ALBUM REVIEW: NADA SURF – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE

If trends are thunderbolts, burning out in a flash in a desperate bid to be noticed, Nada Surf is a cloud drifting to its destination, confident of its place and immune from the fluctuating scenes around it. The general consensus among music critics is that playing on proven strengths and retaining your existing fanbase signifies […]
 – ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – Just last year, Holly Lapsley Fletcher was studying for her A-Levels in Southport. Unlike many people her age, she knew exactly what she wanted to do – study Geography at Bristol and go onto work for the National Geographic. She still vows that she may do this. However, at just […]

LIVE: LAPSLEY – 05/03/2016

LIVE: THE GUNS N’ ROSES EXPERIENCE – 04/03/2016

 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Whether you agree with it or not, tribute acts can actually be an absolute blast. You’ll never get the personal experience of watching a group on stage who looks, acts and sounds exactly like your favourite big band, stood only 10 feet in front of you for less than the price of an […]
– ISLINGTON MILL, SALFORD – Liverpool-based Mugstar bring their unique brand of psychedelia to the Islington Mill for the launch of their titanic double-album Magnetic Seasons and it is safe to say that they have not disappointed. Mugstar, whose intense work ethic and experimental sound have granted them a wide variety of opportunities (including featuring one […]

LIVE: MUGSTAR – 03/03/2016

LIVE: JAMIE WOON – 03/03/2016

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Here’s a little list of things that are widely considered to be smooth: glass; mirrors; velvet; caramel; baby’s bottoms; Jamie Woon. Seriously, the dude is smooth AF. Tonight, in Manchester’s brilliant Gorilla, Woon seduces the crowd with his unbelievably soulful, funky RnB, and we are all, collectively, both a little bit […]
 – NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – The simplistic red fairy lights strung up along the walls of the cosy Night and Day Café make the perfect setting for tonight’s intimate affair. All of the proceedings from tonight are split and donated to charities close to the heart of current events. The first charity is […]

LIVE: MAN MADE – 02/03/2016

LIVE: PALEHOUND – 01/03/2016

– GULLIVER’S, MANCHESTER – Palehound is the alias of Ellen Kempner – an unflinching female guitarist and singer unafraid to lay bare her insecurities and imperfections through her music. Tonight is both a strange and special night for Ellen and her band, special as it is their first ever show in the UK, strange as […]
 – GULLIVER’S, MANCHESTER – Heady psychedelia & Southern sweet-sour blues? I can’t think of a better match. Apart from gin & tonic, I mean. We are getting far from 9.30pm at a cramped Gulliver’s Victorian ballroom, when a silent guy with a plain ‘Maine’ cup enters the stage and starts checking the keys. He disappears […]

LIVE: ALL THEM WITCHES – 29/02/2016

LIVE: FUN LOVIN’ CRIMINALS – 26/02/2016

 – MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL – “You must be crazy coming to see the Fun Lovin’ Criminals in a church on a Friday night, but that’s what I like about you,” the charismatic Huey Morgan says to the massed ranks of his congregation. Crazy or not, there is no hotter ticket in town tonight – the touts […]
– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – ‘Hello Manchester, we’re Blossoms from Stockport.’ A swelling of lights, then smoke fills the bosom of The Albert Hall. From the balcony, straps that hold the bulge of the room, I scream back ‘SK2’.  This is postcode code.  We can locate Blossoms more precisely than Stockport.  These blossoms sprouted […]

LIVE: BLOSSOMS – 27/02/2016