LIVE: NEIGHBOURHOOD FESTIVAL 2019 – 12/10/2019

-VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER- It’s the morning after my best mate’s 21st birthday and believe you me, my body is feeling it. The beautiful sight of a sunny Manchester (which is rare these days) is slowly curing my soul, and the inevitably incredible Neighbourhood Festival is the light at the end of the tunnel. The day […]
Skylark & The Scorpion have created the whole ‘Weather The Storm’ project to be enjoyed as both a film and soundtrack. The film was made in the depths of winter off the Scottish coast near Shetland, and stars the two musicians behind the whole concept Petra Jean Phillipson and Nick J. Webb as the roles […]

ALBUM REVIEW: SKYLARK & THE SCORPION – WEATHER THE STORM

LIVE: RICHARD HAWLEY – 07/10/2019

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- In the words of Chandler Bing, could things BE anymore Manchester, as I step out of my apartment building and step pretty straight into John Thomson, walking into the Dakota Hotel opposite. It’s a scene from Cold Feet (and indeed my street was in one of those luxurious pan shots across the […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- Bill Ryder-Jones (contractually obliged to say ‘formally of The Coral’ here – indeed he is playing a guitar with a strap adorned with their name) released a brilliant album, Yawn, last year, probably his best solo effort to date. Not content with that, he also released an entirely piano based version […]

LIVE: BILL RYDER-JONES – 06/10/2019

ALBUM REVIEW: NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – GHOSTEEN

Nick Cave announcing a new album is always welcome news in our house. After witnessing his recent ‘In Conversation’ tour, where everything was stripped back, raw, emotional, funny and a real one-off event, plus reading his brilliant responses to fans’ questions via his ‘Red Hand Files’ emails,  predicting where he could go next with his […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- In these dark and troubled times, it is somewhat reassuring to be in the presence of Bill Callahan. He enters the stage with his relaxed preppy college prof demeanour to greet the large audience, in one of his rare visits to the UK to support his recent double album, Shepherd in a […]

LIVE: BILL CALLAHAN – 02/10/2019

LIVE: BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD – 02/10/2019

-YES (THE BASEMENT), MANCHESTER- Wow. Could probably leave this piece at that exclamation and be pretty pleased with how I’ve summed up my experience of this absolutely extraordinary show I’ve just witnessed. Might add ‘mind blown’ and just walk away from it. Because to try and explain to you, dear readers, just how ridiculously, astonishing […]
-BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER- After spending the summer abroad and finally having returned, seeing King Kartel will be my first gig back in Manchester. The Mancunian band hailing from Northern Ireland (mostly) are playing Band On The Wall with support from local bands Global and Narrow Margin. As soon as we enter, we see […]

LIVE: KING KARTEL / NARROW MARGIN / GLOBAL – 04/10/2019

LIVE: THE MYSTERY LIGHTS – 01/10/2019

-NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER- New York’s The Mystery Lights grace Manchester’s Night and Day Café on a brisk evening signifying the end of the summer but the kick start to the usual autumn plethora of gigs around the city. They are currently mid-way through a mammoth two-month tour of Europe that’ll conclude at the […]
-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- “Thanks for coming out guys, we haven’t really done much since last time so we really appreciate it!” says Camp Cope leader Georgia McDonald in her distinctive Aussie drawl, to much whooping from the crowd. People don’t care that the band haven’t released any new music since their brilliant 2018 LP How To […]

LIVE: CAMP COPE – 25/09/2019