Tom Hingley brought his solo show to the east coast of Scotland this week. Stuart Ralston went to Leith for a stunning career spanning set, not only celebrating his past but also celebrating his future with a clutch of brand new songs. Although there was a stage with a PA, Tom took the decision to body swerve it and pull up a chair in front of the audience, delivering a more personal, revealing and intimate show.
Shed Seven's rearranged date at Manchester Academy from Christmas last year finally took place on Thursday night at a packed out Academy 1 mixing together songs from across their career in front of a devoted audience and supported by local heroes The Lottery Winners.
October Drift headed to Manchester for the latest show on their rearranged UK tour on Tuesday night accompanied by a depleted in numbers China Bears and new kids on the block BÖHMEN for a high quality evening of three bands at different stages in their evolution as bands but who each win over the packed out crowd.
The Be Positives and The Big Peach brought the second night of their combined tour to the intimate upstairs theatre of the Kings Arms in Salford on Saturday night for a sold-out show.
With their fourth album Present Tense being released on Friday, New Zealand four-piece Yumi Zouma brought the album and its predecessor Truth Or Consequences to Manchester for the first time and turned the night into a communal celebration of a band that's sailed under most radars for far too long. Support came from Manchester's own Freak Slug.
Nilüfer Yanya brought her recently released second album Painless to a sold-out Band On The Wall on Monday night supported by Léa Sen.
Just Mustard have revealed Still, the first track to be taken from their forthcoming second album Heart Under that is released on May 27th. The song features intoxicating vocals from Katie Ball wrapped around a gloriously intense soundtrack.
Vancouver's Sugarfungus formed during lockdown and recently released their debut EP Letting Go, Moving Still, six songs of addictive glorious electronic dream-pop tinged with a hint of melancholy. We caught up with them for a chat to find out more about them, the songs on the EP and their plans.
With so many shows cancelled at present, it was a real joy to witness a gig for the first time in 2022 at our favourite venue, The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge, and with such an intoxicating performer as Lonelady on stage, fusing dance and rock music elements into a combination that few do so successfully and with an audience eating out of the palm of their hands as the seventy-five minute set felt like a genuine release of pent-up frustration and a reminder of the joy that live music can bring.
Ryley Walker is one of the most prolific artists around. Not just content with releasing his own solo album Course In Fable last year, he also put out a number of collaborations inspired by the improvisational spirit that runs through his live shows where songs take on a life of their own often detached from their recorded origins. The So Certain EP is a more traditional record, laid down with long-term collaborator Bill MacKay on guitar, Andrew Scott-Young on bass and cello and Quin Kirchner on drums and percussion, the former two who'd worked with him on Course In Fable.
Glasgow five-piece VLURE have been the hottest band on our radar since they released a live video of Desire way back in 2019 when the world was a very different place. Two and a bit years on, they release their debut EP Euphoria as a soundtrack to survival, of understanding exactly what and who matters and the importance of love and friendship to our existence and happiness.
Dead Man's Eyes is the lead track from a new compilation album released by Mary Joanna of unreleased tracks from the short-lived existence of their band in 2015-6 as a tribute to her brother and bassist / programmer Will Coogan who passed away in 2021.
