LIVE: LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY – 28-29/05/2016

– BRAMLEY-MOORE DOCK, LIVERPOOL – The Merseyside festival is back and it seems to have cemented itself a place as one of the more popular smaller festivals – just a year after its relocation to Bramley-Moore dock.  Last year’s festival saw three days of talent whereas this year saw just the two days of live […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – Mothers are a difficult band to pin down. Hailing from Athens in Georgia (home to such indie alumni as REM and B-52s), it started out as a personal project for Kristine Leschper before she recruited a full band to record their excellent debut album When You Walk A Distance Way You […]

LIVE: MOTHERS – 25/05/2016

LIVE: MARISSA NADLER – 26/05/2016

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Haunting. Marissa Nadler is haunting Soup Kitchen tonight. She cuts a lonely figure in the dark basement of the shabby-indie-chic bar that is Soup Kitchen. When she first appears, she provides the sense of loss we have come to know from her, it is so wholly felt throughout the underground […]
– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – Before I talk of my disappointment with Doomsquad, hailing from Canada, I firstly want to give a quick mention about support act The Six. If these were supporting anyone else, I’d probably hit the bar and wait for them to fuck off stage before shuffling back into the […]

LIVE: DOOMSQUAD – 25/05/2016

LIVE: JAGWAR MA – 26/05/2016

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Aussie psych-poppers-cum-Maaadchester students Jagwar Ma return to Manchester to a rapturous crowd, a sold-out crowd in fact. The parallels that are made between them and The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays etc…  are always talked about – songs like ‘Exercise’ with its bassy groove could easily be put on The Second Coming. […]
Gold Panda’s latest album takes it’s name from the parting words of a Japanese taxi driver, while visiting Hiroshima. This collection of tunes, made in Chelmsford, comprises samples and memories of his trip, along with accompanying photo’s from his travel companion, Laura Lewis. It’s been 6 years since his impressive debut ‘Lucky Shiner’, and his progression as […]

ALBUM – GOLD PANDA ‘GOOD LUCK AND DO YOUR BEST’

LIVE: CATE LE BON – 23/05/2016

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Gorilla is one of those venues that feels ready made for a mosh pit, for a crowd of sweaty rock fans pogo-ing into one another. It’s a great little venue that provides intimacy for the audience, artists and bands. Tonight though, it’s unlikely that there’ll be any moshing as the venue […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Rowdy Black Lips enter the stage among chilly gusts and misty fog, perfect set for their opening track ‘Sea Of Blasphemy’. “Sea of vandal/Lost my candle…”. Pure classic garage, with broken bones, glass effects and everything. This gig at Manchester’s Gorilla is their only show in the North of the UK, […]

LIVE: BLACK LIPS – 20/05/2016

LIVE: PETE DOHERTY – 17/05/2016

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – The intricate carvings and delicate stained glass windows running along the balcony of the Albert Hall create a surprisingly peaceful atmosphere for a gig that is sure to be nothing of the sort. The crowd fills the old church building to breaking point and I decide that taking a […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – A golden rule that I have picked up about writing is: show, don’t tell. As in, if a character is rude don’t say ‘He’s rude,’ have him do something rude. This rule, ‘show, don’t tell’ can be applied to other art forms, namely music and one which Laura Mvula might want […]

LIVE: LAURA MVULA – 18/05/2016