LIVE: IN THE CITY 2009

– VARIOUS VENUES, MANCHESTER – The infamous In The City crawl is less a series of gigs and more a package tour around the dives and dance floors of Manchester’s hippest hotspots for the price of a couple of dodgy kebabs. PLUS!!! There’s the all-inclusive opportunity to observe some of the most inventive new bands […]
– BAND ON THE WALL, MANCHESTER – Few genuine folkies – singing the songs from their home region, raised on a diet of clog dancing and folk festivals – cross over to the mainstream music and achieve actual kudos. Of course, The Mercury nomination had something to do with Rachel Unthank and the Winterset’s sudden […]

LIVE: THE UNTHANKS – 20/10/2009

LIVE REVIEW: Franz Ferdinand – 16/10/2009

– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER- On arrival outside the Ruby Lounge on this busy Saturday lunch time in the city centre, it is strange to see a queue of parents and children waiting for the shutter of the venue to arise. The reason for this is the new child friendly Mrs Boon’s Cakes and Tea […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – “ The last time I was here, I played with the Pistols at Manchester Arena, woo-hoo!” jokes Matlock Tonight’s rare show finds Matlock – still wired and trim at 53 – alone on-stage in front of an audience of just 22 people. Well 25, if you count the sound […]

LIVE: GLEN MATLOCK – 15/10/2009

LIVE: THE SLITS – 12/10/2009

– THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MACHESTER – Ari Up looked magical, yet slightly kooky as she confidently bounced onto the warmly lit stage. With her eyes blazing beneath a huge shock of dread-locked hair that would make Heather Small weep with envy and wearing figure hugging gold lamé hot pants and tatty bomber jacket, the 50-year-old […]
Tanja Maritsa’s gentile, jazzy folk comes from a time that I just can’t quite place. Before the 60s my knowledge gets a little hazy. Not my fault! I’m only 25 and I was brainwashed from an early age to believe that The Beatles were year zero, and nearly everything that came before was rendered redundant […]

SINGLE: Tanja Maritsa – Live For Today

ALBUM: Mumford and Sons – Sign No More

There’s a festival feel here. I’m not sure which one either. Whether it’s the easy informality of Leicester’s Summer Sundae or something more profound like echoes of Woodstock. But I am sure that the songs are wonderful. They’re uplifting, skipping along with a deftness of touch which makes them comfortably familiar and yet still fresh […]
– TROF, MANCHESTER – Not only is Thomas Truax a talented songwriter and musician, he is also an inventor of probably the most bizarre looking instruments you could possibly imagine. Now the tricky thing for me to do here is explain what each of them does, but I shall try my best. Apart from his […]

LIVE REVIEW: Thomas Truax – 21/09/2009

LIVE: BILLY CHILDISH & MUSICIANS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE – 18/09/2009

– BOSTON ARMS, LONDON – At the beginning of August I had a decision to make. This was due to the fact that Billy Childish and Musicians of the British Empire had lined up two dates at The Dirty Water Club in Tufnell Park. I had to decide whether to attend one or both. On […]
– THE RUBY LOUNGE, MANCHESTER – Have you ever seen a one man band? Have you ever seen a one man band wearing a pair of Chelsea boots? Have you ever seen a one man band wearing a pair of Chelsea boots and an electric blue human cannon ball jump suit that is adorned with […]

LIVE: BOB LOG III – 17/09/2009