LIVE REVIEW – INHALER: MANCHESTER APOLLO – 08/02/2025

Imagine if you took a picture of your heart outside your chest and the very next day, more than 3,000 people were wearing it on a chain around their neck. This goes some way to describing how Inhaler must be feeling as they’re pumped on stage to find that the lyrics of their new album […]
Last time I saw Field Music was on 28 February 2020 at the Dancehouse in Manchester. They were doing a tour of seated venues accompanied by visuals in support of their ‘Making A New World’ album which had arisen out of a commission for the Imperial War Museum. Those who were taking Covid seriously sensed […]

LIVE REVIEW – FIELD MUSIC: BAND ON THE WALL – 06/02/2025

LIVE REVIEW – KIKUOLAND: MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2 – 01/02/25

I’ll be honest, I didn’t anticipate there being that much of a turnout for this show. In actuality, the Kikuoland concert at Manchester Academy was sold out, but I had made the easy mistake of assuming that, as the music of the headliner is relatively niche and enjoyed particularly in communities whose interactions are mostly […]
Alestorm are currently one of the busiest bands on the road. It has not even been a year since they last toured the UK, and so despite this, when they were announced as the headliners for the returning Pagan Fest tour, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. I have been following the lads on tour vlogs […]

LIVE REVIEW: PAGAN FEST – VICTORIA WAREHOUSE – 18/01/2025

GIGS OF 2024

As ever, north-west England and especially Manchester has been well-served for great gigs in 2024. Here, in no particular order, are some of the top shows enjoyed by Silent Radio’s writers during this year: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Adrienne Lenker The Breeders The Zutons Paul McCartney Magnetic Fields The Unthanks Cumgirl8 Still House […]
I intend for you to leave this review wishing you were at the gig I attended with a pal of mine on December 10th at YES Basement. At the very least, I hope you feel intrigued enough to check out cumgirl8 and Arch Femmesis – headline and support acts respectively – who each dominated the […]

LIVE REVIEW – CUMGIRL8: YES BASEMENT – 10/12/2024

LIVE REVIEW – IDLES: MANCHESTER APOLLO – 06/12/24

Following a number one album in the UK with TANGK, Idles bring their manic and quite frankly insane energy to Manchester’s O2 Apollo this Friday, on a cold, damp and miserable day, frontman Joe Talbot still somehow finds a way to light up that crowd and have everyone in his control right in the palm […]
It is a night that defines winter in a north-west coastal town: dreary, bleak and blustery, one that is far from the Hollywood picture postcard vision of crisply snowy Christmas. Visibility is so poor that is hard to locate the relevant bus stop and the entrance to Lowther Gardens is unlit and easily missed. Leafy […]

LIVE REVIEW: THE UNTHANKS – LYTHAM LOWTHER PAVILION: 04/12/24

LIVE REVIEW: FONTAINES D.C. – MANCHESTER AVIVA STUDIOS: 29/11/24

Wild and ferocious, the boys from the better land carved ‘Dublin City’ into the heart of Manchester as they debuted their three-night residency. Fans venture from every inch of the map as the capacity of Aviva Studio reaches its limit. Feeding the 5,000, this crowd came with an appetite starving for a show. It’s clear […]
Sometimes pink is the blush in your cheeks. The charming pigment that fills your lips and filters your romances. Sometimes it’s the stain of a slap full in the face. The electrifying shade of a force your skin won’t forget. On its best days, pink is all of the above. Animated and charming, electric and […]

LIVE REVIEW: THE ROYSTON CLUB – LIVERPOOL ACADEMY 19/11/24