LIVE: COURTNEY BARNETT – 03/04/2015

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – There must be a time portal at the door of Gorilla:  We’ve arrived early to check out the support bands, but somehow between the doorman and the cloakroom we’ve been transported to Greenwich village in 1961.  Fraser A Gorman is a man who wears his Dylan influences on his sleeves, in […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – It’s a stormy Monday night, but shelter and warmth from the high winds and incessant rain has kindly been provided tonight by Manchester’s renowned basement rock venue. Intrepid, die hard music fans huddle around the stage, eager to hear the next big thing, while trying to shake off their weekend hangovers. […]

LIVE: DEMOB HAPPY – 30/03/2015

Album Review: The Lilac Time – No Sad Songs

With only a couple of brushes with the charts over the course of a 35-year career, Stephen Duffy is no stranger to commercial failure. Yet so disheartened was he with the non-impact of his last album, 2007’s Runout Groove, and the state of the music industry that he decided not to release any more records. […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – When I arrive at The Castle Hotel, unfortunately it’s too late for the first band Elephantine, but I am on time for support act Violet Violet. The Norwich duo, Felicity/Fliss Kitson on drums and Cheri Percy on guitar, have been playing together since they met at sixth form but decided […]

LIVE: BAD GRAMMAR – 27/03/2015

LIVE: THE LOVELY EGGS / THE HIPSHAKES – 28/03/2015

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – The gig space in the Soup Kitchen looks like a catacomb and it fits the night perfectly, given that the devotion shown by fans of The Lovely Eggs shares some traits with a religious cult, and this is now the cult of the Magic Onion, as explained later. The amplification […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “Hello Ritz, we’ve gone too fast and need a breather” beams Duncan Wallis, frontman of Stockport’s finest Dutch Uncles. He’s not the only one. Just three songs into their biggest headline show to date and the energy in the room is electric. While a moment of respite gives an adoring […]

LIVE: DUTCH UNCLES – 27/03/2015

LIVE: WOLF ALICE – 26/03/2015

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Hype Machine named them the UK’s most blogged about artist of 2013 and then in 2014 they were named Breakthrough Act Of The Year at the UK festival awards. So it’s fair to say a lot has already been written about tonight’s headliners Wolf Alice, and their growing stature has […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – French actress, musician, singer and songwriter, Stéphanie Sokolinski, known as SoKo, is finishing up her 14-date European tour in support of brand-new album My Dreams Dictate My Reality, her second LP, with a couple of UK dates. Tonight is the turn of The Ruby Lounge to host her show, […]

LIVE: SOKO – 25/03/2015

LIVE: SLEATER-KINNEY / PINS – 24/03/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – “Pins hail from your fair city, and they’re awesome!” When the likes of Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker offers up such props to their support band, it’s worth paying attention.  The US alt-rock legends have a reputation as first class BS detectors, and Manchester’s Pins are – in every way – […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – “Man, there’s nothing like being told you’re dying to make you feel alive”. Wilko Johnson did mean those words in a recent interview, and we have some irrefutable evidence of this tonight. The gig of his Still Kickin’ tour is short but pretty intense (it barely takes an hour and […]

LIVE: WILKO JOHNSON BAND- 18/03/2015