Sunday 31 July 2022

Liam Frost - Manchester Piccadilly Records - 31st July 2022


To celebrate the first ever vinyl issue of his second and third albums We Ain't Got No Money Honey But We Got Rain and The Latchkey Kid, Liam Frost played a solo acoustic set at Piccadilly Records on Sunday afternoon featuring tracks from both albums as well as a couple from his debut Show Me How The Spectres Dance.

Desperate Journalist / The Empty Page - Manchester Night And Day - 30th July 2022

It's an impressive feat that Desperate Journalist and The Empty Page have sold out Night And Day in an environment where gig attendances are through the floor and a significant element of the Manchester gig going community are on their annual pilgrimage to the Lakes for Kendal Calling where Desperate Journalist are playing the following day. The Night And Day is consequently a sweat box with a fan on stage for the headliner to keep it barely manageable for them, but once the music started people were oblivious to it.

Thursday 28 July 2022

The House Of Love - Burn Down The World (8 CD boxset)

Formed in London in 1986, The House of Love were one of the most respected and revered bands of the late 80s and early 90s. Starting their career on Creation, at a time when the label wasn’t really big enough to take bands like The House of Love into the charts, they signed to a major in 1989 and chart success soon followed. This impressive box set takes us through that period and leaves no stone unturned. This is a mightily impressive collection and fans new and old should cherish it. Starting with their self titled 1990 album before moving on to Babe Rainbow (1992), Audience With The Mind (1993) and a whole host of studio and live extras across eight discs, with over 130 tracks included.

John Bramwell - Atherton The Snug - 27th July 2022


John Bramwell's never-ending tour of some of the locations that are often left off other artist tour schedules arrived in Atherton for a return visit on Wednesday night to one of Greater Manchester's hidden gems The Snug. A career-spanning set liberally sprinkled with wit and often self-deprecating humour delighted an attentive appreciative audience.

Tuesday 26 July 2022

Charm Of Finches / Megan Dixon-Hood - Manchester Gullivers - 24th July 2022

Melbourne sisters Charm Of Finches' long European tour is drawing to a close and Sunday night saw them pay their first ever visit to Manchester for a ninety-minute set in the ballroom above Gullivers pub in the Northern Quarter where Mabel and Ivy held an audience's attention captive for an hour and a half. Support came from closer to home in the form of Megan Dixon-Hood.

Saturday 23 July 2022

James / Orla Gartland / Coach Party / Lime Garden / Baby Queen - Sheffield Tramlines - 22nd July 2022


We headed across to Sheffield in the rain for the first day of 2022's Tramlines Festival in Hillsborough Park. Moving between the three main stages we caught sets from Baby Queen, Lime Garden, Coach Party, Orla Gartland and James.

Friday 22 July 2022

Scarlet - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 21st July 2022


Scarlet kicked off their UK tour at Manchester's Night And Day Cafe on Thursday night. Seven years on since their debut EP, they still have the passion to deliver an energetic ten-song set featuring a mix of older material and new songs.

Little Sparrow - Sale Waterside Refract Festival - 21st July 2022


Little Sparrow headlined the first night of Sale Waterside's fifth Refract Festival playing a fifty-minute set accompanied by Robbie Cavanagh and Robin Dewhurst to a cabaret-seating set up in the venue's main theatre on Thursday night.

Thursday 21 July 2022

TRACK OF THE DAY : The Murder Capital - Only Good Things

The Murder Capital have released Only Good Things, the first taste of their forthcoming second album. The song represents a significant departure from the dark sound of their debut When I Have Fears focusing on celebrating those that are still with us rather than those we have lost. 

Wednesday 20 July 2022

TRACK OF THE DAY : Thousand Yard Stare - Isadora


Thousand Yard Stare continue their most unlikely of comebacks with a new single Isadora, the third in a series of four releases this year that will both remind longer-term fans of their infinitely catchy hooks yet still sound like a band exploring new elements of their sound.

Pixies - Manchester Band On The Wall - 19th July 2022

Pixies' shows in Manchester in the late 1980s at the International and International II are the stuff of legend and we never believed we'd see them in such intimate surroundings again. However, a 9am Monday morning alert set up their smallest show anywhere in years on the hottest day of the year in the five-hundred capacity Band On The Wall packed with devotees who reveled in a forty-one song two-hour career spanning set that will be talked about for years.

Monday 18 July 2022

The John Hall Foundation Launch (Déjà Vega / The Goa Express / Yellow Brain / The Red Stains / Peacock Method / Maddy Storm / James Holt) - Manchester Band On The Wall / Rose And Monkey - 16th July 2022


John Hall was one of the most recognisable faces on the Manchester music scene, an omnipresent champion of new bands, unwavering in his support of those who got up on stage to perform and a will to only see the positive in artists. We sadly lost this magnificent man and friend last year to cancer, but before he passed he set up the John Hall Foundation to support the creation of safe working and rehearsal spaces for musicians in Manchester so that his legacy would never be forgotten, not that anyone who'd ever crossed his path would be able to forget him. Across two stages at Band On The Wall and the Rose And Monkey, artists and friends came together to raise funds and pay tribute on Saturday to a one-of-a-kind man whose loss has made the city's music scene a far poorer place.

Thursday 14 July 2022

TRACK OF THE DAY : Needle - Manual Breathing


Manual Breathing is the debut single from Manchester artist Needle, a fully independent and self-contained project where they write, record, produce and mix everything themselves. It's an impressive first offering, ambitious and very much displaying a desire to express themselves in a natural manner rather than conforming.

Monday 11 July 2022

Ist Ist / The Jade Assembly / The Empty Page / Cowtown - Bolton Right To Roam Festival - 9th July 2022


Saturday saw the second day of the Right To Roam Festival around four venues in Bolton, a brave festival that is attempting to bring live music back to the streets of a town that's had many of its live venues shut down over the years. We caught four bands - Cowtown, The Empty Page, The Jade Assembly and Ist Ist - across two of the venues.

Wednesday 6 July 2022

Pixies / The Slow Readers Club / Klangstof - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 5th July 2022


Pixies headlined the latest in the Summer In The City series of gigs in Manchester's Castlefield Bowl on Tuesday night supported by local heroes The Slow Readers Club and Klangstof. A thirty-song set provided a perfect reminder of why they are one of the most important and influential bands of our generation.

Monday 4 July 2022

James - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 2nd July 2022

One of the things that separates James from other bands is that we, the audience, never ever know what we are going to get when we go and see them. To celebrate their 40th year, James announced two special gigs; last month’s Edinburgh show was a celebration of a Barrowland "Best Of" era gig (from 1998) and then at the wonderful Castlefield Bowl tonight. We  knew exactly what we were going to get - twenty-two songs from the massive 1992 Alton Towers show that made for a curious evening. The band pulled out all the stops, truly testing themselves by revisiting some songs they haven’t played in decades.  What followed was a truly stunning performance. 

Friday 1 July 2022

TRACK OF THE DAY : SKIES - Deconstruction


SKIES today release Deconstruction, their first new material since last year's It's Not The End Of The World EP. Full of their distinctive hooks and pulsating beats the single will delight their loyal army of fans whose participation in garden shows as lockdown eased helped to fund the recording as well as hopefully win them new admirers.