LIVE: DECO RECORDS ALL-DAYER AT RETRO – 28/09/2019

-RETRO BAR, MANCHESTER- Akin to all alldayers of old, Deco pick and mix from an eclectic inventory of bands that vary in sonic and, unfortunately, qualitative terms. Allowing inexperienced bands to share the bill early on is admirable, affording them an opportunity to hone their craft and test their metaphoric mettle; yet as a spectator […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- Dear readers, I have recently returned from Poland’s absolutely unbelievable electronic music festival Unsound, and it’s fair to say my brain is slightly addled. Five days of 5am finishes, dancing the night away in a disused brutalist hotel in the middle of Krakow to some of the most exciting, cutting edge electronic music […]

LIVE: CHASTITY BELT – 16/10/2019

LIVE: BLACK MOUNTAIN / MASS DATURA – 15/10/2019

-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Mass Datura Suspect incense aside, the support act is the numerical equivalent of a half-dozen; they possess the standard line-up of bassist, drummer and guitarist; but to pad out the sound they have a synthe…sist, violinist and a handler of lap steel. The venue’s sound fails to properly accommodate the band’s ‘busy’ […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Upon discovering that a 50 year old prog band with only half the original line up was coming to Manchester, I metaphorically crashed through a fence to get the opportunity: to see something so far removed from punk it might as well have been a harp troupe specialising in Indonesian […]

LIVE: FOCUS – 08/10/2019

LIVE: NEIGHBOURHOOD FESTIVAL 2019 – 12/10/2019

-VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER- It’s the morning after my best mate’s 21st birthday and believe you me, my body is feeling it. The beautiful sight of a sunny Manchester (which is rare these days) is slowly curing my soul, and the inevitably incredible Neighbourhood Festival is the light at the end of the tunnel. The day […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- In the words of Chandler Bing, could things BE anymore Manchester, as I step out of my apartment building and step pretty straight into John Thomson, walking into the Dakota Hotel opposite. It’s a scene from Cold Feet (and indeed my street was in one of those luxurious pan shots across the […]

LIVE: RICHARD HAWLEY – 07/10/2019

LIVE: BILL RYDER-JONES – 06/10/2019

-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Bill Ryder-Jones (contractually obliged to say ‘formally of The Coral’ here – indeed he is playing a guitar with a strap adorned with their name) released a brilliant album, Yawn, last year, probably his best solo effort to date. Not content with that, he also released an entirely piano based version […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- In these dark and troubled times, it is somewhat reassuring to be in the presence of Bill Callahan. He enters the stage with his relaxed preppy college prof demeanour to greet the large audience, in one of his rare visits to the UK to support his recent double album, Shepherd in a […]

LIVE: BILL CALLAHAN – 02/10/2019

LIVE: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – 02/10/2019

-YES (THE BASEMENT), MANCHESTER- Wow. Could probably leave this piece at that exclamation and be pretty pleased with how I’ve summed up my experience of this absolutely extraordinary show I’ve just witnessed. Might add ‘mind blown’ and just walk away from it. Because to try and explain to you, dear readers, just how ridiculously, astonishing […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- After spending the summer abroad and finally having returned, seeing King Kartel will be my first gig back in Manchester. The Mancunian band hailing from Northern Ireland (mostly) are playing Band On The Wall with support from local bands Global and Narrow Margin. As soon as we enter, we see […]

LIVE: KING KARTEL / NARROW MARGIN / GLOBAL – 04/10/2019