LIVE: METZ / USA NAILS – 27/06/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- USA Nails Awkwardly emerging from the backstage curtain-thing, the opening act favours a fast tempo, ‘angry’ guitar rock that is somewhat let down by Yes’ sound system; they might as well have put their socks in their mouths for the duration of the performance. The format of having everything excessively loud alongside enough […]
-YES BASEMENT, MANCHESTER- With her debut album on the horizon, Hatchie delivers a dreamy, blissful performance at YES Basement, Manchester. After being recommended to get on Hatchie by a friend , I quickly listened to the gorgeous, Cocteau Twin-like EP Sugar & Spice and was left wanting more. It was a similar experience on Thursday night. […]

LIVE: HATCHIE – 13/06/2019

LIVE: YES FEST – 26/05/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- For YES Fest on this bank holiday Sunday, thirteen artists and bands are invited to play gigs in the Basement and Pink Room at YES. The two bars and the roof terrace are open as usual, so there are a lot of people in the multi floor venue. The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets from […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- The whistles chirrup, as though there are unseen urban disco crickets stalking the dancefloor of the Pink Room at Yes, rubbing their legs in celebration at the home-coming of Manchester’s A Certain Ratio. Old ravers have oiled their joints well enough to groove at the front; even older Factory heads have their arms […]

LIVE: A CERTAIN RATIO – 24/05/2019

INTERVIEW: DONALD JOHNSON (A CERTAIN RATIO)

One ratio is certain. ACR are 40 years old. And to celebrate, the band – via their latest record label Mute – have released ACR:BOX – an absolutely engorged collection of 50-odd B-sides, alternative takes, remixes and new recordings, overseen by ACR’s Martin Moscrop at Abbey Road studios. For real completists, there is also a […]
-YES (THE BASEMENT), MANCHESTER- When I first saw punk band WITCH FEVER in March, they made such an impression on me that I really didn’t want to miss out on their headline show at Yes (The Basement). In between then and now, they have toured with Lady Bird and GURU, but tonight is their first […]

LIVE: WITCH FEVER / FERAL FAMILY / BLEACH BODY – 18/05/2019

LIVE: JAKOB OGAWA – 11/05/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- Nothing beats a chill Saturday evening gig after a busy week, and I’m positive that’s what I’m going to get as I head to the basement of Manchester’s newest ‘cool kidz’ venue, Yes, on Saturday to see Norwegian indie-pop stalwart Jakob Ogawa. I’m lucky enough to catch Stockport natives Valve while they’re finishing […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- C33’s A rather up-tempo opener provides the spectators with a redux to classic punk, energetic yet rather simplistic, perhaps a little too much so. The noise they emit certainly earns them notice, but their inability to actually innovate beyond a string of Ramones-inspired tantrums does little to warm me to them. The drums […]

LIVE: DRAHLA / SNAKE EATERS / C33’S – 07/05/2019

LIVE: CABBAGE – 25/04/2019

-YES, MANCHESTER- After listening to Cabbage over the past couple of years or so, I knew there was something I was personally missing. Certain music press were raving about them being the band we needed, pushing a political mess into people’s faces. For myself, just hearing their recordings, I wasn’t completely on board the “Cabbage […]
-YES, MANCHESTER- Acid Child With a name as ‘incendiary’ as titled and opening for a headliner dubbed ‘electro punk’, you’d expect some questionable attempt at hardcore along with runic tattoos and enough profanity to warrant an OFCOM intervention… it appears my imagination dreamed big. They have a sound veering around that middle-of-the-road-psych you see with […]

LIVE: AK/DK / ACID CHILD – 12/04/2019