LIVE: LUCY ROSE – 25/10/2012

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – ‘CDs, T-shirts, Tea, Jam, Tote Bags’ is the list of merchandise on sale at Lucy Rose’s sold out Deaf Institute gig tonight, and it’s clear it’s going to be more of a tea and jam event than it is rock n’ roll as fans file in under the giant […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Well. Soup Kitchen. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last. I stand a few yards from your doors at five-ish most nights waiting for the bus to take me home and frequently wonder what the venue within is like. And now I know. You’re ace. Bare, flakey-paint walls and […]

LIVE: PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING / CYRIL SNEAR – 27/10/2012

REVIEW: THE UNTHANKS PRESENT SONGS FROM THE SHIPYARDS – 25/10/2012

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – I confess I don’t gravitate towards folk music on a day to day basis, but when I hear it live I’m reminded how life affirming and quite wonderful it can be. Afterwards, I’ll vow to pay it more attention in my own time, but never do. So I’m here to see […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The night is brisk and the age range trickling into the Ritz are almost as many balding heads in number as there are sprouting ones, at least at first. Django Django are following up the release of their long awaited, self-titled album, with a UK tour. The second night of […]

LIVE: DJANGO DJANGO – 23/10/2012

LIVE: DOG IS DEAD – 23/10/2012

– ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – Since their formation back in 2008, Nottingham based outfit Dog Is Dead have certainly put the time in with several single/EP releases and a large amount of gigs under their belts. It seems that all of their hard work is paying off though, as the quintet are now signed to […]
– THE APOLLO, MANCHESTER – Diners, jukebox Romeos, diamond Sinatras, Elvis, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Miles Davis, Hollywood nights, Manhattan, New Jersey, New Orleans, high top sneakers, sailor tattoos, blue jeans, white T-shirts, party dresses, ribbons, classic cars, movie screens, parking lots, pay phones, ferris wheels, old haunts, forgotten ghosts, broken dreams, wild young hearts, […]

LIVE: THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM – 18/10/2012

LIVE: LITTLE COMETS – 16/10/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s fair to say that the Little Comets aren’t so little anymore. Since the release of their sprightly debut album ‘In Search Of Elusive Little Comets’, the Newcastle based outfit have been flying up festival bills and packing out bigger rooms on every tour, so it comes as no surprise […]
After the success of ‘Wildest Moments’ earlier this year, now comes Jessie Ware’s fourth single of the year, ‘Night Light’. This song is from her album, Devotion, which made it to number five in the UK charts upon its release in August and has now been nominated for a Mercury Prize. It starts as a promising, […]

Single Review: Jessie Ware – Night Light

LIVE: THE NIGHTINGALES – 15/10/2012

– NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – “The best thing about this band, is we turn up”, growls frontman Robert Lloyd in the opening number. He has no reason to be so self-deprecating – cutting an intimidating sight on stage: A tall, suit-wearing, static figure looming over the audience with a leer veering between nonchalant and menacing. […]
Some gigs are difficult to write about. The band turn up, they fly through their set sounding exactly as they do on the album, and then they walk off and do it again somewhere else. Bo Ningen are not like that at all. ‘Psychedelic Japanese rock band’ is another genre that I can now happily […]

LIVE: BO NINGEN – 17/10/2012