LIVE REVIEW – SUPERGRASS: MANCHESTER ALBERT HALL – 16/05/2025

I miss Britpop. I wasn’t there – about eight years too late – but I miss it. Its optimism, rugged energy and ability to weave between storytelling and subtle social commentary all still translates today. Perhaps now though we reflect on it with the bittersweet notion of nostalgia, longing to return to a time where […]
Unlike comedian Louis CK (CK for “Székely”), Anthony Szmierek has the chutzpah to stick with his given name, and also the confidence to almost single-handedly bring back the faded-in perm and banging ‘tache combo. It shouldn’t really work, but boy does it. Just like an English teacher from Hyde mixing spoken word delivery with phat […]

LIVE REVIEW – ANTHONY SZMIEREK: ALBERT HALL – 21/03/2025

Courtney Barnett

LIVE: COURTNEY BARNETT – 11/11/2022

– Albert Hall, Manchester – Since her breakthrough debut album in 2015, Courtney Barnett has won the hearts of a diverse fan base. From parents with their 20-something kids to rowdy friend groups and the LGBTQI+ community, tonight’s crowd represents how strongly her music appeals to our experiences, rather than our backgrounds alone. With her […]
– Albert Hall, Manchester – How does a band who haven’t released a record in nearly a decade until very recently, haven’t toured for nearly as long, and no longer have their OG frontman who performed some of their most beloved songs, mount a credible comeback that people will be bothered about? The answer lies […]
Midlake

LIVE: MIDLAKE– 10/04/2022

Villagers

LIVE: VILLAGERS – 15/10/2021

– Albert Hall, Manchester – The band are playing so softly, the loudest thing you can hear during the introduction of opening song ‘Song In Seven’ are drummer Gwion Llewelyn’s cymbals. The vocals come in after a few moments and take the crown of the loudest sound source, but everything remains gentle. Not that any […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- While waiting in line for a drink, I overhear several conversations about the dramatic turn that Caravan Palace have made with their most recent album Chronologic. These conversations were not ecstatic at the departure from the electro swing of old. I have to say, I share their apprehension as to whether the […]

LIVE: CARAVAN PALACE – 31/01/2020

LIVE: PRIMAL SCREAM – 26/11/2019

-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Touring in support of their greatest hits album Maximum Rock n Roll released earlier this year, the bar was already set high with anticipation for a gig fuelled with Primal Scream’s finest. Not that hearing a band’s latest album cuts is any less appealing, but there’s just something that makes you that extra […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- Ezra Furman played the Albert Hall on 12th November and I can confirm myself that it was an excellent show that was well worth watching. The American frontman helped to play a bunch of recognisable songs from his numerous albums over the last few years. The disabled facilities must be praised at […]

LIVE: EZRA FURMAN – 12/11/2019

LIVE: SUNN O))) – 27/10/2019

– Albert Hall, Manchester – Upon entry, I walk upstairs through a building that could pass as a mental idealisation of a natural history museum; the high ceilings and dated decorum compliment the main hall which itself could easily house a selection of skeletal theropods; reinforcing my abstract visualisation. The seated area has a vague […]
-ALBERT HALL, MANCHESTER- In the words of Chandler Bing, could things BE anymore Manchester, as I step out of my apartment building and step pretty straight into John Thomson, walking into the Dakota Hotel opposite. It’s a scene from Cold Feet (and indeed my street was in one of those luxurious pan shots across the […]

LIVE: RICHARD HAWLEY – 07/10/2019