LIVE: LONELADY – 26/02/2015

– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – There was huge disappointment for me, almost 5 years ago – Manchester’s own Julie Ann Campbell, aka LoneLady, withdrew from a support slot for Chris Cunningham due to illness. Her superb debut album ‘Nerve Up’, released on Warp in 2010, had piqued my interest enough to leave me wanting more. It’s been a long wait. […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The NME awards tour has seen some huge names over the years. From Coldpay to Arctic Monkeys, they’ve had them all. It’s a tour that guarantees a great headliner and some brilliant up and coming bands. However this year, I feel that the NME have divulged into the punk direction […]

LIVE: THE NME AWARDS TOUR – 26/02/2015

LIVE: THE CRIBS – 25/02/2015

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – When I look back on my teen years and the bands I use to adore, it makes me sad to think that those bands are now defunct or still clinging on to fame by releasing the same records. The Cribs are one of the few bands from this period who […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER –  I first heard about Krill thanks to the founder of their former UK label Blood and Biscuits writing a genuinely honest description of how great Krill are and how great their album Lucky Leaves is. So as a fan of the label, I obliged, and subsequently fell in love with this Boston based […]

LIVE: KRILL – 23/02/2015

Album Review: Public Service Broadcasting – The Race for Space

Public Service Broadcasting is a band that ought not to be able to release more than one album. The formula of putting music to samples of archive footage is something at first arresting; it’s the sort of simple-but-effective idea you can’t believe nobody has exploited properly before. However, having heard the band’s fascinating debut record […]
– GULLIVERS, MANCHESTER – Lydia Ainsworth looks elegant tonight, bedecked in a sweeping knee-length white coat with a brooch hanging from her neck. Manchester’s turn out is paltry in comparison, as the small numbers make Gullivers’ normally throbbing wooden floor seem empty, helping it to feel more like a heartless conference hall rather than one […]

LIVE: LYDIA AINSWORTH – 19/02/2015

LIVE: GEORGE THE POET – 20/02/2015

– ANTWERP MANSION, MANCHESTER – There’s a palpable sense of excitement in the line for Antwerp Mansion. Down an unlikely sidestreet, off Rusholme’s cumin-flavoured neon strip, I wait with the gaggle in the rain. I’m waiting for the paper-street grandeur of Antwerp Mansion, where ornate ballustrades rub shoulders with mysterious graffiti and flaking paintwork. It’s […]
– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER – It’s Friday night and what better way to start the weekend than visiting a sold-out Deaf Institute for some live music? Tonight’s visitors are The Wave Pictures, touring on the back of new album release Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon. The album was co-written and produced by Billy Childish. […]

LIVE: THE WAVE PICTURES – 20/02/2015

LIVE: THE WAR ON DRUGS – 19/02/2015

– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – No, not the ill-considered government policy, but rather the band from Philly, back for their second sold out gig at Manchester’s gorgeous Albert Hall. (And who needs that pale London imitation, right? Our Albert Hall bleeds royal blood.) If the support seem a bit, well, shit – kind of […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Soup Kitchen is heaving tonight. That’s because we are about to watch Girlpool, the surprise package of 2015 who have inspired support from nearly every blog and quarter going, despite comprising of just two women with two guitars. This hype may seem perplexing to many, as unlike the breakthrough acts […]

LIVE: GIRLPOOL – 18/02/2015