Whitehorse - Manchester Rose And Monkey - 27th October 2024

This is Whitehorse's first ever gig. It's sold out The Rose And Monkey weeks in advance. At the helm of the new band is Thomas Haywood, frontman of The Blinders who played their final shows back in February. With nine unreleased songs plus a cover of Amazing Snakeheads, Whitehorse revealed that the demise of his band hasn't dampened Haywood's creative spirit at all. 

The Blinders / Yasmin Coe - Salford White Hotel - 13th October 2023

As they prepare to return with their third album, newly signed to a major label, The Blinders performed two low-key shows at the back end of last week. After a sold-out show in London on Thursday, they headed back to their adopted home for an intimate night amongst friends at The White Hotel in Salford, a venue that made it feel like they were returning to their roots. With five new songs in the set alongside old favourites they delighted an ecstatic crowd that welcomed them back like homecoming heroes. Support came from Yasmin Coe.

The Blinders / Uninvited - Hebden Bridge Trades Club - 17th June 2022

The Blinders headed to the Trades Club on Friday night for a sweltering opening night to their three-date mini-tour to support the release of their double EP Electric Kool Aid. Supported by Glaswegians The Uninvited they delivered a set that featured almost all of the new material plus a series of old favourites from their debut Columbia and its follow-up Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath.

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.

The Blinders - Manchester Rose And Monkey - 24th June 2021

With their forthcoming July dates falling victim to the latest extension of UK restrictions that seem to apply to music and other arts venues and not a great deal else, The Blinders decided to sate their desire to play live with two last-minute intimate shows at their favourite local boozer The Rose And Monkey in Manchester's Northern Quarter. An hour-long set captured highlights of their two albums to date in the stripped down Lounge Lizard format, which they plan to give a formal release in a few weeks.

LIVESTREAM : The Blinders - Manchester Scruff Of The Neck Offices - 22nd February 2021

Live music. Remember that? The thrill and excitement and adrenaline as the drums kick in, guitars roar and the bassline rumbles seductively and then the vocals come in, delivering words of wisdom, experience, loss, love or any combination of them?  Close to a year after the gig scene came to a grinding halt and on the day we finally (hopefully) got a date for it to start again, The Blinders reminded us what we've been missing with a scintillating live show mixing tracks from last year's Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath and their debut Columbia on a Twitch live stream from Scruff Of The Neck's Manchester offices.

EVEN THE STARS Top 25 Albums Of 2020 - 20 to 16

Today we reveal five more of our favourite albums of 2020, a strange year in pretty much every respect, but one that still managed to deliver some stunning new music to our ever-growing collections of albums. 

The Blinders - Manchester Rose And Monkey - 22nd September 2020

The Blinders emerged from lockdown with a stripped back "lounge lizard" set at their second and spiritual home The Rose And Monkey on Tuesday night to a socially-distanced audience of forty lucky fans who snapped up tickets within seconds of going on sale. An hour-long song set took favourites from their debut Columbia and predominantly tracks from their 2020 album Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath and reinvented and redrew them for the intimate surroundings.

The Blinders - Live From The Bottom Floor

To celebrate the release of their second album Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath, The Blinders performed an hour long live set with an expanded five-piece line-up on Monday night that was streamed to purchasers of the album. 

The Blinders - Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath

Following up an album with a such a striking audio-visual package as their debut Columbia was never going to be an easy feat for The Blinders. The imagery of Johnny Dream and the stories inextricably linked to the novel 1984 were striking, but something it would be unwise to try and replicate. What The Blinders have done with their follow-up Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath is to widen their horizons in terms of subject matter without straying too far from the subjects of the political systems around the world, societal issues and mental health. 

TRACK OF THE DAY 3 : The Blinders - Circle Song

The Blinders return with a new single Circle Song, the first track to be taken from their second album Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psychopath that is due for release on May 8 with some low-key UK dates announced to coincide.

EVEN THE STARS ALBUMS OF 2019 - 16 to 13

Today we reveal more of our favourite albums of 2019 - from sixteen to thirteen.

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.

The Blinders - Manchester Pretty Green - 1st November 2019

The Blinders played an intimate early evening stripped down set at Pretty Green's Manchester store to a crowd of competition winners and guests - revealing some of the songs they've just finished recording as part of their second album as well as some old favourites.

Confessional Festival Day 1 - Blackburn Holy Trinity Church - 6th September 2019 (The Blinders / LIINES / Witch Fever / The Seamonsters / Audrey's Dance)

Day One of Blackburn's Confessional Festival in the stunning setting of the disused Holy Trinity Church overlooking the town saw a headline set by The Blinders accompanied by LIINES, Witch Fever, The Seamonsters and Audrey's Dance providing a musically varied evening of some of the North's best and most exciting bands on one bill.

Thomas Haywood (The Blinders) / Afghan Sand Gang / Scuttlers / Ellysse Mason / Maddy Storm - Manchester Night People - 21st August 2019

The latest in the series of Manchester's Musicians Against Homelessness gigs took place in the intimate setting of Night People, headlined by Thomas Haywood of The Blinders playing an acoustic set and supported by a stripped-down Afghan Sand Gang, an acoustic performance by Luke and Kaiden of Scuttlers plus solo performances from songwriters Ellysse Mason and Maddy Storm.

The Blinders / Julia Bardo / Millie McLeod - Blackburn Museum - 8th August 2019

The Blinders headed to Blackburn on Thursday night for an intimate stripped-down set in the unusual setting of Blackburn Museum supported by Julia Bardo and Millie McLeod. A seventy-five minute set saw them play very different versions of songs from their debut album Columbia and a series of songs from their second album writing sessions.

The Blinders / Saytr Play / Déjà Vega / Ryan Jarvis / Dantevilles / Scuttlers - Liverpool Jimmy's - 3rd August 2019

The Blinders headlined the opening Saturday in Jimmy's new Liverpool site in the sauna like conditions of the basement venue supported by an impressive list of bands who'd made the journey up the East Lancs in Saytr Play, Déjà Vega, Ryan Jarvis, Dantevilles and Scuttlers.

The Blinders / Witch Fever / The Pagans SOH - Manchester Albert Square - 16th July 2019

The Blinders headlined night three of live music curated by Dave Haslam in Festival Square as part of Manchester International Festival. Mixing in new material with tracks from their debut album Columbia, they set the tent bouncing more than has seen before ably supported by Witch Fever and Pagans SOH.

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.