LIVE: TOM HICKOX – 10/02/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – Support slots are a funny thing. Important in the development of any musician’s career, and often arriving with the inherited prestige of the headline artist. When I ask Tom Hickox, London singer-songwriter, about the prospect of supporting former Teardrop Explodes frontman and all-round eccentric Julian Cope, his face lights up. “An […]
– NIGHT & DAY CAFE, MANCHESTER – I don’t revel in the idea of giving a band a bad review, but in this case I feel it’s necessary to highlight a few negative features of the support band’s performances, in order to emphasise my admiration for our headliners. Locals Witch Fever kick things off in […]

LIVE: L.A. WITCH – 14/02/2017

LIVE: LADYHAWKE / ISLE – 11/02/2017

-ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER – I’ve possibly not listened to Ladyhawke in about 5 years or more, not because I stopped liking her music or because she had stopped releasing music, it was just that it hadn’t appeared on my radar and I’d kind of forgotten about her. But Ladyhawke, or ‘Pip’ Brown, has in fact […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Cymbals Eat Guitars (CEG for brevity’s sake) are an odd band, and odd bands, as we well know, are the best. Frontman Joseph D’Agostino has a voice that can best be described as sounding like a guy with a brilliant voice but who is suffering from laryngitis – a kind of […]

LIVE: CYMBALS EAT GUITARS – 08/02/2017

LIVE: KATE NASH – 07/02/2017

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – To say I am excited for tonight is an understatement – I am thrilled to be going to watch Kate Nash at Gorilla in Manchester. Having not released any new material for some time, or an album in an even longer time, to see Kate Nash shimmy on stage in full length […]
– DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – Vaults’ rise to fame is one that epitomises today’s musical landscape. The electronic trio first pricked the ears of listeners when they uploaded ‘Cry No More’ to Soundcloud. The viral hit soon amassed 100,000 plays in just one week and they were soon fielding calls to appear on the soundtrack […]

LIVE: VAULTS – 06/02/2017

LIVE: DEATH VALLEY GIRLS / THE 99 DEGREE – 04/02/2017

– AATMA, MANCHESTER – Death Valley Girls are a band who have steadily been attracting more and more attention over the last few years, securing key festival appearances as well as other extensive tour schedules across Europe; their presence in Manchester tonight is therefore much welcomed. Opening this evening at Aatma, the Northern Quarter’s best […]
– ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – I’ve always been intrigued by records that have a story behind them. When songwriting maverick Conor Oberst was advised to cancel the rest of a tour due to ill health back in 2015, he retreated to his home in Nebraska and out of boredom ended up writing a full length. After […]

LIVE: CONOR OBERST – 02/02/2017

ALBUM: SUFER BLOOD – SNOWDONIA

When a family loses one of their own, it changes everyone in that family, for better or worse. The pain and grief can destroy them, or bring them closer together. Bands such as Led Zeppelin broke up after the tragic loss of John Bonham, but on the other side, bands like The Who and Rolling […]
– RITZ, MANCHESTER – Imagine being so cold you could almost form icicle mists with every breath you take. Then take a night with Martha Wainwright, with a voice that sounds like it’s in need of some hot honey and lemon concoction. And you’re in for soul warming revelations. So you can say. Opening up […]

LIVE: MARTHA WAINWRIGHT – 28/01/2017