LIVE: PHOENIX – 25/03/2018

-ACADEMY, MANCHESTER- I’m not going to lie, dear Reader, I am totally still hungover from what can only be described as ‘a quite large session’ on Saturday and the last thing I want to do is drag myself off the couch and trek to the Academy to see Phoenix. And I love Phoenix. Like, full […]
-DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER- The first band on tonight are WhenYoung, a three-piece hailing from London. Throughout their performance, guitarist Niall Burns bounces around the stage with youthful exuberance, emitting grins and vibes of glee that you can’t help but soak up. This is exactly what is called for from a warm up and I’m glad […]

LIVE: DREAM WIFE / WHENYOUNG – 24/03/2018

LIVE: THE FRATELLIS / BLACK PISTOL FIRE – 23/03/2018

-ACADEMY, MANCHESTER- The Great Glaswegians are back on tour after releasing their fifth album In Your Own Sweet Time last week. With the album reaching the UK Number 5 spot in the Official Charts, it has become a very exciting and highly anticipated time for the band. Tonight, they have the job of getting a packed […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- I know quite a few different people heading to the Young Fathers gig, and so catch up with a beer beforehand. One of the girls in our group is actually friends with the guys, and she sums up the band pretty well. She says that they started off really R&B, and then […]

LIVE: YOUNG FATHERS – 23/03/2018

LIVE: MR. BEN & THE BENS / DOG DAISIES / FAMILY SELECTION BOX / SUNDRIFT – 23/03/2018

-THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER- Manchester’s place as the hub of Northern music has never been in dispute and it’s a well known fact that The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter has seen its fair share. Bands from all over will come to play in our prestigious venues and Friday night is no different as […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- “I don’t think I’m a Goth, I like pastel shades too much…and GAP tops. I do like Depeche Mode though. Does that count?” These musings came from me, bored at work, before the Tune-Yards gig last Friday. I love Tune-Yards. Their music is spiritual without being annoying and anthemic, without being cheesy. […]

LIVE: TUNE-YARDS – 16/03/2018

LIVE: PHOBOPHOBES – 16/03/2018

-EAGLE INN, SALFORD- Phobophobes are strangely fearless. As they take to the Eagle Inn tonight, they are ready to take on whatever this Friday night might throw at them, and in short order they have the Eagle Inn bouncing to their quirky, jagged indie psych nuggets. They only just about manage to squeeze their six […]
The fact that Yo La Tengo have existed for over thirty years, with a consistently strong but still relatively underground appeal, could be one of the reasons behind the title of their fifteenth  album. Not that Yo La Tengo are in anyway riotous, well at least not in an obvious way. Theirs is a slower, […]

ALBUM: YO LA TENGO – THERE’S A RIOT GOING ON

LIVE: FIELD MUSIC – 16/03/2018

-GORILLA, MANCHESTER- Not an awful lot has come out of Sunderland apart from my Grandpa, the fabulous Andy Dawson from the Athletico Mince podcast and St Bede, the monk. To that list we have now been able to add Field Music. Ostensibly formed of the Brewis brothers – David and Peter – by the time […]
-THE WHITE HOTEL, SALFORD- Hookworms have made the best album of 2018. It’s a provocative statement, especially at the start of March, but right now I believe it to be true. Great albums often come with a backstory, their own built-in folklore, something that can be easily distilled into a short conversation that the record’s […]

LIVE: HOOKWORMS – 10/03/2018