LIVE: MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST III – 13/06/2015

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – On the back of two successful events last year, Manchester Psych Fest brings about their third installment with an eclectic line up which does have one questioning what exactly is ‘psych’ these days. First on the bill we have one of the newest members of the Manchester psych […]
–  THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – In case any of us had forgotten, Andrew Jackson Jihad (AJJ) reminds us that guitars can actually sweat. And bleed. Clean and raucous, friendly furious, the punk-folk band from Arizona turs up as an effective catalyst for teenagers’ rage, as most of the audience tonight is pretty young and […]

LIVE: ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD – 11/06/2015

LIVE: JENNY HVAL – 11/06/2015

– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – This is, hands down, the oddest gig I’ve been to. And I saw the first iteration of The Knife’s Shake The Habitual tour. Jenny Hval, the Norwegian art-pop-composer-sometime—metal-vocalist has brought her show to Manchester’s intimate Gullivers, and it’s full on mental. Hval has just released her best album, Apocalypse, girl, and […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – British Sea Power are somewhat of a cult these days, a reputation for doing a lot for their fans, most of which are quite mad. Their online merchandise shop is, without doubt, one of the best in the world. They harbour the biggest range of band t-shirts known to man […]

LIVE: BRITISH SEA POWER – 12/06/2015

LIVE: DIIV – 10/06/2015

– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Tonight’s entertainment comes in the form of New York’s finest surf rockers gracing this historic venue with their presence. Signed to Captured Tracks, DIIV started as a solo project for lead singer Zachary Smith Cole, which interestingly was originally called Dive after the Nirvana track. Cole put together a […]
– EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – And so it’s Day Two and despite a few sore heads and blurry eyes as I enter the venue, the overall mood is buoyant and the alcohol is already flowing. Bonnacons of Doom open proceedings in the Main Lab. The five piece have a fill-in bassist in the form of James […]

LIVE: EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB DAY 2 – 06/06/2015

LIVE: EINDHOVEN PSYCH LAB DAY 1 – 05/06/2015

– EINDHOVEN, NETHERLANDS – The time is now: the most anticipated overseas psych event is here, from the creators of Liverpool Psych Fest…Eindhoven Psych Lab. Its Day One and Tubelight take the stage in the Main Lab. The Belgian four piece offer up channelled My Bloody Valentine shoegaze vibes and although being relatively unknowns offer […]
– HEATON PARK, MANCHESTER – To date, this is by far The Courteeners’ biggest gig and where better to have it in than their own backyard? Over 25,000 people have crammed into Heaton Park to see the biggest band in Manchester at the moment, perform. The crowd is a sea of Fila bucket hats and wannabe hooligans. […]

LIVE: THE COURTEENERS – 05/06/2015

LIVE: AMANDA PALMER – 03/06/2015

– RNCM, MANCHESTER –  Theoretically, this is supposed to be one of the UK dates for the presentation of Amanda Palmer’s book ‘The Art of Asking’. The book is autobiographical and addresses the topic of crowdfunding but also the more general issue of asking for things and why people find it so difficult. In practice, […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Galeforce winds and stormy skies have freakishly, and most likely temporarily, been replaced by something that resembles ‘summer’ in Manchester today. It must be the presence of the Allah-Las. This LA band have used their musical knowledge, honed from spending time together as record store employees, to come up with a pretty successful […]

LIVE: ALLAH-LAS – 04/06/2015