As crowd surfers pop up left right and centre in my eyeline, heads bounce around and the floor rattles in synchronisation… I realise that Superheaven have maybe revived an overall abysmal day. The power of music, eh? Despite preferring their earlier stuff to their most recent album, Superheaven have still taken up a humongous amount […]
– Ritz, Manchester – I usually hate those pretentious types, those fans who believe that the unreleased stuff is better than the released stuff, but for tonight at least I’m my own worst enemy. As someone who only listens to Alex G’s unreleased music I have no idea how I will fare at an Alex […]
– The Ritz, Manchester – ‘Near, far, wherever you are…’, emotional words belted out by a packed crowd as Julia Jacklin takes to the stage at the Ritz, Celine Dion’s immortal Titanic theme blaring unexpectedly from the PA. It’s a fitting opening to what becomes a quietly epic Sunday night out at the Ritz in […]
– Ritz, Manchester – Sophie Allison’s music as Soccer Mommy has always had a cathartic edge (see tonight’s encore closer ‘Your Dog’ from her debut album Clean, with the positively holler-able opening line “I don’t wanna be your fucking dog”), but rarely has it been so goddamn dark as it is on her latest LP […]
– Ritz, Manchester – In 2022, there’s something tiring about describing any kind of art as ‘feminist’. Yes, the word and the movement carried us to places we needed to be. And the battle to demolish damaging barriers, language and stereotypes is far from over. But the term ‘feminist’ has been hijacked, repurposed and distorted. […]
Is black midi performance art now? Halfway through this absolutely ferocious gig, keyboardist ‘Shank’ sneaks up behind the extraordinary saxophonist ‘Cassanova’ with a plastic pirate cutlass, and proceeds to ‘slash’ his neck. But lo! Casanova rises (through ‘the power of love’, we are told by vocalist and guitarist Geordie Greep, who is narrating the pantomime […]
– Ritz, Manchester – In support of their seventh studio album ‘Nature Always Wins’, released earlier this year, Maximo Park are tonight playing at Manchester’s Ritz. I seem to have lost track of the band’s album releases somewhere along the way, pretty sure I haven’t heard all of them despite being a fan when they […]
– The Ritz, Manchester – This is being billed as a homecoming gig of sorts for The Orielles. By ‘homecoming’, I think people mean ‘big gig up north’, as the band hail from Halifax on the wrong side of the Pennines to Manchester, but we’ll let that slide; the excitement amongst a near to sellout […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Playing their self-titled debut album in its entirety, The Futureheads have filled out the Ritz with an eager crowd of all ages. With an album that is as quick and snappy in length as the guitar riffs that fill it, it is a concern whether they will fill the evening. But, with […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- (Insert: Opening statement about how, like everybody else, I discovered them through a certain viral hit that appeals to anyone with a sense of humour regarding inhaled narcotics.) The obvious appeal with this particular 3-piece is the straight forward, 3-chord mimicry of classic punk which is tied in with their Australian background […]
GIG GUIDE
Our gig guide is handpicked and every act has been listened to before making it onto the list.
See this month's guide
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 23 JANUARY 2026
ALBUM REVIEW - TYLER BALLGAME: FOR THE FIRST TIME, AGAIN
FEATURE: RETROSPECTIVE - DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL - DUSK AND SUMMER: CAUGHT BY EMOTION
ALBUM REVIEW - THE HARA: THE FALLOUT
LIVE REVIEW - SUPERHEAVEN: MANCHESTER RITZ - 17/01/2026
ALBUM REVIEW - PLANTOID: FLARE
ALBUM REVIEW - LEXA GATES: I AM
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 16 JANUARY 2026
GIG GUIDE - JANUARY 2026
ALBUM ROUNDUP WEEK ENDING 9 JANUARY 2026
