LIVE: THE WALKMEN / WILD NOTHING – 30/10/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Drinking my first beer of the night, I thought of my chumbuttlies with whom I would soon be road-tripping to the gig, singing nursery rhymes and drinking from stolen pint glasses as we went. On the road, we joyfully reminisce about the Ritz of our whipper-snapper days and had a […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The night is brisk and the age range trickling into the Ritz are almost as many balding heads in number as there are sprouting ones, at least at first. Django Django are following up the release of their long awaited, self-titled album, with a UK tour. The second night of […]

LIVE: DJANGO DJANGO – 23/10/2012

LIVE: LITTLE COMETS – 16/10/2012

– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – It’s fair to say that the Little Comets aren’t so little anymore. Since the release of their sprightly debut album ‘In Search Of Elusive Little Comets’, the Newcastle based outfit have been flying up festival bills and packing out bigger rooms on every tour, so it comes as no surprise […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – The Ritz seems like a wholly appropriate venue for tonight’s gig by Ren Harvieu. The Grade II-listed building’s art deco features, red velvety curtains, glitter ball and sweeping horseshoe balcony are a suitable setting for a singer whose cinematic songs hark back to an era of iconic Brill Building pop […]

LIVE: REN HARVIEU / LEWIS WATSON / THE SUNDOWNERS – 09/10/2012

VIDEO: WE ARE AUGUSTINES – ‘PHILADELPHIA’

Brooklyn’s We Are Augustines have released a live video of Philadelphia (The City of Brotherly Love) this week following successful appearances at both Reading and Leeds Festivals playing in front of packed audiences. The video was recorded at The Neptune in Seattle this year, one of their favourite venues on the gig circuit since they […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – On arrival at the Ritz, I‘m quite puzzled by the apparent appeal of the ‘Vagina Rings’ on sale at the merch desk – replicas of Grimes’ very own lady parts [“one size fits all” but it’s a bit tight for me, natch!]. I feel a little bit uncomfortable just browsing, […]

LIVE: GRIMES – 30/08/2012

NEWS: FIRST AID KIT – LISTEN TO ‘WOLF’ + UK TOUR DATES

First Aid Kit are fresh from a European tour with Jack White and to continue their inexorable rise in 2012, they are releasing album highlight ‘Wolf’ on 17th September (Wichita). They will then head back to the UK for their biggest headline dates thus far, calling at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 20th November. Added to […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – Dangerous, unhinged and unpredictable are all words I would have at one time used to describe The Brian Jonestown Massacre. An opinion I had formed after hearing numerous fan’s accounts of the band’s on tour antics and more so after watching the 2004 documentary ‘Dig’, which until now was my […]

LIVE: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE – 08/07/2012

LIVE: BEST COAST – 17/06/2012

THE HMZ RITZ, MANCHESTER Now Wave gigs regularly promise plenty of bands and no fillers, as with tonight’s quadruple bill. The thankfully renovated Ritz is starting to get a little sticky underfoot again, due to spilt beer. At £4.35 for a pint of Guinness, I’m not wasting a drop. Psychedelic dark punk pop rock band […]
– THE RITZ, MANCHESTER – I had the pleasure of catching Brighton based outfit Fear of Men as part of the wonderful Sounds From The Other City Festival which took place in Salford last month, and it was their simplistic indie pop melodies that won over my heart and have refused to leave my head […]

LIVE: FEAR OF MEN – 17/06/2012