LIVE: STEVE HACKETT – 26/11/2019

-THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER- Gaining entry into a seated, progressive rock concert would no doubt not appeal to most under 50, yet for me the opportunity to go a little left-field and cover a guitarist of Steve Hackett’s stature (familiar with finger tapping?) carried a subversive charm that contrasts with Manchester’s present musical disposition. As […]

-THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER- The sirens blare. A voice comes through the speakers. This is one way to start a show. Now just for the lights to go out and they walk on stage. Or not… The sirens keep going while occasionally being interrupted by the concerning “This is an emergency, please evacuate the building.” […]

LIVE: ALT-J – 28/10/2018

KRAFTWERK BACK IN THE UK WITH MANCHESTER DATE

After their worldwide hugely successful 3-D concert tours, the Electro pioneers Kraftwerk return to the UK in June of 2017 for a special eleven-date run of their critically acclaimed live show. Bringing together music and performance art, Kraftwerk 3-D concerts are a true “Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art.” Tickets will go on sale […]

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – As introductions go, telling the crowd to “Take the bullshit, turn it in to good shit (then roll it up and smoke it)” is a pretty good start. Coincidentally, tonight’s opening act, Fantastic Negrito is also a pretty good start. Musically, Fantastic Negrito seems to blend gospel and blues […]

LIVE: CHRIS CORNELL / FANTASTIC NEGRITO – 27/04/2016

LIVE: HENRY ROLLINS: CHARMINGLY OBSTINATE TOUR – 12/01/2016

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Judging by the merchandise for sale at the desk in the concourse outside The Bridgewater Hall’s auditorium tonight, Henry Rollins continues to live by the ‘Search and Destroy’ philosophy that adorns the T-shirts and hoodies. No doubt inspired in part by the song by The Stooges, for Rollins the […]

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Accidentally spoiling things for myself before I can enjoy them naturally has become my bread and butter these days. A recent search for articles on the brilliant HBO series ‘Oz’ and revealing the deaths of certain characters was a real gut punch. Today it’s a Twitter mishap – On […]

LIVE: ELVIS COSTELLO – 10/06/2015

LIVE: JACKSON BROWNE – 18/11/2014

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – Composing his reflective songs on piano or guitar, Jackson Browne has been exporting his music from California since the early 1970s. Regarded as classics, albums like Late for the Sky and The Pretender rightly stand alongside works of Laurel Canyon contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. In a […]

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – There’s nothing better than feeling a bit flash. Tonight I’m at The Bridgewater Hall with the missus for a bit of ‘culture.’ As we soon find out we’re only 10 rows from the front of stage, I’m feeling flash – like a slightly under-dressed (though still smart) Patrick Bateman. […]

LIVE: PINK MARTINI – 03/11/2014

LIVE: MOGWAI – 27/01/2014

– THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – It seems to be another rainy night in Manchester, but with a small difference: Mogwai are in town, and for an instrumental music lover like me, it is a MUST to go and see them. The ‘plan’ is organised at the marvellous Bridgewater Hall, home of many classic instrumentalists […]

Images (part of the series ‘Reflections of Debussy in the Mirror of the East’) – THE BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER – This show is based on the theme of musical representations of the visual, as part of a wider series focussed on the works of the influential turn-of-the-(20th)-century French composer Claude Debussy, his influence by the […]