LIVE: SMOKE FAIRIES – 27/05/2014

– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – A healthy crowd welcomes the return to Manchester of the Smoke Fairies here in part to promote their new album, which is their third and is eponymous with its title Smoke Fairies. It is a tour that they nearly did not make as documented in recent press articles, which […]
– ACADEMY 2,  MANCHESTER – In a recent interview with The Quietus, Swans frontman Michael Gira confirmed an urban myth that his response to a sound engineer asking how the gig should sound was to punch him in the stomach and say “like that”. The engineer in question might feel fortunate to have only been […]

LIVE: SWANS – 22/05/2014

LIVE: CROCODILES – 23/05/2014

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – A lot can happen in four years, and so it is with San Diego’s Crocodiles. I saw them four years ago and reviewed them for Silent Radio (here) when they toured in support of their Sleep Forever album. Reading back over that review, I think I was in two […]
– THE CASTLE HOTEL, MANCHESTER – “A sunny day in Manchester – cause for celebration!” Tom Hickox says with a knowing smile, connecting with his audience before a single note is struck. While the content of his songs are not always celebratory, the quality of them is certainly worth cherishing. Pitching a look somewhere between […]

LIVE: TOM HICKOX – 21/05/2014

LIVE: CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – LIVING ROOM TOUR MANCHESTER

Tonight’s not your typical gig, there’s no official tickets or fancy venue; simply an email stating the address, my host for the evening and the option to bring a cushion and a few beers. I have gin in a tin and no soft furnishings; I hope they let me in. I find a rather pleasant […]
– GORILLA, MANCHESTER –  Special night tonight. One of the most influential bands in the hardcore scene is visiting our town with a sold out show at Gorilla. We’ve had to wait more than two years to see Jordan Dreyer and his band on a Mancunian stage, and the release of their most recent album […]

LIVE: LA DISPUTE – 20/05/2014

LIVE: NICK MULVEY – 19/05/2014

– GORILLA, MANCHESTER – It is unseasonably warm and Nick Mulvey’s first UK live date since the release of his debut album First Mind is a sold out Gorilla. It’s been only one week since the album release, but having charted at number 10 in the official album chart it has already created a lot of […]
– THE ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER – Tonight is the second of Neutral Milk Hotel’s two night residency at Manchester’s wonderful Albert Hall, and as we walk to the venue I am engaged in a debate with my friends.  To the uninitiated – me – the Neutral Milk Hotel back-story throws up some concerns.  Said band […]

LIVE: NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL – 18/05/2014

LIVE: ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT – 19/05/2014

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – I’ve been doing some calculating and can confirm that its been 10 years since I’d fallen for the fuzzy blues rock stylings of Archie Bronson Outfit. I first saw them in Wolverhampton, as an impressionable 15 year old supporting The Black Keys. Oh how time flies! So I’m definitely […]
– SOUP KITCHEN, MANCHESTER – Donning a well-worn Caterpillar hat, Hiss Golden Messenger takes the stage with deck-chair strung aside as the one man band looms threateningly in-front of us. The first song of the night is ‘Daylight’, a song off the masterful yet unfortunate Bad Debt album, which was originally destroyed in the Sony Warehouse […]

LIVE: HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER – 18/05/2014