Bringing you all the Live Reviews that matter since 1998

SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE
31 August 2010 / An Outlet / Manchester
:: Jo Rose :: Red Tides ::
Some of the most interesting sounds coming out of Manchester this year have been courtesy of Debt Records: here we drop in on their single launch to find out more about this exciting and fiercely independent label.

CAUTION: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN FLOWERY GIBBERISH
30 August 2010 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: Her Name Is Calla :: The Monroe Transfer ::
There are possibly more musical instruments than there are people in Night & Day this Bank Holiday Monday, but these are bands who officially don't take shortcuts...

SAKI SPACE LAB
28 August 2010 / Saki Bar / Manchester
:: Laboratory Noise :: Insect Guide :: Emperor Zero :: The Paraffins ::
Our favourite Saturday night out goes a bit fuzzy and spaced-out on us, and not just because of the cocktails...

NOT WASTING OUR TIME AT ALL
27 August 2010 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Plague Doctors ::
Three years after MM followed a cryptic message leading us to the back room of a pub, the men with the scary masks are as brilliant and indeed funny as they ever were...

POST-HARDCORE UPROAR
26 August 2010 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: Rolo Tomassi :: We Came Out Like Tigers :: Deaf To Van Gogh's Ear :: Brontide ::
With sufficient metallic attack to satiate the hardcore contingent and the sort of twisting, sprawling tunes beloved of post-rockers, Rolo Tomassi always leave you wanting more - even if it is gone midnight on a Thursday.

FESTIVALS 2010: BIG CHILL - SUNDAY
08 August 2010 / Eastnor Deer Park / Herefordshire
:: Newton Faulkner :: The Magic Numbers :: Lily Allen :: James Yuill :: Roy Ayers :: Paloma Faith :: Rinky Dinks :: Norman Jay ::
Day three and our heroic scribe, for reasons best known to himself, decides to endure both Newton Faulkner and Lily Allen. Above and beyond the call of duty by anyone's standards, that.

MIDWEEK LOTTERY
25 August 2010 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: The Hayley Faye Band :: Death To The Strange :: Maxwell Watts ::
Unbranded up-and-coming bands nights can be a bit of a gamble, which makes it all the more satisfying when you land on a good one...

FESTIVALS 2010: BIG CHILL - SATURDAY
07 August 2010 / Eastnor Deer Park / Herefordshire
:: Patrick Wolf :: M.I.A :: Kirsty Almeida :: Easy Star All Stars :: Tinie Tempah :: Kelis :: Jolly Boys :: Andrew Weatherall :: ::
Day Two and our intrepid reporter still can't find the cider bus, but does find himself surprisingly enjoying chart-topping rapper Tinie Tempah. Mind you, with lines like “I’ve bin to Southampton but I’ve never bin to Scunthorpe” who wouldn't?

FESTIVALS 2010: HALDERN POP DAY THREE
14 August 2010 / Festival / Haldern, Germany
:: Blood Red Shoes :: Nils Frahm :: The Black Atlantic :: Moss :: The Low Anthem :: Villagers :: Sleepy Sun :: Dan Deacon ::
Imagine for a second 20 or so sweating teenagers and assorted oldsters running round a traditional German village looking for... a pianist?

FESTIVALS 2010: HALDERN POP DAY TWO
13 August 2010 / Festival / Haldern, Germany
:: Beirut :: Mumford & Sons :: Laura Marling :: Delphic :: Gary :: Wendy McNeill :: Triggerfinger :: Fyfe Dangerfield :: Rox :: Esben And The Witch :: Daniel Benjamin :: Serena Maneesh :: Owls ::
...the drummer lacked any kind of rhythm, or any appreciation of what songs he was playing. Other band members were either counting him in or persuading him not to drink, or stare at the huge picture of the cow being milked behind him...

FESTIVALS 2010: HALDERN POP DAY ONE
12 August 2010 / Festival / Haldern, Germany
:: Beach House :: Cymbals Eat Guitars :: David Ford :: I Blame Coco :: Seabear :: Chapel Club ::
For most of the year Rees-Haldern is an unremarkable little town in North Rhine-Westphalia, about the size of Glossop - but for one weekend in the middle of August it's home to one of Europe's best loved small indie festivals.

EVERYONE LOVES A BREAKDOWN
15 August 2010 / The Deaf Institute / Manchester
:: Grammatics :: Brontide :: Der.Die.Das ::
Gradually the instruments fade like the lights of a house being switched off one by one, and after they've gone the words seem to echo around the emptying hall - Grammatics bow out with a quite stunning performance.

FESTIVALS 2010: BIG CHILL - FRIDAY
06 August 2010 / Eastnor Deer Park / Herefordshire
:: Akala :: Thom Yorke :: Massive Attack :: Explosions in the Sky :: Martina Topley-Bird :: LoneLady :: Kirsty Almeida :: Delta Maid :: Gallops :: Mondo Cane :: Black Seeds :: Kruder and Dorfmeister ::
A six foot plastic duck, tea in real china cups, jazz-folk, fabulously diabolical trip-hop, wind chimes, Mike Patton playing 1950s Italian pop, and a lake: there is nothing particularly normal about The Big Chill.

CALM AFTER THE STORM
12 August 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: The Steals ::
Like the changing and unpredictable weather, their extraordinary blend of dense sonic experimentation and seductive folk insinuations eschew any sense of prediction, artificiality or conformity.

WORKING ON THE SIDE
10 August 2010 / Dulcimer (Chorlton) / Manchester
:: Motorifik :: Driver Drive Faster ::
The words side-project can strike fear into the heart of any music fan - but what if the band is Working For A Nuclear Free City, a band so experimental that it's a shock if two consecutive gigs are in the same genre?

SIMPLY DIVINE
09 August 2010 / Hard Rock Cafe / Manchester
:: The Divine Comedy ::
The greatest intellectual dandy bohemian-on-the- edge-of-the-mainstream pop star of our generation visits Manchester for an exclusive and intimate performance that actually lives up to the promise.

MINIMAL MAXIMAL
03 August 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Pantha Du Prince :: D/R/U/G/S :: Szare ::
Don't get me wrong, guitars are great and all that, but there's something about the sound of chips and wires and circuit boards and oscillators that - in the right hands, of course - just taps into the nervous system.

FESTIVALS 2010: KENDAL CALLING (SUNDAY)
01 August 2010 / Lowther Deer Park / Penrith
:: The Switch :: Chickenhawk :: Jo Rose :: The Subways :: British Sea Power :: Micky P. Kerr :: These New Puritans :: The King Blues :: ::
For a festival pitching at the outer edge of the mainstream it's actually been an impressively eclectic line-up: a miniature and very northern microcosm of the Glastonbury ideal.