LIVE: LEVELLERS / THE WATERBOYS / BILLY BRAGG / DREADZONE – 02/07/2017

-CASTLEFIELD BOWL, MANCHESTER- The Levellers transported their own-curated festival North and to quote another band they brought the weather with them. The good sort that is. It was Beautiful Days meets Sounds of the City in the perfect surroundings of Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl. The Irish folk band, Beoga get the day’s proceedings under way and […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Well… it was certainly a set! Hello, I’m Connor Ryan and today I’m going to talk about how one band so chilled and sunny on record, can in the flesh become a different beast entirely. I’ve had mixed feelings on Real Estate ever since I was notified of their existence […]

LIVE: REAL ESTATE – 28/06/2017

LIVE: HOLLY HERNDON – 30/06/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER- Manchester International Festival returns with one of its most eclectic and strongest bills since inception in 2007. The last event 2015 passed with barely a whimper but a new creative director has breathed much needed life into one of Manchester’s greatest cultural happenings. The esoteric Dark Matter series curated by Mary Anne […]
–  APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Travelling from the promised land that is Warrington to a city of extreme hustle and bustle called Manchester, two things are crossing my mind. The first, could I have done more to keep The Maccabees from “calling it a day”? The second, I wonder how I’m going to deal with the […]

LIVE: THE MACCABEES – 27/06/2017

EP REVIEW: MAGIC SHOPPE ‘HIGH GOODBYE’

Boston’s Magic Shoppe are back with the High Goodbye EP, their third release in 18 months. They sprung to public prominence in February 2016 with Interstellar Car Crash EP and then debut LP Wonderland. Having garnered a reputation for their mesmerising live performances, the announcement that they will feature at this year’s Liverpool International Festival […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Sadly gone are the days when bands would routinely have local poets or comedians come on stage as their opening acts – the idea of John Cooper Clarke or John Shuttleworth warming up a crowd before The Damned or A Certain Ratio is something that the kids will have to read […]

LIVE: SPOON / ADAM BUXTON – 27/06/2017

LIVE: MARK LANEGAN BAND / DUKE GARWOOD – 21/06/2017

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Did I mention it’s hot? I seem to spend half the day moaning about how nice the weather is at the moment, but at least I’m not off to spend an evening in a sweaty mosh pit, as Mark Lanegan’s newer material is more measured than his work with Screaming […]
– CENTRAL STATION, WREXHAM – I’ve been given license by the Silent Radio grandees to leave our Manchester stomping ground for unexplored North Walian pastures. Having been cruelly ruled out of the Manchester show with work commitments, I’m in Wrexham to watch The Wedding Present perform George Best in its entirety. Album shows are a […]

LIVE: THE WEDDING PRESENT – 20/06/2017

LIVE: KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD – 14/06/2017

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I only found out I was coming to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard an hour before they come on stage tonight. No time for a shower – throw on an unwashed tee and out to the Albert Hall in a matter of moments. To say i’m frenzied is […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Nobody’s list of priorities for a great gig is topped by seeing a band starting to tour a new album that won’t be out for a couple of months. When homeboys Everything Everything open with ‘Night of the Long Knives’, a song nobody present could possibly have heard yet, you […]

LIVE: EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – 20/06/2017