Tuesday 30 November 2021

VLURE / The Novus - Leeds Headrow House - 29th November 2021


VLURE completed their first UK tour with a show at Headrow House in Leeds. We diverted our travel plans as part of our mission to see them as much as we can at this important phase in their development as a band and were rewarded by another intense and unique performance from a band that excited us from the first note we heard from them and the love for who continues to grow.

Monday 29 November 2021

James / Happy Mondays - Cardiff Motorpoint Arena - 28th November 2021


James and Happy Mondays' UK and Ireland tour rolled into Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena for James' first gig in the Welsh capital for ten years and their first in this venue since 1999. As in previous evening, James' set was a career-spanning one, but one that setlist watchers would have been thrown a few curveballs by as they introduced a few rarely-played tracks to the set without ruining the momentum and energy of the night.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Charm Of Finches - As A Child


As A Child is the latest single to be taken from Australian duo Charm Of Finches' new album Wonderful Oblivion - a beautiful song that takes a wistful look back at the carefree feeling of being a child, unaware of the world around you and unburdened by the pressures of adulthood accompanied by a video of childhood memories.

Sunday 28 November 2021

The Charlatans / Martin Carr & What Future - Birmingham O2 Academy - 27th November 2021


Saturday night saw The Charlatans' month-long tour in support of their career-spanning boxset head to the O2 Academy in Birmingham for a sold-out show that took the crowd on a nostalgic journey through some of their biggest hits, but also reminded us with some of their more recent material that they're an active thriving band even after all their trials, tribulations and tragedies over the years. Support came from Martin Carr & What Future.

Saturday 27 November 2021

James / Happy Mondays - Birmingham Utilita Arena - 26th November 2021


James' UK tour in support of their sixteenth studio album All The Colours Of You rolled into the cavernous surroundings of Birmingham's Utilita Arena on Friday night. A career-spanning set mixing chart-busting classic tracks, deeper cuts and fresh new songs had the crowd dancing from start to finish feeding off the energy emanating from the nine-headed beast of a band operating at full throttle. Support came from Happy Mondays.

Friday 26 November 2021

James / Happy Mondays - Leeds First Direct Arena - 25th November 2021


James opened their UK and Ireland arena tour at Leeds First Direct Arena on Thursday night supported by Happy Mondays. Mixing classic crowd-pleasing singles with deeper cuts from across their career and a fair smattering of songs from this year's All The Colours Of You album, the newly-expanded nine-piece demonstrated that they're still a creative force to be reckoned with.

Thursday 25 November 2021

Ist Ist - The Art Of Lying


The Art Of Lying is the follow-up to 2020's Even The Stars album of the year Architecture which saw Ist Ist hit an impressive number 3 in the indie album chart, number 4 in the vinyl chart and number 5 in the physical chart, some achievement for a band that self-released and self-funded their debut, reliant on word of mouth and a growing live reputation that began to precede them. They wrote The Art Of Lying remotely and then in the rehearsal room once lockdown was eased and then quietly went into the studio at the end of 2020 to record it, revealing tracks on live streams and then at their recent preview shows. 

Wednesday 24 November 2021

James / Bryony Williams - Wolverhampton KK's Steel Mill - 23rd November 2021


James warmed up for their forthcoming Arena tour with a two-hour career-spanning set at Wolverhampton's KK's Steel Mill on Tuesday night. Covering ground from 1985's second single to this year's sixteenth album with curveballs aplenty from across their catalogue as well as many of their biggest hits, they delighted an attentive crowd desperate for the unique connection that live music provides.

Tuesday 23 November 2021

Courteeners / Vistas - Blackburn King George's Hall - 22nd November 2021


Courteeners brought their White Of Their Eyes tour to a sold-out Blackburn King George's Hall on Monday night where an ecstatic crowd shook off the start of the week blues with a ninety-minute run through old and new favourites. Support came from the impressive Vistas from Edinburgh.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Molly Nilsson - Pompeii



Molly Nilsson has released Pompeii, the second single to be taken from her forthcoming album Extreme due in January. Accompanied by a video filmed at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Pompeii is an unabashed brave declaration of love.

Monday 22 November 2021

Freya Beer / Prints In The Snow - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 21st November 2021


Freya Beer brought her Beast album to the Night And Day Cafe on Sunday night for an intimate show supported by Prints In The Snow. 

TRACK OF THE DAY : Solis - Sunday

Solis has today released her third single Sunday ahead of the release of her debut album. The single fleshes out Solis's enchanting vocal.with a melodic backing that accentuates the emotional depth of the lyrics that deal with the frustration of youth and living a life that isn't quite your own.

Sunday 21 November 2021

VLURE / Shredd - Edinburgh Mash House - 20th November 2021


VLURE opened their UK tour on Saturday night at The Mash House in Edinburgh with a forty-minute genre-bending set of huge outsider anthems that set aching stories of loneliness, paranoia and mental health challenges to stomping dance beats that had the speakers on the verge of toppling and the floor creaking as the whole room lost themselves in an ecstatic experience.

Friday 19 November 2021

Seb Lowe - Half-Decent EP

Social and political commentary set to music is nothing new. Doing it via the medium of Tik Tok is relatively and that's where Seb Lowe found his audience. The viral nature of the platform meant that word very quickly got around and the Half Decent EP is his first release on a more traditional format. Clocking in at thirteen minutes for the seven tracks, that we'd hesitate to call songs as they're more short pieces of urban poetry set to music, yet Half Decent places Seb at the forefront of those seeking to ask the difficult questions.

James - The Campfire EP


Back in June James released their sixteenth studio album All The Colours Of You. Prior to that the band reconvened for the first time in eighteen months at Broughton Hall in Skipton to rehearse and record radio sessions. From that retreat comes a four-track EP that strips down three tracks from All The Colours Of You and an old favourite Just Like Fred Astaire to show a very different side to a band about to embark on an arena tour.

Wednesday 17 November 2021

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Glasgow Barrowland - 14th November 2021

Scotland's greatest ever band return home for three nights as they launch their long overdue European Darklands tour. Stuart Ralston caught their first Barrowland show.

Tuesday 16 November 2021

TRACK OF THE DAY : VLURE - I Won't Run (From Love)


Ahead of their UK tour that starts this week, VLURE have released their new single I Won't Run (From Love), the second track to be taken from their Euphoria EP that's due for release in January.

NewDad / Crush - Manchester Yes Basement - 14th November 2021


NewDad are the latest of the new breed of bands to cross the Irish Sea to win the hearts of the UK's music lovers. Hailing from Galway and with an impressive selection of singles under their belt, they've sold out venues around the country on their first visit, including Manchester's Yes Basement on Sunday night where they mixed singles with tracks from their Waves EP and new songs that whet the appetite for what's to come.

Monday 15 November 2021

Bullet Girl - Manchester Retro - 14th November 2021


Bullet Girl opened up their first UK tour with a basement show at Manchester's Retro on Sunday night as part of the closing night of R-Fest. A seven-song set full of post-punk energy delighted a small but enthusiastic crowd that will talk about being there for years to come should they follow in the well-trodden path of their contemporaries.

Sunday 14 November 2021

Dan Selwood - Manchester Castle Hotel - 13th November 2021

Saturday night saw the first ever show by Dan Selwood and his band opening for Trunky Juno at The Castle Hotel in Manchester. The four-piece band put on an impressive debut showing that betrayed the fact they hadn't played together in front of an audience before and put Dan's songwriting very much on our radar.

Saturday 13 November 2021

Working Men's Club - Manchester Ritz - 12th November 2021


Working Men's Club played their biggest headline show to date at a sold-out Manchester Ritz on Friday night. An eleven-song set ended with Syd riding on a sea of arms in the audience as they charged through a fifty-minute non-stop exploration of the boundaries where rock and electronic music merge into one intoxicating cocktail.

Fever - Manchester Deaf Institute - 12th November 2021


Fever opened up for Pacific at Manchester's Deaf Institute on Friday night . Over half an hour they delivered a nine-song set featuring recent singles My Imagination and Time Will Define as well as seven other tracks that could all stand up as singles in their own right.

Friday 12 November 2021

Ist Ist / Solis - Manchester Deaf Institute - 11th November 2021


Ist Ist warmed up for their forthcoming tour and release of their second album The Art Of Lying on November 26th with their longest set to date, a twenty-one song marathon at the Deaf Institute in Manchester on Thursday night. Solis provided support with a solo set showcasing tracks from her forthcoming album.

Thursday 11 November 2021

Suede / Nadine Shah - Manchester Victoria Warehouse - 10th November 2021

Suede rolled into Manchester for the penultimate night of their long-delayed anniversary tour for their 1996 album Coming Up performing the album in full in the first half of their set with a mix of singles and more recent tracks in the second half. Support came from Nadine Shah.

Wednesday 10 November 2021

Willy Mason / Voka Gentle - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 9th November 2021


Willy Mason's UK tour in support of his new album Already Dead rolled into Manchester for two nights this week. We caught up with the second of them, a sold out show at the Night And Day Cafe where a twenty-song set delighted an attentive crowd. Support came from Voka Gentle.

Tuesday 9 November 2021

Stephen Fretwell / George O'Hanlon - Manchester Gorilla - 8th November 2021


Stephen Fretwell might not come from Manchester, but it's here where he had most of his musical grounding and spent the time he was signed to a major label in the mid-2000s and the city very much treats him like one of their own. Back after a couple of very intimate warm-ups at the Eagle Inn and the Night And Day around the launch of Busy Guy, his first album for fourteen years, this Gorilla show sold out almost immediately and unlike many shows we'd been to there was very little in the way of no-shows. Support came from London's George O'Hanlon.

Sunday 7 November 2021

Jane Weaver - Manchester Gorilla - 6th November 2021


Jane Weaver brought her Flock tour to Manchester Gorilla for a sort-of-homecoming show on Saturday night. Mixing tracks from Flock with highlights from her growing back catalogue, she delighted a crowd that allowed itself to get lost for an hour and a quarter in intoxicating songs that seduce rather than overpower.

LIINES - Glasgow The Flying Duck - 5th November 2021

To coincide with COP26, The Vegan Society have teamed up with Blue Dot to host a short series of events, gigs and discussion panels to raise awareness of their Plate Up For The Planet campaign. Eating vegan is one of the best ways to reduce your environmental footprint. Blue Dot invited Manchester's LIINES along. The three-piece played a storming fourteen song set, featuring old favourites and a host of amazing new tunes. Stuart Ralston went home for the evening and reports back.

Saturday 6 November 2021

A Certain Ratio - Manchester Gorilla - 5th November 2021


The phrase "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat" is one that's often thrown around and it'd be a perfect description of A Certain Ratio's homecoming show at Manchester Gorilla on Friday night. Technical problems nearly scuppered the whole show, but the band made the brave move of performing a curtailed hour-long set with half their kit not working to an appreciative crowd in what turned out to be a very special if unintentional evening.

Friday 5 November 2021

Odd Morris / Yuka Tree - Manchester Gullivers - 4th November 2021


It's sixteen months since Odd Morris should have made their Manchester debut and the wait has been a very long and frustrating one since we saw them just before lockdown for the first time with The Murder Capital in London. Over a short nine-song set they charmed and disarmed a captivated Manchester audience. Support came from Yuka Tree.

TRACK OF THE DAY : James - Miss America (Library Session)


James have revealed an intimate stripped down version of Miss America from their recent All The Colours Of You album. The track was recorded during the band's first post-lockdown get together at Broughton Hall in Skipton in May and is one of four tracks featured on their forthcoming Campfire EP that precedes their UK tour with Happy Mondays that kicks off on November 25.

Fever - Interview


As Fever release their new single My Imagination after coming off the rearranged Blossoms tour they started in March 2020, we caught up with front man James to talk about the track, how they coped with the enforced downtime and more about their plans for 2022.

Thursday 4 November 2021

Avalanche Party - Manchester Yes - 3rd November 2021


Avalanche Party continued their much-postponed tour on Wednesday night at Manchester Yes to a small but enthusiastic crowd that were delighted by a journey through their impressive collection of singles and debut album.

Wednesday 3 November 2021

TRACK OF THE DAY : Lanterns On The Lake - Don't Have Nightmares


Lanterns On The Lake have released a new track Don't Have Nightmares taken from the BBC paranormal investigative series podcast Uncanny as they continue their long-delayed UK tour in support of last year's Mercury-nominated album Spook The Herd.

Monday 1 November 2021

PINS - Manchester Yes - 31st October 2021


Tonight's show is billed as an album launch for PINS' third album Hot Slick, released in May last year, and after a year's delay we finally get to see them play tracks from the album live at the end of a short UK tour.