LIVE REVIEW: BEYOND THE MUSIC FESTIVAL: VARIOUS VENUES ACROSS MANCHESTER – 9-12 OCTOBER 2024

With several of our writers having been part of our city’s previous music industry festival, In The City, which ran from 1992 – 2010, we were overjoyed when Beyond The Music picked up the baton and created what the music industry, and Manchester’s music scene has been missing – a festival devoted to honest discussions, […]
Running through the streets of Manchester isn’t an ideal way to get to a gig but nothing about today has been normal compared to my day-to-day life, starting my day sat listening to panels and like-minded people talk about issues the music industry faces. As I reach Off the Square I’m early, really early. Standing […]

LIVE REVIEW: BEYOND THE MUSIC: OFF THE SQUARE: HOLLOWBODY, MSIX, NESSA MAY, CHEIDU ORA, THE KAIROS – 10/10/24

LIVE REVIEW: WUNDERHORSE – LIVERPOOL ACADEMY 14/10/2024

When I first saw the tour poster for Wunderhorse all over the UK some part of me melted a little inside, in my time going to music gigs, I haven’t seen a band burst out of nowhere and leave such an impression on people as them. Ever since their debut album Cub in 2022, there […]
The elegant, frayed decay of the Albert Hall gives it its charm, its chunky charisma. It is arguably our finest live venue, the balcony like a hug, the room something of an architectural cuddle. And if it’s not homely enough, tonight there are rugs on the stage, and lamps dotted about as well, so that […]

LIVE REVIEW: JORDAN RAKEI – ALBERT HALL 26/09/24

LIVE REVIEW: THE LEMON TWIGS – ACADEMY 2 12/09/24

The Brian Wilson vocals announce the Twigs are about to twig their way onto the stage, and take the Academy 2 on a strange hour and a half of time-travelling, genre-bending, jangly retro Americana. Plus some Merseybeat. It’s 60s… at times it’s 70s… it’s a little discombobulating, which would be a problem were it not […]
It’s the hottest night of the year so far, and as the evening sunlight shines through the beautiful ornate windows of the Albert Hall, the place is packed. It’s been over thirty-three years since The Breeders burst on to the early 90’s indie scene with the astonishing debut album ‘Pod’, and with the 30th anniversary […]

LIVE REVIEW:THE BREEDERS – ALBERT HALL (26/06/24)

LIVE REVIEW – DEA MATRONA: NIGHT AND DAY 14/05/24

First of all, do not get the mango infused or house beer if you ever go to night & day as they’re really not nice. The mango has redeeming qualities like it smells nice and the initial taste is alright, but the house beer tastes like piss. Walking into night & day is like getting […]
‘Manchester tonight’s been the best night of our fucking lives. We should do it again sometime,’ declares Boyle as the crowd applauds in approval. The voluminous venue that is Victoria Warehouse, with a capacity of 3,500, was swiftly stamped as ‘sold out’. Being the biggest venue they have performed to date, the band has been […]

LIVE REVIEW – THE K’S – VICTORIA WAREHOUSE 26/04/24

LIVE REVIEW: ADRIENNE LENKER -AVIVA STUDIOS 25/04/24

Two friends embrace in the foyer of the Aviva Unilever Proctor & Gamble Tony Wilson Factory Arena Studios International (I think that’s it’s full name?) after this most magical of Adrianne Lenker performances: “What are you doing here?!” “Crying!” Two partners next to me watch on in hushed rapture, intertwined in each other’s embrace, heads […]
Isn’t it brilliant when something connects seamlessly, when something locks in perfectly? For jigsaw nerds it might be that final piece snapping into place to reveal the whole; it might be something as simple as the feel of a key turning to open a lock; it could be something more complex, like the final bit […]

LIVE REVIEW: STILL HOUSE PLANTS – THE WHITE HOTEL 17/04/2024