LIVE: WOMAN’S HOUR – 14/03/2019

-GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER- Formed in 2011 and named after the news and culture show on BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour is made up of siblings Fiona and William Burgess and synth player Josh Hunnisett. Their 2014 debut album Conversations was received well by critics, receiving strong reviews across the board, but since that debut release, there […]
-ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER- Holding a crowd’s attention when you’re in a band, have some instruments, or massive screens and choreography behind you in an arena is hard enough (i.e Drake’s ridiculous ‘whole stage as an HD screen’ set up), but holding a crowd’s attention with nothing but yourself and a DJ in the background building […]

LIVE: SABA – 13/03/2019

LIVE: TINFOILS / CHUPA CABRA / PAGANS S.O.H. / BLANKETMAN – 07/03/2019

-THE PEER HAT, MANCHESTER- Blanketman Entering the all too familiar Peer Hat basement, I learn this evening has something memorable and exclusive for all spectators present; acting on instinct, I forsake my typical rule of live reviews (to the detriment of my cellular battery). Taking the front compartment in this limited edition anthology packaging, Blanketman […]
-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- Charlotte Cannon Deciding early on to remain seated in the school gymnasium-type ‘bench zone’ gives me a chance to observe the rather theatrical lightning setup, in conjunction with the gaudy, oversized disco ball looming over the growing audience (imagine the impact). It actually provides a rather fitting backdrop for the opening act; […]

LIVE: SNAPPED ANKLES / CHARLOTTE CANNON – 06/03/2019

LIVE: BAS / AUDIO PUSH / LUTE – 06/03/2019

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- Bas is a New York-raised rapper and disciple of the Dreamville hip-hop troupe, and his fellow teammate J.I.D recently said that collectively, they are striving to go toe-to-toe with Top Dawg Entertainment, the front-running label in the genre this decade. The statement makes sense, especially considering how well the match-ups align: Dreamville head […]
-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- For the celebration of International Women’s Day, Gorilla and The Deaf Institute have come together for SHE PWR, an event to celebrate women artists of every kind: visual arts, spoken word and music. The Deaf Institute welcomes four bands/artists on stage tonight: ILL, WITCH FEVER, Current Mood Girl (who I missed, unfortunately) […]

LIVE: SHE PWR (ILL / WITCH FEVER / JULIA BARDO) – 08/03/2019

LIVE: CALVA LOUISE / KID KAPICHI – 06/03/2019

-NIGHT PEOPLE, MANCHESTER- So when I rock up at Night People, Manchester, a venue filled with character, I find myself mildly disappointed by trying-too-hard-to-be-angsty, slightly pretentious, Radiohead wannabe support band Sugarstone, (who, I strongly believe are clinging onto the ‘moody band who haven’t slept in years’ bandwagon just for the trend of it) showing no […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Free Vibes is a (who would have guessed!) free-entry event at Band On The Wall that seeks to introduce new and emerging artists a few times every month. For this week’s edition, Band On The Wall teamed up with Shell Zenner from Amazing Radio to bring Sugar, Spengler, Haha Sick, […]

LIVE: SUGAR / SPENGLER / HAHA SICK / CYNTHIA’S PERISCOPE – 07/03/2019

LIVE: THE TWILIGHT SAD – 27/02/2019

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- Sweet baby Jesus, The Twilight Sad (TTS) are an astonishingly good live band. Scrap that; they’re just an astonishingly good band full stop. Here to support their ridiculously great new album IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME (which, annoying punctuation and capitals aside, is their best effort since their peerless debut […]
-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Chew Magna The first to grace the Soup Kitchen ‘stage’ consists of a band whose central methodology involves making their guitarists clash against one another’s grain, stout basslines whose texture can’t quite pierce the evident sound mixing issues and drums (loose cymbals sink beats) that serve their purpose, perhaps content in their […]

LIVE: MOTHERS / BLANKETMAN / CHEW MAGNA – 22/02/2019