Saturday 29 July 2023

James / Razorlight / The Clause / Tom A Smith - Dundee Slessor Gardens - 28th July 2023


It's our first ever visit to Dundee, the biggest city on the mainland UK we've never visited before, for James performance at Slessor Gardens, close to the river front and the V&A Museum supported by Razorlight and the up-and-coming The Clause and Tom A Smith. A hit-heavy set with a beautiful tribute to Sinead O'Connor delighted an enthusiastic and passionate Scottish crowd as James played the city for the first time since 1986.

Friday 21 July 2023

Inspiral Carpets - Dunfermline PJ Molloys - 20th July 2023

Stuart Ralston made the short trip down the road to Dunfermline as Inspiral Carpets continue their renaissance. 

Friday 14 July 2023

Morrissey / The Slow Readers Club / The Lottery Winners - Leeds Millennium Square - 12th July 2023

Morrissey's UK tour arrived in Leeds on Wednesday night for the biggest show of the tour at Millennium Square supported by The Slow Readers Club and The Lottery Winners. Stuart Ralston travelled to Leeds for the evening and was completely blown away.

Sunday 9 July 2023

James / Jamie Webster / Tom A Smith - Halifax Piece Hall - 8th July 2023


Thunderstorms couldn't stop James on Saturday night in Halifax's Piece Hall. Despite having to stop their set for twenty minutes midway through as lightning threatened to strike the stage after an hour's torrential downpour that soaked a resilient crowd, they returned with a set of crowd favourites to reward the audience for their patience as they started to dry out. Support came from Tom A Smith and Jamie Webster, who had even worse fortune with the weather.

Saturday 8 July 2023

James / Tom A Smith - Halifax Piece Hall - 7th July 2023


James played the first of two nights in the remarkably beautiful surroundings of Halifax Piece Hall on Friday night. Performing with six singers from the Manchester Inspirational Voices Gospel Choir they moved from songs from the early 1980s right through to the current day with effortless ease, mixing their songs of celebration of life, death and everything in between in front of a celebratory audience in the late evening sun.

Friday 7 July 2023

Blossoms / Inspiral Carpets / Seb Lowe - Manchester Castlefield Bowl - 6th July 2023

Blossoms returned to the scene of their triumphant 2017 headline show at Castlefield Bowl that saw out the end of the era of their debut album for the first of two huge shows to mark the end of the Ribbon Around The Bomb era, their fourth album and third number one. Support came from old friends Inspiral Carpets and rising star Seb Lowe.

Wednesday 5 July 2023

James - Leicester De Montfort Hall - 4th July 2023

James headed to Leicester's De Montfort Hall on Tuesday night with Orca 22 and the Manchester Inspirational Voices Gospel Choir for a sold-out warm-up show for their date at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre show at the Acropolis in Greece next week. Their set covered most of their career from their days on Sire in the 1980s right through to a brand new song written for their Be Opened By The Wonderful orchestrated album that came out last month.

Monday 3 July 2023

John Bramwell / Harriet Bradshaw - Manchester The Yard - 2nd July 2023


Sunday afternoon saw three of John Bramwell's Full Harmonic Convergence perform an intimate set of songs from their forthcoming album as well as selected cuts from John's debut solo album and his I Am Kloot back catalogue to an attentive appreciative audience at The Yard in Cheetham Hill in Manchester interspersed with John's stories of life and experiences in the music business.

Grian Chatten - Manchester Night And Day Cafe - 2nd July 2023

Five years after Fontaines D.C. played a barnstorming set on the very same stage the songwriter of his generation Grian Chatten returned to perform tracks from his stunning debut solo album Chaos For The Fly. Jason Wynne reports back from the Piccadilly Records out-store at Night And Day Cafe on Sunday evening.

The Slow Readers Club / Ist Ist - Holmfirth Picturedrome - 2nd July 2023


The Slow Readers Club concluded a trio of weekend appearances with a sold out show at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on Sunday night supported by fellow Mancunians Ist Ist. A career spanning set delighted a rapt audience for ninety minutes touching all bases from their self-titled debut to this year's Knowledge Freedom Power.