LIVE: LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY – 15/03/2016

 – BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER –  “Sometimes I pretend to be normal but it gets boring so I go back to being me”. The statement sums up the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s vital philosophy. He’ll be 80 years old the day after tomorrow, but as he has never stopped having fun, he’s not old […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Plastic leotards and leatherette tutus. Glitter covered everything and pastel faux fur. Neon faces and blown-out bedroom tattoos. The internet has vomited all over Manchester’s Academy and it’s beautiful. Every spectral colour is represented across a sea of semi-permanently dyed armpits and space-bun topped heads, and as I wade deeper […]

LIVE: GRIMES – 12/03/2016

LIVE: COSMOSIS FESTIVAL – 12/03/2016

– VICTORIA WAREHOUSE, MANCHESTER – What a difference a year makes. I had a fantastic time at Cosmosis 2015, despite feeling as though I was at an illegally organised psych fest in a crack den… in fact, maybe it was partly because it felt like an illegally organised psych fest in a crack den. The Victoria Warehouse […]
– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Oh Albert Hall we meet again, you absolute beauty. Seriously if you haven’t been, grab a ticket for the band that you love and have a good night. Sit down, dance away or just stare at the beautiful glass ceilings; it’s all good. Armed with my two good friends, […]

LIVE: THE CORAL – 12/03/2016

LIVE: WOLF ALICE / SWIM DEEP – 10/03/2016

– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – Walking into the Manchester Academy I’m pleasantly surprised with how small and intimate the venue is; it’s large enough to feel like a big crowd is present (which there most definitely is) and yet small enough to feel like it’s a private party. Sneaking a quick look at the band […]
 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “I don’t know whether you’re newcomers or whether you’re fans of my old acoustic-y shit.’’ I am a fan of it all. It’s not yet been much more than a year since Missouri-born frontman Nathaniel Rateliff last released his lone EP Closer but a lot has changed. He’s now a seven piece […]

LIVE: NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS – 10/03/2016

LIVE: ANTICS CLUB NIGHT FT. LUSTS – 11/03/2016

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Walking down Oldham Street on my way to the Night and Day Café with my face glued to google maps, I’m stumbling past the doorway and then having to retrace my steps to find this glorious little gem of a music venue. Behind the bar is lined with […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Cast your mind back to the late 90s/early 00s and you might remember NME informing us that there was a new music scene erupting which they dubbed ‘The New Acoustic Movement’. Catchy, it included the likes of Starsailor, I Am Kloot and Turin Brakes. Since then, all these bands have […]

LIVE: TURIN BRAKES – 10/03/2016

LIVE: RUDIMENTAL – 08/03/2016

 – THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – As the O2 Apollo is filling to bursting point, DJ M.A.X has been tasked with delighting the crowd for about an hour. He’s not what you’d call ‘easy listening’ but he’s definitely got talent. His mixing style and obvious passion for music can’t be faulted. He even sneaks in a […]
  – GULLIVER’S, MANCHESTER – It’s a Tuesday night in rainy Manchester and I’m ditching the weeknight slippers and mind-numbing “I only eat cheese – Dinnerdate special” TV to venture out into my favourite part of the city – The Northern Quarter. I’m a fairly new listener of Frankie & the Heartstrings, a 5 piece […]

LIVE: FRANKIE & THE HEARTSTRINGS – 08/03/2016