There is a certain mystique that surrounds Nadine Shah. Her gargantuan North Eastern tones have an uncanny way of filling whatever room she occupies, and the heft behind her tunes is unmatched across the industry. Shah brings the noise to Manchester tonight with aplomb, hitting the heights on what is…
Lynks is a prospect like no other. Rave anthems, hyperpop and melodrama of the highest order are constant themes that live within their studio and live output. It’s a spring Friday evening in Manchester, and there is visceral delight in the queue outside Academy 2. With Manchester Academy consisting of…
A Friday night in town is always a tantalising prospect: the nights are longer and they crackle with opportunity. The boozers across Manchester city centre are rammed with punters, each on a quest for mischief, liberation, or a chance to party like it’s the end of the world. Antony Szmierek…
It has been a genuine pleasure to watch English Teacher rise through the ranks of the UK alternative scene. The Leeds band have grafted through sweaty clubs and dingy basements, through EP releases and Speedy Wunderground singles on the road to their debut album, This Could Be Texas, and what an…
It’s something of an end of an era in Manchester this evening. Doncaster rockers The Blinders have called an untimely “indefinite hiatus” (and we all know what that means) on their tenure as a band. The European dates have been canned, and thus tonight’s Manchester show is the last one…
Kim Gordon is an icon of the alternative scene. Riot Grrrl-in-chief, figurehead of Sonic Youth, avant-garde provocateur and visual artist: the list of Gordon’s accomplishments and creative endeavours reads like lyrics from The Collective’s lead single ‘BYE BYE’. murky, dark, broody and menacing whilst remaining gloriously experimental and boundary-pushing, Gordon’s second…
Manchester Psych Fest is a standout amongst the great and the good of day festivals up and down the country: the event combines some of the best venues in Manchester with the most exciting up-and-coming talent on the scene. Psych Fest ’24 is set to be one for the books,…
The Leeds quartet return following a dizzying ascent to the top of the alternative culture tree. Lamacq endorsements, Elton John collabs, hordes of vinyl sales from debut album The Overload and a fierce live reputation all colluded to make them one of the most lauded names on the British circuit……
Leeds is a city like no other, and Leeds on a Saturday night is crackling with energy, excitement and that sense of endeavour that only comes with a big gig on the weekend. NewDad are fresh from the release of their stunning debut album, Madra, and the sold-out show is…
Where do we find Nadine Shah in 2024? In the four years since her last studio effort (2020’s superb Kitchen Sink), the songwriter has relocated to the newly formed EMI North for new LP Filthy Underneath: a deep and personal dive into what has been a somewhat traumatic time for the Tyneside artist Trauma…