Bringing you all the Live Reviews that matter since 1998

VIOLENTLY HAPPY
22 December 2005 / Tiger Lounge / Manchester
:: The Pedestrians :: Happy Fucking Birthday ::
Essentially this is pop music warped by shards of dissonance and swarms of distortion. Conversely it could be shards of dissonance and swarms of distortion tempered by pop melody.

FESTIVE FEAR
21 December 2005 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: False Image :: Fear Of Music ::
Fear Of Music end a brilliant 2005 with an early-doors pre-Christmas Roadhouse appearance. Just don't ask what's in that bottle...

TURN ON THE LI9GHTS
20 December 2005 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: The Tides :: Silent Partners :: Kni9hts ::
Someone shouts “LSD” and is rewarded with that legendary four-note intro – but no more

CHRISTMAS ISN'T TRICKY FOR NIXON
19 December 2005 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Tricky Nixon ::
Between xmas dinner anecdotes and McCartney songs the Trickiest of Nixons are imbued with festive spirit and knock 'em dead tunes.

GRAVITY WINS
16 December 2005 / The Arena / Manchester
:: Embrace ::
The question that was glossed onto everybody’s lips like Bet Lynch lippy, was can the down to earth Yorkshireman pull it off in front of a large crowd in an arena?

SHARPEN UP THE KNIVES
13 December 2005 / The Witchwood, Ashton Under Lyne / Manchester
:: Puressence ::
A landmark for modern post c86 rock, building on the glories of U2 and gothic, new rock values.

DUEL PROCESSING
12 December 2005 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Duels ::
This is one battle of the Roses won by the team in white

MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY
09 December 2005 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: Mugstar :: My Way My Love ::
One of the nastiest, most unapologetic rackets created by mortals. If you think that Test Icicles constitute a bit too much of a din then stop reading now.

NOT A SHAMBLES
08 December 2005 / Jabez Clegg / Manchester
:: Littl'Ans ::
The brooding, sonorous, drum beat of opening number “Ultimatum” provides a promising start

JACKETS REQUIRED
05 December 2005 / Club Academy (Academy 4) / Manchester
:: Bromhead's Jacket :: The Fold :: We Start Fires ::
Further tales of banana milkshakes, the odd skewiff snapshot of a back alley and other daily obscurities of cashier culture involve much mickey-taking

LIVING FOR THE MIDWEEK
06 December 2005 / The Ritz / Manchester
:: Hard-Fi :: Boy Kill Boy ::
The caustic brashness of The Clash colliding into a whirlwind of bolshy Morrissey styled urbanity

MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN
03 December 2005 / The Arena / Manchester
:: Ian Brown :: Domino Bones :: The Incredible Beat Box Band ::
The main man made it clear that a packed house didn’t mean that people can’t dance