take A Worm For A Walk Week, pick up the grooves of Clutch and add a dram of caledonian insouciance. That the quartet don’t take themselves at all seriously is a boon – their début album, ‘The Monroe Transfer’ […]
– THE NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – In the reliably low-lit surroundings of Night & Day Café there is always the chance of seeing something special, even on a washed-out Thursday evening of the kind that levels all hope spring might, just might, be arriving. This was one such occasion, with any thoughts of […]

LIVE: THE SCREENING – 25/03/2010

LIVE: SOUL:UTION – 26/03/2010

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – The sound system was rubbish. That MC wouldn’t shut up. The bar was too expensive. I had to go in a portaloo. That DJ didn’t have a clue. These disgruntled statements and more along the same lines are all that I’ve been met with from Drum & Bass […]
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – It is clear that I am not a regular to the newly refurbished Band On the Wall, when I turn up at the Frog and Bucket, to claim my place on the guest list, which, I insist exists, despite clearly being at the wrong venue. It is only […]

LIVE: KARIMA FRANCIS – 24/03/2010