Gallery
Live: Nothing More, SHVPES, In Search Of Sun – Manchester Academy 3, 7.12.15
It’s brisk December and In Search Of Sun hold the task of warming the crowd up for the evening. There’s only about 20 people in the room by the time the band take the stage but if you didn’t turn around to look at the gaping empty floor you wouldn’t know it given the intensity …
Live: Ash at The Ritz Manchester 9.12.15, plus gallery
It remains one of rock’s enduring mysteries why Northern Ireland’s finest Ash are only playing decent sized venues like this instead of stadiums and this fun packed greatest hits sets only added to the conundrum. Most bands would settle for a couple of indie pop classic like Girl From Mars or Goldfinger, but this set …
Live: We Came As Romans – The Key Club Leeds, 4.12.15
This six piece metalcore outfit are well versed in club shows so it’s no surprise how easy they make performing freely look on a stage as small as The Key Club’s. Regenerate is the perfect set opener, being both a fresh lease of life from the new self-titled album and having the combination of their …
Live: Nordic Giants. Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds 16.11.15
¥ What makes man different from others – is that he is aware of himself, he is able to reflect upon himself and analyse how his environment influences him. Millions of years of evolution has passed and the exploration of consciousness seems to have been forgotten – Are you ready to expand your consciousness ? ¥ …
Say Psych: Live, Cult of Dom Keller, Liverpool PsychFest, 26/09/15
Cult of Dom Keller has been a favourite of mine for some years now. Two cracking albums and a series of enthralling live performances mean that I try to see the band whenever I get the chance. So I was really pleased to hear that they were Cardinal Fuzz Sonic Attack stage, and they did …
Live, Killing Joke UK Pylon tour (Manchester & Leeds) 2015
The Gatherers are congregated, the candles are flickering on stage, the lights go down as the Blade Runner theme sets the scene for the next 90 or so minutes. The moratorium is over as Killing Joke launch into ‘The Wait’ unleashing, albeit slowly, the combined power of the band’s original line up (see my recent review …
Live Review: Alex G – Sheffield O2 13.11.15
Of all the reasons I listen to the music that Alex G releases (and have so for a number of years), whether they’re covers or originals, well-written compositions or filled with creative hooks, it’s the honesty in her voice that keeps me listening. After seeing her live show in Sheffield last night, this was the …
Live Review: Ex Hex Live Review – The Scala, 02.11.2015, plus Gallery
Ex Hex tore through a set of rock ‘n’ roll that lifted the gloom of a Monday night in foggy London. As we’re standing outside the Scala on a murky night in Kings Cross Ex Hex drummer Laura Harris comes running towards us, carrying what looks like her cymbals, and is frantically ushered into the …
Psych Insight: Live, Carlton Melton, Liverpool PsychFest, 25/09/15
In ‘Out To Sea’ Carlton Melton have produced one of my favourite albums of the year so far. I think that it is their most complete work to date, being more focused than previous outings, yet without losing that looseness and improvisation that marks out their sound for me. It is an album that can …
Say Psych: Live, Hookworms, Liverpool PsychFest, 26.09.15
This was Hookworms third appearance at the Liverpool PsychFest, with the band’s rise up the bill over that time matching it increasing prominence and success elsewhere. Following last year’s excellent Hum album (which made the Psych Insight essential list last year), Hookworms have been on something of a hiatus, with most of the band members …