Live: Beach House – 31/10/2012

– The Ritz, Manchester – It’s hard to say why some shows work and others do not. Rewind two years and Beach House, a previously unknown (to me anyway) Cocteau Twins-esque act hailing from Baltimore steal my heart in Manchester Cathedral. The setting, the sound and the light show gel completely, and the band, riding […]
– 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 […]

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

LIVE: DJANGO DJANGO – 23/10/2012

– 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 […]
– 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 […]

LIVE: LITTLE COMETS – 16/10/2012

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

– 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 […]
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 […]

VIDEO: WE ARE AUGUSTINES – ‘PHILADELPHIA’

LIVE: GRIMES – 30/08/2012

– 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, […]
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 […]

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

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

– 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 […]
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 […]

LIVE: BEST COAST – 17/06/2012