Puressence / Concrete Club / Purple Heart Parade - 29th June 2024

Ten years since their last show Puressence made a triumphant unexpected return on Saturday night with a sold out show at Manchester's Albert Hall. Possibly the most anticipated gig of the year saw the hometown heroes surpass even the most excitable expectations with a career spanning set that reminded everyone why they fell in love with them over the course of a decade and a half and left the question unanswered as to why they weren't much much bigger than they were.

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.

Purple Heart Parade - Desolation Angel EP

Manchester's finest purveyors of psychedelic pop return with their third EP Desolation Angel including recent single Petrichor. Stuart Ralston has a listen and declares it to be their best work yet.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Purple Heart Parade - Petrichor

Purple Heart Parade have revealed Petrichor, the lead track from their Desolation Angel EP that comes out on split purple and orange vinyl in early January. The song both remains true to their past sound, but also shows them broadening their horizons, expanding their minds and those of the listeners with a sound that's more detailed and adventurous than we've heard from them before.

The Longcut / Purple Heart Parade - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 18th May 2019

Two of Manchester's most adored and respected joined forces at Soup Kitchen on Saturday night, creating some gloriously uplifting sounds. Stuart Ralston was there.

Purple Heart Parade - Lonestar EP

Even The Stars favourites Purple Heart Parade return with a stunning four track EP on an equally stunning slab of white and purple vinyl. Stuart Ralston relishes reviewing a record on his favoured four-track EP format, and what an EP it is.

TRACK OF THE DAY : Purple Heart Parade - Mission Hills

Mission Hills is the lead track from Purple Heart Parade's debut EP for Club AC30 entitled Lonestar, due for release on September 7th. Following several years and line-up changes on the Manchester scene, the band signed to Club AC30 earlier in the year and these are the first fruits of this relationship.

Purple Heart Parade - Glasgow Broadcast - 24th March 2018

Manchester’s Purple Heart Parade visit Glasgow as part of a short Scottish tour just before their big London gig with The Lucid Dream. Stuart Ralston checks out Broadcast for the first time and is blown away by their swirling, mesmerising, psychedelic haze.

Purple Heart Parade - A Minute's Silence At Weatherfield County

With new material due soon on a new label (AC30), Manchester's Purple Heart Parade remind us of their past with a new download only compilation EP, with three previously available tracks getting their first digital release and a live track included too.

Purple Heart Parade / The Goa Express - Manchester Aatma - 21st December 2017

Purple Heart Parade have been away for most of 2017 building up a not inconsiderable and growing fan base around the country including London where they came to the attention of one of the most adventurous psyche labels in the land AC30 with whom they promptly signed on the dotted line. Ahead of an EP release and more in 2018 they returned back to Manchester to one of their old haunts Aatma for a low-key homecoming. Support came from Burnley's The Goa Express.

Purple Heart Parade / My Expansive Awareness - Manchester Aatma - 9th August 2017

The twenty-sixth instalment of Astral Elevator’s psyche nights saw the return of prodigal sons Purple Heart Parade and a headline slot from Spain’s My Expansive Awareness in support of their new album Going Nowhere.

The Vryll Society / Francobollo / Purple Heart Parade - Manchester Deaf Institute - 19th January 2017

The Vryll Society made a triumphant return to Manchester on Thursday night following last year's dual headliner with Hidden Charms at Gorilla. Throwing off front man Mike's throat infection that could have pulled the gig, they deliver a spellbinding set supported ably by Sweden-via-London's Francobollo and Manchester's own Purple Heart Parade.

Purple Heart Parade - Chorlton St Clement's Church - 23rd April 2016

It's six long months since we last saw Purple Heart Parade which feels like a lifetime. They're still on the outside looking in at the Manchester music scene, often more loved away from their home town than they are here, other than by a band of hardcore disciples. We caught their headline set at Chorlton's Big Green Happening at St Clement's Church on Saturday night.

Purple Heart Parade - Salford Eagle Inn - 15th November 2015

Purple Heart Parade are on a mission. To pummel you to into submission with the sheer volume and depth to their sound. Armed with both old songs and new, we caught them at Salford's Eagle Inn on Sunday night.

The Lucid Dream / The Boris Johnson Massacre - Manchester Soup Kitchen - 11th September 2015

It's been a stellar year for The Lucid Dream in the psyche circles where they're increasingly being perceived as the leaders of the pack. They played their last gig of 2015 before they retreat to record their third album in the claustrophobic surroundings of Manchester's Soup Kitchen supported by The Boris Johnson Massacre, an unholy combination of the city's demons Purple Heart Parade and Freakout Honey.

Purple Heart Parade / Velvet Morning / This Other Kingdom / The Jungfraus - Manchester Gullivers - 27th June 2015

Astral Elevator is a fabulous monthly night at Gullivers in Manchester. The line-up is hand-picked by the promoter from bands from in and out of town that she loves that loosely are attached to the "psyche" monicker. Tonight's line-up sees local returning heroes Purple Heart Parade play their first hometown show in ages, supported by fellow Mancunians The Jungfraus, Dublin's This Other Kingdom and London's Velvet Morning.

Cosmosis Festival - Manchester Antwerp Mansion - 14th March 2015 (Moon, Desert Mountain Tribe, Enemies Eyes, Purple Heart Parade, Saint Agnes, The Watchmakers, Dead Rabbits, The Vacant Lots, The Black Ryder)

Cosmosis Festival is an all-day three stage festival held at Manchester's Antwerp Mansion, a ramshackle building just off the Curry Mile, and titled as an Alternative Festival of Psychedelic Music And Arts. An impressive line-up of bands, both local and from afar, enticed us down and this is our tale of the day.

Henry's Paw For The Dogs - Compilation Album

September 11 2014 was a night Manchester's dog lovers will probably remember forever. An arson attack at Manchester's Dogs Home saw more than fifty dogs killed. The city rallied round and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to assist with the rebuilding. Dog lover and music fan Kevin Brown came up with an idea of his own.

Even The Stars Tips For 2015 - Day Five

Welcome to the day five of Even The Stars' tips for 2015. They're not necessarily artists that we think will make a big breakthrough (except our Top Three which we'll reveal on New Year's Eve), but bands and solo artists that haven't released their debut album we're looking forward to hearing and see more of next year.

Today's bands are Purple Heart Parade, Literature Thieves, Ryn Weaver, Prelow, Ryan Jarvis, The Reveurs, Saint Agnes, Altar Flowers and Seegulls.

Purple Heart Parade - Interview

Purple Heart Parade have been generating a buzz in Manchester for the past year or so.  Now they're about to unleash not one, but two singles on us.  We spoke to front man Peter Cowap and bass player Ste Woods about how that came about and their plans for the future.