Stephen Fretwell is coming to the end of the second of his tours around his very long-awaited comeback album Busy Guy. A sold-out Trades Club stood bewitched by his spell as he ran through a marathon twenty-three song set taken from all three of his albums interspersed with irreverent chat, audience participation and a wit that made it into a truly special evening.
Spud Cannon brought their short UK tour to a close on Tuesday night in the intimate surroundings of The Peer Hat in Manchester. With three albums already under their belt they delivered a fourteen song forty five minute set of three minute gems that touched all bases to an audience that they had eating out the palms of their hands by the end of the night.
It's not often you catch a band that was involved in a chart battle at the very top end of the album charts in a small venue, but Monday night saw Yard Act hit Warrington and the intimate surroundings of Friars Court for a special set featuring tracks from that album The Overload as well as a few crowd favourites and a special guest appearance.
John Bramwell brought his Full Harmonic Convergence to the picturesque and unique setting of the Devil’s Arse Peak Cavern in Castleton for an exceptionally special long-delayed two hour set primarily featuring songs from their upcoming album The Light Fantastic interspersed with tracks from his Leave Alone The Empty Spaces solo album and his I Am Kloot back catalogue.
Momma are about to release their third album Household Name on July 1st and this Manchester show, as part of the ongoing Mood Swings events, is the final stop on a whistlestop tour that coincided with The Great Escape in Brighton and the release of Speeding 72, the third single to be taken from the album.
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.
