LIVE: MOSES SUMNEY – 19/09/2018

-DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, MANCHESTER- Moses Sumney is otherworldly. From the moment he strides on stage with his impossible height, incredibly high waisted trousers, a kind of robe adoring his arms, it’s impossible to remove your eyes from him for the next hour or so. He is magnetic, enthralling, magical. He commands the stage, flanked by a […]
-GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER- Tonight Gulliver’s has been taken over by Lancastrian label, Bingo Records for their first year anniversary, a birthday bash! The record label consists of a menagerie of interwoven bands, with label mates performing under a number of different guises and playing multiple instruments. The room is filled with affiliates, friends, family (a lovely […]

LIVE: MR. BEN & THE BENS – 14/09/2018

LIVE: KIRAN LEONARD/CULT PARTY – 08/09/2018

– Partisan, Manchester – When I arrive, Partisan offers us a quarter circle of sofas for viewing. Behind that, more chairs of plush and non-plush kinds. Though there’s a sizeable free space on the floor, with people clustering around the edges. I’m admittedly entering with some bias and expectation. I saw Cult Party (the collective […]
– Gulliver’s, Manchester – Debuting the UK and Europe in a manner that can only be described as storming are Perth’s Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Selling out almost every show on a tour that is witnessing the band for the first time is a fantastic achievement but one that is worth every penny. Gulliver’s is a […]

LIVE: PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS – 13/09/2018

LIVE: ICEAGE – 09/09/2018

– Gorilla, Manchester – Let’s get this out of the way upfront: I have the biggest man crush on Iceage front man Elias Bender Rønnenfelt. He’s possibly the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in real life, and his brooding, pouting, strong silent type stage persona (and off stage persona if his interviews are anything […]
– The Deaf Institute, Manchester – Entry number 48 in the series ‘How Much Are Young Women With Guitars Kicking Ass Right Now?’ featuring Sophie Allison aka Soccer Mommy. You may have read number 47 in this series a couple of weeks back after I went to see the brilliant Phoebe Bridgers, and I’ll probably […]

LIVE: SOCCER MOMMY – 05/09/2018

LIVE: TITUS ANDRONICUS – 03/09/2018

– Soup Kitchen, Manchester – This is, hands down, one of the odder shows I’ve been to in recent times. Billed as ‘Titus Andronicus Acoustic’, ‘the band’ are playing much smaller venues than they have done on previous tours in support of their new album A Productive Cough, and the reason is immediately clear: this […]
-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Last night I went to see Spike Lee’s new film Blackkklansman, and it’s pretty brilliant. It’s very funny, and, as you might expect, it packs a hell of a social conscious punch in it. I also felt extremely uncomfortable as a white man, in a cinema full of middle class white people, […]

LIVE: CAMP COPE – 31/08/2018

LIVE: PHOEBE BRIDGERS – 19/08/2018

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- We’re in a bit of a golden era for young women making exceptional albums with, gasp, guitars rather than synths and a vocoder, like so many of their male peers. Artists like Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Julien Baker, Mitski, Lucy Dacus and tonight’s star turn Phoebe Bridgers are all making brilliant, emotional, funny, […]
-SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER- Tonight is a night of alcohol spillage, intense joyful smiling and immense musical pleasure. The US hip hop musician gives the crowd an experience few would have predicted possible before he coolly struts on stage at quarter past 9… the chance to dance like a funky white boy and not give a […]

LIVE: DAM-FUNK – 15/08/2018