Gigs are commonly places of communion, sweat, uncomfortable proximity to strangers, ringing ears and spilt beer. However, with Maya Ongaku’s most recent album Nothing Space Music representing their attempt to reconnect with silence and find beauty in the spaces between noise, it is hard to know how it would translate to a live setting. In […]
The music of Dylan Young, who performs under the moniker Way Dynamic, had only really passed me by prior to this show. To my shame, I didn’t think to check out his latest record, last year’s ‘Massive Shoe,’ which having listened to since (before the show, obviously) and heard live points towards a promising career […]
The double bill at Yes Pink Room is an excellent example of the “two for.” A pair of artists, both of whom I would happily pay to see. Flora Hibberd and Hannah Cohen are mutually complementary acts, different enough from each other to offer contrasts while also not being so disparate as to be jarring. […]
The sun is shinning on Rochdale (who has ever said those words with a straight face?) and people are gathered outside the town hall, pints in hand and various Madchester era clothes on their backs. Clint Boon (BOON ARMY!) has just finished getting the crowd amped up with a DJ set, and you feel as […]
Rave culture was never built for daylight. It belongs beneath railway arches, inside abandoned warehouses and in the forgotten shells of Britain’s industrial past, where concrete sweats and basslines rattle rusted steel. At Nia Archives’ DJ set in Manchester, the dancefloor remains a place of escape, expression and relentless bass-driven community. But first, give way […]
Any other day, Manchester Club Academy is a cozy and intimate venue which I have enjoyed many gigs at over time- however, during the insane heatwave that occurred over this weekend, the heat had me feeling more like I was in a hellish chamber rather than its usual charismatic standard. Needless to say, it was […]
It’s always a quietly wonderful moment when, in or outside of the venue, you pass the artist you’re there to see play. It happened back in April at The White Hotel, when Cameron Picton of My New Band Believe weaved his way through the crowd during opener Kiran Leonard’s set. Here, too, outside YES, I […]
I woke up from an over long nap and put an infinite amount of tissues in my pocket since I have been bunged up for the past week (I have a long history of hitting my nose against heads, chairs, edges of steps, footballs and I have never received any kind of medical intervention which […]
On the day that Sparks announce their forthcoming Live on the Moon album, the intrepid explorers roll into the less exalted but still unique terrain of Blackpool for the first time. It is also my first visit to the sleekly modernist Blackpool Opera House. Initially built in 1889, the current building is the third one […]
To be a popular music artist, is to perform and entertain with a curse. At least that’s how it comes across. Think about it. That old archetype of the artist engulfed in tragedy, surrounded by suffering, yet using that strength to create something beautiful, something memorable, something that will be talked about for years, if […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
SINGLE REVIEW - PIPPA BLUNDELL (FEATURING FERGUS MCCREADIE): DURISDEER
EP REVIEW - BRICKNASTY: FOREVER
LIVE REVIEW - BASHT.: GORILLA, MANCHESTER - 29/10/2026
GIG GUIDE - NOVEMBER 2026
INTERVIEW - DANCING DEATH AWAY WITH ANA LUA CAIANO
ALBUM REVIEW – ANA LUA CAIANO: DEVAGAR QUE A VIDA E CURTA
ALBUM REVIEW – LOTTIE BRAZIER: ON COURSE BUT NO-ONE THERE TO SALUTE YOU
ALBUM REVIEW - THE BIG MOON: FOREVER
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 30 OCTOBER 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - JOHNNY & LILLIE FLYNN: BEAM COTTAGE
