A Concert For John (Peter Hook And The Light, LIINES, The Blinders, Cabbage, Dirty Laces, The Mysterines, Purple Heart Parade, Déjà Vega, Loose Articles, Scuttlers, Inland Taipan, Gardenback, Hey Bulldog, The Big Peach, La Mode) - Manchester Ritz - 1st August 2021

You'll know John Hall. If you're the type of person who likes to talk while the band are on, he'll have cast you a disbelieving stare across the room. If you're a real dickhead, like one man in Rawtenstall at a Liam Frost gig, I might have stood between the two of you at some point. If you love live music videos on You Tube, you'll have seen his wonderful Manc Music channel of films of songs recorded across Manchester's music venues, you'll probably be in one of them as he loves to show the audience reaction. If you've ever sat in the secret garden at the back of the Castle or the Rose And Monkey you'll definitely have met him. There isn't a bigger champion of new music in Manchester than John Hall. Many people might claim that title, bollocks that it is, as their own. But there's no I in John Hall, just a love of music, an extravagant flounce, a wicked laugh, a bag of pills and the biggest heart.

Cabbage - Amanita Pantherina

Cabbage are at a crossroads as they release their second album Amanita Pantherina - third if you count the Young Dumb And Full Of Cabbage compilation that really was their debut. Are they still relevant? Can they still conjure up the headrush adrenaline that their first four EPs announced them with? Has too much of the mud of the ultimately false accusations made against them stuck? Freed from the constraints of a record deal and returning home to their Brassica Studios in Mossley to regroup and record Amanita Pantherina, it very much feels like a release from the events of the past few years.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Cabbage - Get Outta My Brain

Cabbage return with a new single Get Outta My Brain and the announcement of a new album Amanita Pantherina scheduled for release on September 25th.

SOCIALIST SUNDAY : The Blinders / Cabbage / Scuttlers / The Rhythm Method / Space Monkeys / The Pagans S.O.H. / Cold Water Swimmers - Manchester Ritz - 1st December 2019

Socialist Sunday was dreamt up, planned and delivered within just three weeks as a means of trying to encourage young people to get engaged in the political debate ahead of the December 12th election and specifically to champion the Labour Party. Headlined by The Blinders, as part of their For The Many tour with the same purpose, Manchester's Ritz played host to a thousand or so people to listen to nine hours of bands and speeches on Sunday.

Cabbage / Afghan Sand Gang / Thomas Haywood (The Blinders) - Manchester Night And Day - 24th June 2019

Three of the most exciting bands on the Manchester scene came together on a hot sweltering night to raise funds for the family of Liam Smith who passed away recently in Australia. Cabbage and Afghan Sand Gang both paid heartfelt tributes to their friend during the course of the night.

Blossoms / The Coral / Cabbage / The Blinders / Fuzzy Sun - Stockport Edgeley Park - 22nd June 2019

To play the football stadium in your hometown has to be one of the crowning achievements for any band growing up. Blossoms achieved that on Saturday night with a 15,000 gig at Stockport County's Edgeley Park, which sold out in hours, testament to the rise of a band who got their name from a pub just the other side of the railway lines from the proud imposing over a century old ground.

Cabbage / Heavy Rapids - Manchester Deaf Institute - 26th April 2019

With the release of their debut album proper Nihilistic Glamour Shots behind him, Cabbage are regrouping and refocusing as they prepare the follow-up. They recently announced a low-key tour and we caught up with the third night of that tour at a raucous sold-out Deaf Institute in Manchester for a set of old favourites and an insight into their new direction.

Cabbage - Glasgow King Tut's Wah Wah Hut - 15th February 2018

Stuart Ralston ventures back to his old stomping ground to catch another mesmerising performance from Cabbage as they prepare for the release of their album Nihilistic Glamour Shots.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Cabbage - Arms Of Pleonexia

Cabbage have today released their new single Arms Of Pleonexia and first track to be taken from their forthcoming debut album Nihilist Glamour Shots due for release on March 30th.

Cabbage - Dunfermline PJ Molloys - 12th October 2017

Cabbage's Healing Brexit Towns Tour storms into Dunfermline for an explosive show. Stuart Ralston and a buoyant Fife crowd have a ball.

Cabbage / The Blinders / Queen Zee and the Sasstones - Preston 53 Degrees - 28th September 2017

The second night of Cabbage's Healing Brexit Towns tour rolled into Preston's 53 Degrees accompanied by The Blinders and Queen Zee And The Sasstones for a triple-header of eclectic and often eccentric rock and roll that might not solve the issues of the nation, but puts them to the back of your mind for a couple of hours.

Cabbage / The Blinders - Manchester Ritz - 1st July 2017

Cabbage's biggest headline show to date came on Saturday at a sold-out Ritz in Manchester in front of a hometown crowd.

The Charlatans / Blossoms / Cabbage - Manchester Old Trafford - 27th May 2017

Old Trafford on Saturday saw one of the biggest security operations in Manchester's history as 50,000 people descended on the cricket ground for Courteeners' mammoth hometown show. We caught the three support acts - homegrown heroes Cabbage, Blossoms and The Charlatans.

Blossoms / Cabbage / Rory Wynne - Glasgow O2 Academy - 1st April 2017

The final night of this year's NME with V05 tour (yeah, whatever) rolled into Glasgow's O2 Academy on Saturday night. We caught up with Blossoms, Cabbage and Rory Wynne's three-carriage Greater Manchester express in a packed out crowd of delirious teenagers.

Blossoms / Cabbage / Rory Wynne - Liverpool Olympia - 17th March 2017

The second night of the year's biggest triple-header bill - Blossoms, Cabbage and Rory Wynne - rolled into the spectacular surroundings of Liverpool's Olympia Theatre on Friday night. Three acts at different stages in their trajectory brought a mix of styles and approach to the night, but each one confirming that they're set for bigger things in 2017 and beyond.

EVEN THE STARS PLAYLIST 1

We've decided to start a regular playlist of new songs we're listening to. Our first playlist consists of 20 songs we've had on rotation the past few months. We hope you like them. Future playlists will be posted when we've got 10 songs to share.

Cabbage - Liverpool EBGBs - 10th February 2017

On the day tickets for their headline show at The Ritz went on sale, Cabbage made the short journey up the East Lancs to play in a much more intimate venue in the basement of Liverpool's EBGB's, a venue ill-suited to the furore and chaos of their live set these days.

Cabbage / The Goa Express / Avalanche Party - Hebden Bridge Trades Club - 26th January 2017

As part of Independent Venue Week, Cabbage headlined the latest of a series of gigs at our favourite independent venue, The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge in one of the last chances we're likely to get to see the most important new band in Britain in such intimate surroundings.  Support came from Avalanche Party and The Goa Express.

EVEN THE STARS TIPS FOR 2017

As the year draws to an end, we reveal our top tips for 2017. Not necessarily bands that will make it to the top of the charts, but the bands that excite us for what they could achieve in the year.

Cabbage - Salford White Hotel - 2nd December 2016

Deep in darkest Salford is The White Hotel, formerly known as The Bunker, an old garage where the pit acts as a bar and acts perform in a cage whilst the audience are in the adjoining one. It's an unusual place to catch a band that's everywhere at the moment - BBC Sound Of 2017, Blossoms and Courteeners supports to name just two, but Cabbage are no ordinary band as they proved with a chaotic performance in the smallest place you're likely to see them for a long time.