music
News: Slam Dunk Festival Announce Additions To The Line-up
Slam Dunk Festival is set to be the biggest yet with even more bands added to the 2016 line up. The festival which is in its 10th year has just announced 8 new bands to the already impressive bill. Announced today: Mallory Knox, The Story So Far, Set Your Goals, The Starting Line, Zebrahead, Capdown, …
Live Review: Slaves – 02 Academy, Leeds, 10.11.2015
Slaves; the two-piece from Tunbridge Wells that unexpectedly rose to fame in 2015. Their debut album reached number eight in the UK album charts, they played Glastonbury festival several times in one year, they brought grime and punk together with their incredible cover of Skepta’s ‘Shutdown, they sold out their November tour with demand for …
Soundtrack Of Our Lives: Rowetta from The Happy Mondays
Whether its “twistin’ yer melon” with The Happy Mondays or paying homage to Ian Curtis alongside Peter Hook and the Light, Rowetta is the undisputed Queen of Madchester. A very influential artist in her own right, we wanted to know what songs she loved, the ones that she would say made the Soundtrack of Her …
News: RIP John Bradbury – The Specials
I was 11 when I first really got in to music. As a young impressionable kid, I not only wanted to make an impression I was looking for an identity. They were difficult times for me. My parents had just divorced – which, at that time, was a rarity where I came from – I’d …
Feature: Best of 2015: Backseat Mafia staffers pick their favourite gig photos from 2015
Before we start looking forward to 2016 and all that they may bring, Backseat Mafia’s live photographers have been taking a look back at the gigs we covered in 2015 and choosing their own personal favourite photos… STEVE BARNES – DESPERATE JOURNALIST One of our bands of the year, caught them at Crystal Bar during …
Live: Shed Seven / Inspiral Carpets – Leeds 22.12.15 / Sheffield 10.12.15
Seeing Shed 7 has become as big a part of Christmas as turkey and sprouts. Every second year the boys take their show out on the road, and treat us to a set full of their greatest hits. We caught them at Sheffield and again at Leeds for the final night of the tour. (All …
Feature: Top 20 albums of the year – Backseat Mafia staff pick
How do you judge what were the best albums of the year? Well, here at Backseat Mafia its a collaborative affair, where everyone that writes for us has as much of a say as everyone else (how did I let that happen?). Happily, in line with the widely and wildly varied nature of our ethos …
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 ? ¥ …
See: Terminal Gods release video for Road of the law
Under the cover of darkness, Terminal Gods make their escape. Leaving behind their usual, familiar haunts – the sleazy back alleys and late night rum joints of the London underground – the Gods hit the road in a stolen Viva, high tail it outta town and bring us the video for ‘Road Of The Law’… Now …
Feature: The UK Free Festival Scene, 1986 – 1992
These days there is a plethora of festivals, from huge expensive ones (Glastonbury) to smaller more affordable ones (Green Man, Wicker Man), but I don’t know of many (if any) free festivals. The term itself conjures up images of halcyon days back in the sixties, of hippies sat in circles, nudity and free love. But …