LIVE: OCEANSIZE/VESSELS/AS I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR – 02/02/2010

– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Attendance is deservedly good for the first support: As I Watch You From Afar. Use of super-heavy riffs and interesting time signatures is done in a good way, not just for the sake of it, yet they do go all 4/4 and melodic from time to time. The shirtless, beefcake […]
– Deaf Institute, Manchester – Pronounced “Dog for Dog”, Dag For Dag are a brother and sister songwriting duo originate from “San Francisco, Sweden” according to lead singer and guitarist Sarah Snavely. The Deaf Institute’s crowd is undeservedly low in numbers and the between songs conversation from the band is met with embarrassed silence. Undeterred, […]

LIVE: DAG FOR DAG/THAO with THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN – 02/02/2010

LIVE: JOHNNY FOREIGNER / TALONS – 02/02/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – There are some venues which can make even the most unknown acts come alive such as Manchester’s Academy; there are others which are seeped in so much history that the band are bolstered into putting on a spectacular show even if they are usually mediocre. Venues like Night and […]
– CLUB ACADEMY, MANCHESTER – I am so excited about seeing Adam Green this evening that I turn up to the gig an hour early to grab a beverage and soak up the atmosphere before heading down to the basement. The above, could very well have been the entirety of my review of three acts, […]

LIVE: ADAM GREEN – 01/02/2010

LIVE: RENEGADES – 26/01/2010

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – This is unusual. A headline band in Renegades that CityLifers has never heard of, yet the Ruby Lounge is absolutely packed to its subterranean gills. Something is clearly afoot. Before our mystery guests, though, the throng is treated to Lights Go Blue, a very young, stylish and stylised duo, […]
– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – Emerging out of the recession with more false starts than Great Britain is the grand opening of Sound Control Manchester. You may have heard it had launched a couple of times back last year, but as these openings either didn’t go to plan or were not quite as spectacular as […]

LIVE: SOUND CONTROL LAUNCH PARTY – 26/01/2010

LIVE: GLASSJAW/PULLED APART BY HORSES/SHAPES – 24/01/2010

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – If there was a world record for squeezing-as-many-discordant-riffs-as-possible-into-a-Mini, the ghost of Norris McWhirter would be straight on the spectral blower to Shapes. Drummer Gavin Filmer has a tough time staying in his seat, such is the voracity with which he sets about destroying each and every corner of his kit, […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I’m a little dubious about tonight’s gig, as it is not the first time I’ve been to see a band that is fronted by an actor. My last experience of this was a couple of years ago, when I chanced upon The Peth playing at a club in Wigan. […]

LIVE: RIDING THE LOW – 22/01/2010

LIVE: REEL BIG FISH/SONIC BOOM SIX – 22/01/2010

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Despite their name, there are only five people in Sonic Boom Six. The female-fronted Mancunians explode into action, the whole sound penetrating and aggressive like only girls from northern England can be. ‘Six’ become eight when the brass section from Big D And The Kids’ Table join them for a […]
– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER – Although I’ve already seen three bands (all of whom failed to introduce themselves), the most interesting part of the evening so far has been finding out that my girlfriend ties her shoelaces differently than I do. I’m hoping to be rescued by To The Bones, and they up the game […]

LIVE: ZICO CHAIN/TO THE BONES – 24/01/2010