David Ford / Matthew And The Atlas - Manchester Halle St Peter's - 19th March 2026

David Ford returned to Manchester and the hallowed setting of Halle St Peter's as part of Manchester Folk Festival on Thursday night. A career spanning set delighted a mix of older fans and won over many of the festival attendees.

TVAM / Marina Zispin - Newcastle The Common Rooms - 28th February 2026

TVAM's tour in support of new album Ruins, released last Friday, headed to The Common Rooms in Newcastle on Saturday night supported by Marina Zispin. Gillian Heal was there to report back.

Julia Pertuy - Newcastle Cluny - 16th February 2026

French multi-instrumentalist Julia Pertuy played the second of a short two-night UK tour at the Cluny in Newcastle on Monday night. Gillian Heal attended and was blown away by the music, movement and beauty of the performance

Pure Reason Revolution - Manchester Club Academy - 13th February 2026

Pure Reason Revolution headed to Manchester on Friday night to reprise their debut album The Dark Third on its twentieth anniversary as part of a short series of dates that saw them reunited with former members Chloe Alper and Andrew Courtney before playing a second set of career-spanning highlights.

James - Liverpool Cavern Club - 9th February 2026

James played two of their most intimate shows in decades on Monday night as they made good on their postponed album launch shows for Nothing But Love - The Definitive Best Of at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Stripped down to a four-piece they performed twice with music interspersed with audience Q and A.

Ist Ist - Bury Met - 8th February 2026

Ist Ist continued their launch week for their fifth album Dagger with a show at Bury Met on Sunday night in conjunction with local record shop Wax And Beans. Performing the album in full, their strongest work to date, with a couple of older songs added at the end before signing records, they demonstrated why their march has taken on relentless proportions.

Thousand Yard Stare / John Mouse - Manchester Gullivers - 7th February 2026

Thousand Yard Stare rolled back the years with an energetic show at Gullivers in Manchester on Saturday night. Taking songs from their 90s heyday and mixing them with more recent material from their post-reformation records, they delighted a nostalgic crowd that threw themselves around to songs that defined their youth. Support came from John Mouse, the Welsh one.