LIVE: MANIC STREET PREACHERS / GWENNO – 20/05/2019

-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- “C’mon everyone… sing along!” Normally at a charged, fizzing, visceral gig like the Manics in the rather cosy environs of The Ritz, a call to arms such as this would garner an immediate, loyal response. Only, the issue here is that it isn’t the Manics… it’s the support act, Gwenno. And the […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Singer-songwriters Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst kept a noble secret before the release of their self-titled Better Oblivion Community Center album back in January. With no build-up whatsoever, the record came out of the blue, something that I loved, especially given just how immensely enjoyable a listen it is. For sure, it’s […]

LIVE: BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER – 12/05/2019

LIVE: FAT WHITE FAMILY – 04/05/2019

-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Fat White Family’s performance at Manchester’s glorious Ritz offers an insight into the wild minds of its members, who, seemingly possessed by seedy, dark forces, are as ever electric and uncompromising. Rifling through delicious tracks from their small yet juicy back catalogue, FWF seem to have a real connection with the Manchester […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- If you’ve had any interest in guitar music over the past eighteen months, you’ll have heard their name, they’ve made it sure as hell that everybody who needs to know, knows. The Blinders have been of interest to many, especially this past year, after the release of their debut album, Columbia, to great praise […]

LIVE: THE BLINDERS – 27/04/2019

LIVE: DRENGE – 29/03/2019

-RITZ, MANCHESTER- Having first seen Drenge back home at Hull’s Welly Club supporting Temples, with ironically just underneath them on the bill that night the Black Delta Movement, the band I last reviewed for Silent Radio earlier last month, this was a much-anticipated gig for myself and the many others, I’m sure, who have watched […]
-RITZ, MANCHESTER- Popular cultural habits have always loved making their return to our society, with things such as record players, musical influences and even some questionable fashion decisions which you’d think had been buried in the past, somehow making a revisit to the 21st century. Some of these things make their return with a great […]

LIVE: THE LEMON TWIGS – 21/02/2019

LIVE: PARQUET COURTS – 04/11/2018

-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts are an enigma; hard to pin down, hard to classify, hard to keep up with. Alongside their 5 studio albums (the debut which they only released on tape, obvs), the band have also produced another full length under the name Parkay Quarts with two band members absent, an experimental, […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Tickets for tonight’s gig are in high demand, I know this because in the morning I checked the event page on Facebook to see if the set times had been announced, but all I could find was an endless stream of people leaving posts asking for any spare tickets. Luckily for me […]
Idles

LIVE: IDLES – 19/10/2018

LIVE: THE BREEDERS – 13/07/2018

-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- There may have been several different Breeders line ups over the years, but for many, the foursome that takes to the stage at a sold out Ritz is the definitive one – the four who recorded the iconic album Last Splash in 1993 and more recently the new album All Nerve. Kicking […]
-THE RITZ, MANCHESTER- Glamour at the Ritz is a night that would get any Manchester music fan frothing. Ten bands spread across two excellent live rooms – one massive, one small – over the course of 5 hours… paradise. Well, if your paradise consists of aggressive punk rock, high energy activity both on and off […]

LIVE: CABBAGE / PINS / THE BLINDERS / LADY BIRD / THE RHYTHM METHOD – 19/05/2018