LIVE REVIEW: FLORA YIN-WONG AND BIANCA SCOUT – SOUP 29/02/2024

I love dry ice. There’s nothing more I like than a stage, nay, a whole venue shrouded in the misty stuff, preferably with moody red lights cutting through it. I once saw The Strokes play enveloped completely by dry ice for a full set with just the instantly recognisable silhouettes of the (then) skinny New […]
Heat swirls around the room as The Kairos captivate the crowd. Moving to the beat, hearts pumping with adrenaline, the audience gathers to see the band’s whirlwind performance. Dempsey, Chambers, Bradley and Forrester effortlessly show what it means to have raw talent and skill, which is seen so rarely. The crowd works in a system, […]

LIVE REVIEW: THE KAIROS – FUTURE YARD 01/02/2024

LIVE REVIEW: DORIAN ELECTRA – NEW CENTURY HALL 27/01/24

Dorian Electra is a musical genius. For nearly a decade, the American artist has made socially conscious, tongue-in-cheek compositions across three albums. Their 2019 debut record, ‘Flamboyant,’ saw them deconstruct masculinity and the many social expectations that it presents via catchy choruses and clever lyricism. Since then, they’ve released 2020’s ‘My Agenda,’ a deep dive […]
Advice After Tooth Extractions: 1. Take painkillers as soon as possible and before local anaesthetic wears off, and thereafter as necessary for the pain. Check… 2. Avoid rinsing out your mouth or disturbing the extraction socket for the first 24 hours, so as not to upset the natural blood clot forming, which initiates healing. OK… […]

LIVE REVIEW: DJANGO DJANGO – NEW CENTURY HALLS 13/12/23

LIVE REVIEW: PORRIDGE RADIO – 11/12/23

Dana Margolin, singer and guitarist of Porridge Radio, makes my blood run cold with one phrase uttered at the very start of their Yes show this evening. ‘We’re going to play mainly new stuff’. That’s it. That’s enough to dampen my enthusiasm for this show on a mild Monday evening in December, the promise that […]
It’s still hard to believe that it’s only ten years ago since Johnny Marr decided to go solo. Since the demise of The Smiths in 1987, his collaborations took centre stage, notably with Bernard Sumner in Electronic, The Cribs, and Modest Mouse amongst others, so tonight is a celebration of Marr’s decade going solo, lent […]

LIVE REVIEW: JOHNNY MARR ORCHESTRA 07/12/23

LIVE REVIEW: GILLA BAND – YES 05/12/23

This is perhaps the fourth or fifth time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Gilla Band (former Girl Band), the Irish noise rockers who tear off the roof of any venue they play with their ferocious sound, and I’m pleased to say that the power they possess as a live unit has not diminished having […]
It’s early November and Model/Actriz have just clattered into Yes and made a very compelling claim to the ‘best gig of the year’ crown. This is an electric, thrilling, chaotic, wonderfully life affirming show, from a New York band of industrial/noise/dance/rockers who smash all conventions of that description in a giddy, queer, raw, burningly physical, […]

LIVE REVIEW: MODEL/ACTRIZ – YES 4/11/23

LIVE REVIEW: BAR ITALIA – YES 31/10/2023

It’s Halloween night, but there are no spooky shenanigans at Yes this evening. The most interesting guitar band to emerge in a good few years are here to do their post-punk/goth/shoegaze/britpop/grunge thing and there’s no time for messing about. Despite being around for around 4 years now, there’s still an element of the unknown to […]
For my first visit to The White Hotel in Salford, it is fitting that both acts I witnessed are themselves Manchester bands – though not at all in the Madchester sense of the phrase. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of 90s nostalgia, mind you, but the descriptor comes nowhere close to encapsulating […]

LIVE REVIEW – MANDY, INDIANA & SLAP RASH – THE WHITE HOTEL SALFORD 27/10/23