Bringing you all the Live Reviews that matter since 1998

SOLSTICE CELEBRATIONS - NORTHERN AMBITION XMAS BASH
21 December 2004 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: Omerta :: Fear Of Music ::
A quick scan through the MM archives tells of variable quality ranging from why aren’t they massive to why are they bothering. How lovely then of Northern Ambition to stick two of the best on one bill to top off the year?

DISABLED POP TRIKE
22 December 2004 / The Witchwood, Ashton Under Lyne / Manchester
:: Keith :: Little England :: Shadowlands ::
Onstage is the most heavy metal drumkit you will see taking up approximately 40% of the available stage space. The Lord-of-the-Rings-haired frontman is wearing a kilt and wielding a large sword. Suitably doom-laden music fills the room.

OLD HAM RIVER
18 December 2004 / The Castle / Oldham
:: Ampersand (aka Maro Salvo) :: SAY (Say Jansfield) :: Thai Bride ::
This all stacks up into something very attractive indeed - a potential formula that could easily generate some real and meaningful interest.

GARDEN UP
04 December 2004 / The Garden Hotel / Manchester
:: The Forest :: Stuffy / The Fuses ::
Raw, 30 second songs that have finished before you get served

LIVING IN A BOX
04 December 2004 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: BoneBox ::
For those willing to look beneath the surface of the MancMusic scene, there are a whole host of diverse sounds bubbling away - Bone Box provide one of them

THIS SONG CHANGED MY LIFE
07 December 2004 / Prohibition Club / Manchester
:: Badly Drawn Boy ::
BDB vists places where he can look you in the eye, or share a drink and relive those days before fame

WELL RESEARCHED CHOCOLATE DEBATE
16 December 2004 / Jabez Clegg / Manchester
:: The Research ::
Not coldly cynical or sneering, but humorous and engaging. The Research even manage to produce the best Xmas record since the Waitresses

THE CHIEF OF IT!
12 December 2004 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: The Beat Up :: The Kaiser Chiefs ::
Set closer ‘That’s Just The End Of That’ is a cracker - frenetic, energetic and ace. They leave us with a spring in our step, a smile a mile wide and a feeling of musical fulfilment.

BOMBING RUN
09 December 2004 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Phantom :: Day For Airstrikes ::
Riffs spew out over big crunching power chords and at various points you expect Iron Maidens “Eddie” to spring out from the rafters.

PROCESS THEM FEETS
09 December 2004 / Academy 1 / Manchester
:: Dead 60’s :: Kasabian ::
Adds up to a mean and moody, but face punching outlook that enforces a rule of "dance" - or else

DAWN OF THE DEAD
06 December 2004 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: Dead Men Win Fights ::
If awards went for silly names alone this lot would probably earn something like a DAFTA.

STAPLE DIET
11 December 2004 / Academy 2 / Manchester
:: The Buzzcocks :: Neville Staple ::
It’s nights like tonight that highlight the downfall and slow demise of attitudes and a lifestyle that was a complete two fingers up to society.

YE JOLLY FORESTERS
04 December 2004 / The Garden Hotel / Manchester
:: Stuffy / The Fuses :: The Forest :: Autokat ::
Autokat write great songs, but the connection with the crowd seems out of the ordinary, it’s something very bands on a small level can execute so acutely.

INSTITUTIONAL-EYES
09 December 2004 / Star and Garter / Manchester
:: The Young Offenders Institute ::
I guarantee that this band will be signed in 2005 and will quite possibly be famous. I'm not even remotely bullshitting either....

THE GREAT INVISIBLE
07 December 2004 / The BierKeller / Manchester
:: A Silver Mount Zion ::
Never underestimate the power of a venue. In this case it’s one that accommodates a gig about as well as tracing paper does for contraception.

PAIN PLEASURE
02 December 2004 / King's Cross Scala / London
:: Shellac :: The Minutemen ::
There’s a certain arrogance in playing four dates in London while us lot from the provinces barely even get a look in. But you’ve spent two decades producing some of the underground’s most important artists. You've probably earned that right.

MIME ARTISTS
04 December 2004 / The Castle / Oldham
:: Johnny Boy ::
What we get is a bloke and a girl, holding a guitar each (although it’s not even clear whether they are actually playing them all the time), singing along to backing tapes. Should Johnny Boy have even bothered showing up?

STYLE OVER CONTENT
02 December 2004 / Dry Bar / Manchester
:: TVH-3 :: Selfish Cunt :: The Martini Henry Rifles ::
I revel in performers with that edge of insanity about them but there has to be something else. Music. And on a purely musical level Selfish Cunt are appalling.

BLOWOUT DEC 04ii - LOCAL ELITE
01 December 2004 / Band On The Wall / Manchester
:: Sirconical :: Rebelski :: Jukes ::
“I’m sorry, I’m a bit drunk” he apologises… “Very unprofessional of me”. But it’s precisely his humanity that lifts him above the rank of keyboard boffin.