LIVE: CHARLY BLISS – 09/05/2019

-NIGHT PEOPLE, MANCHESTER- Charly Bliss appear to be in permanent disbelief at the success of their band. As I wrote when I saw them play The Eagle Inn in 2017, they bounded around the stage as much in shock at the reality of the moment as through the joy of performing their music. Fast forward […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst kept a noble secret before the release of their self-titled Better Oblivion Community Center album back in January. With no build-up whatsoever, the record came out of the blue, something that I loved, especially given just how immensely enjoyable a listen it is. For sure, it’s […]

LIVE: BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER – 12/05/2019

LIVE: JAKOB OGAWA – 11/05/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- Nothing beats a chill Saturday evening gig after a busy week, and I’m positive that’s what I’m going to get as I head to the basement of Manchester’s newest ‘cool kidz’ venue, Yes, on Saturday to see Norwegian indie-pop stalwart Jakob Ogawa. I’m lucky enough to catch Stockport natives Valve while they’re finishing […]
– THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, MANCHESTER- Launching his autobiography by having a chat with local writer and DJ Dave Haslam, Joy Division and New Order’s drumming legend Stephen Morris is in fine form. Although guitarist and frontman Bernard Sumner and former bassist Peter Hook have already released their autobiographies, Morris states that this is “his side” […]

LIVE: STEPHEN MORRIS IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVE HASLAM – 11/05/2019

LIVE: DRAHLA / SNAKE EATERS / C33’S – 07/05/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- C33’s A rather up-tempo opener provides the spectators with a redux to classic punk, energetic yet rather simplistic, perhaps a little too much so. The noise they emit certainly earns them notice, but their inability to actually innovate beyond a string of Ramones-inspired tantrums does little to warm me to them. The drums […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Fat White Family’s performance at Manchester’s glorious Ritz offers an insight into the wild minds of its members, who, seemingly possessed by seedy, dark forces, are as ever electric and uncompromising. Rifling through delicious tracks from their small yet juicy back catalogue, FWF seem to have a real connection with the Manchester […]

LIVE: FAT WHITE FAMILY – 04/05/2019

LIVE: SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY FESTIVAL – 05/05/2019

-REGENTS TRADING ESTATE, SALFORD- This is Sounds from the Other City’s birthday and to celebrate they’re throwing a quindecennial party. To save you a trip to your pocket e-dictionary, that means they’re fifteen years old, a hell of an achievement for an annual one-day music festival. For this one-off occasion, they’re throwing their usual format […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- If you’ve had any interest in guitar music over the past eighteen months, you’ll have heard their name, they’ve made it sure as hell that everybody who needs to know, knows. The Blinders have been of interest to many, especially this past year, after the release of their debut album, Columbia, to great praise […]

LIVE: THE BLINDERS – 27/04/2019

LIVE: BC CAMPLIGHT – SOLO SHOW & Q&A – 30/04/2019

-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Tonight is special for BC Camplight. He’s too cool ever to say so, but it is clear. After everything he’s been through over the last decade, to have an intimate solo show like this in the city that has become his home and has offered him the opportunities that he […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- After listening to Cabbage over the past couple of years or so, I knew there was something I was personally missing. Certain music press were raving about them being the band we needed, pushing a political mess into people’s faces. For myself, just hearing their recordings, I wasn’t completely on board the “Cabbage […]

LIVE: CABBAGE – 25/04/2019