LIVE: THE FRATELLIS – 16/11/2015

 – ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER – It’s a typical damp and rainy evening in Manchester and Scottish rockers The Fratellis are in town. It’s my first time at the Academy 2 and it’s an incredibly weird venue. To me, it seems like an old library from the outside and then once you venture up the stairs […]
 – THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – This is the most fun I’ve had at a gig in a long time. Titus Andronicus, the world’s greatest punk rock bar band have brought their show supporting their 92-min, 3 LP/2 CD rock opera about mental illness (yes, really) The Most Lamentable Tragedy, to Manchester’s Deaf Institute, and […]

LIVE: TITUS ANDRONICUS – 11/11/2015

Jenny Hval

LIVE: JENNY HVAL – 08/11/2015

 – SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – When you walk into a Jenny Hval show, you know it’s going to be weird. Last time she graced a stage in Manchester, there were pouting girls, live iPad visuals and some fun karaoke competitions. So, tonight when she walks on stage in a yoga outfit clutching a half deflated […]
 – THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s Monday and I’m still wondering where did I lose my last handful of neurons, but hey, breakfast with philosophy: life is just so serious to take it seriously, innit? Flashback to Saturday night. The Ritz is packed and a cheerfully anxious crowd waits for Eagles Of Death Metal’s entertaining […]

LIVE: EAGLES OF DEATH METAL – 07/11/2015

LIVE: FREAKOUT HONEY – 07/11/2015

– NIGHT AND DAY, MANCHESTER – Manchester’s Psych scene continues to thrive with a string of quality international bands constantly streaming through the city, and heavy support comes from local talent. Interstellar Overdrive are one of the main promoters that we have to thank for this, and tonight they bring us Freakout Honey, a band who stray […]
– ACADEMY 1, MANCHESTER – To me, certain bands remind me of certain seasons and Autumn is definitely the season I listen to Death Cab For Cutie. Maybe it’s the autumnal scene on the front cover of their 2005 album Plans that links this idea but I think there’s just something very warming about their […]

LIVE: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – 03/11/2015

LIVE: METZ / PROTOMARTYR – 04/11/2015

– SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER – I think I might have written this in a review recently, but as I get older I seem to want to listen to more noisier, discordant music. I’ve always been a fan of loud music but lately all I want is to get my head caved in by pummeling drums, earth […]
– FALLOW CAFE, MANCHESTER – Trips to this small converted terraced house in the heart of Studentsville are becoming quite a regular occurrence for me. They continue to host a production line of talented and fresh new bands, a lot of whom are locally based. It’s a cold and dark foggy night, like one you’d see in […]

LIVE: THE BABE RAINBOW – 02/11/2015

LIVE: LIAM FROST – 30/10/2015

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Hips switch, buttocks twitch and the lyrics ring out to Wham’s ‘I’m Your Man’. It’s an autumnal evening on the edge of the Northern Quarter and something fucking strange is going on. Truly it is All Hallow’s Eve and the world’s gone wrong. But we’ll get to the wonkiness […]
 – GORILLA, MANCHESTER – It’s hard to believe it’s been almost two years since I last saw Half Moon Run, as they became the first act to headline Manchester’s newly refurbished Albert Hall in November 2013. Back then, their debut album Dark Eyes was barely off my playlist and it was easily my favourite album […]

LIVE: HALF MOON RUN – 28/10/2015