Tag Archives: Manchester

Roachford Announces Night At The Manchester 02 Ritz As Part Of U.K. Tour.

Legendary singer songwriter Roachford has announced his first major headline tour in over two years. Fans in the North west will be able to see the singer and musician perform at the 02 Ritz in Manchester on Friday 27^th March.

From the moment that Andrew Roachford found himself sitting at a piano aged four, music has been his way of making sense of the world. Growing-up in London around a vibrant melting pot culture, he was like a sponge absorbing diverse musical influences from reggae and punk, to rock, jazz and soul music.

Roachford Announces Night At The Manchester 02 Ritz As Part Of U.K. Tour. full post

(335 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Buzzcocks to Play At Manchester’s Gorilla On Sunday 15th December.

Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto formed Buzzcocks in Bolton in February 1976. The band, completed by the addition of Steve Diggle and John Maher, opened for the Sex Pistols in Manchester on July 20th,

A follow up to the now (in)famous Lesser Free Trade Hall gig which Devoto and Shelley had organised the month before.

Gigs in Manchester and London followed, and by the end of 1976, Buzzcocks became one of the first groups to form their own independent record label – New Hormones – on which they released the now-legendary and seminal Spiral Scratch E.P.

Buzzcocks to Play At Manchester’s Gorilla On Sunday 15th December. full post

(419 words, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

Metallica, Gig Review. Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

In its short history the Etihad Stadium, the home of the current Premier League champions Manchester City, has witness despondency and glory in almost equal measure, but perhaps its more defining moments have come in the last ten years, late goals which have described a generation. A single moment in which a crowd hero made his mark for eternity deep into stoppage time and left a commentator breathless, a television hanging on the end of an extended vowel that still raises the hairs on the back of the neck and sends a shiver down the spine of anyone fortunate to have witnessed it take place.

Metallica, Gig Review. Etihad Stadium, Manchester. full post

(576 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Ghost, Gig Review. Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

You could travel to the end of recorded time and rarely come across a moment in which you see a support act on stage which leaves you with the impression that you wish they had more time, not to establish themselves in the eyes of the audience, but to dominate, to dictate terms of your surrender, absolute and unequivocally.

The feeling does happen occasionally, but it is one that arguably doesn’t sit in the gut unless they are a band to which has already had the presence of mind to rule a section of the crowd that has come to pay homage to the main act.

Ghost, Gig Review. Etihad Stadium, Manchester. full post

(396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

The Divine Comedy, Gig Review. HMV, Arndale Centre, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The temptation of an early afternoon gig is normally the preserve of the festival attendee, the chance to partake in a set of music surrounded by like-minded people as they savour the freedom of the setting and all the attraction of living life in pursuit of happiness rather than the drudgery of a day concerned with the nine to five and the complicated demands of the office and its politics.

The Divine Comedy, Gig Review. HMV, Arndale Centre, Manchester. full post

(517 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Billy Joel, Gig Review. Old Trafford, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

In the self-styled Theatre of Dreams, it is perhaps fitting that one American music legend can turn up to Old Trafford football ground, and with great artistic tongue in cheek, play to the local crowd’s hearts by performing the opening segments to the local anthem of the Stretford End faithful before hitting home with a set list that won’t be heard anywhere else in the country this year.

Billy Joel, Gig Review. Old Trafford, Manchester. full post

(518 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Toto, Gig Review. Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

You can wait a lifetime for the right moment in which you believe that the fates align, or you can seize the opportunity offered, brave the inclement, and seemingly never ending Hell driven, weather and relish the thought of seeing one of those bands that always conjures images of the definition of American A.O.R., of a time when M.T.V. was actually dedicated to music, when bands with the power of a ripping chord and introspective lyrics ruled the airwaves, Kansas, Chicago, Boston and for the fortunate ones on this journey round the Sun, the revolution of the night, Toto.

Toto, Gig Review. Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. full post

(465 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

Absolute Certainty, Theatre Review. Tribeca Bar, Manchester.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Dafydd Shalders, Benjamin Longthorne, Barney Thompson.

Stewart Campbell’s Absolute Certainty at the Tribeca Bar is part of the Manchester Fringe events. The venue is situated in the LGBT quarter around Sackville Street in Manchester. It is an urban tale of an 18-year-old Finn (Dafydd Shalders) who is finishing off his ‘A’ Levels under the watchful eye of his elder brother, the club surfing Dean (Barney Thompson) and his ever-present work mate Lee (Benjamin Longthorne).

Absolute Certainty, Theatre Review. Tribeca Bar, Manchester. full post

(555 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

The Blind Hearts, The New Sensation In Music, To Perform In North West.

The Blind Hearts are a hillbilly rabble of 5 scruffy young guitar pickin’, harmony-hollerin’, bourbon-swiggin’ folk-blues-country yokels from Manchester, London and Japan.

The new single Crying Shame was recorded at The Charlatans’ Big Mushroom studio, produced by Charlatans guitarist Mark Collins and mixed by Jim Spencer (Johnny Marr, New Order, The Charlatans, Liam Gallagher, The Cribs.) The band have always fought against the odds. Just as national radio picked up on the buzz – debut single (Oh Lord and I) Keep On Losing was pick of the week on Absolute Radio’s Sunday Night Music Club show – drummer J. Hirano was forced to return to his native Japan for almost 2 years.

The Blind Hearts, The New Sensation In Music, To Perform In North West. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Bee Gee Robin Gibb Dies Aged 62.

Robin Gibb pictured in Heyday of career.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 21st 2012.

The world of music was once more thrust into mourning yesterday when it was announced that Robin Gibb, a member of the highly successful and much loved group the Bee Gees, had died after a lengthy battle against cancer, aged 62.

Bee Gee Robin Gibb Dies Aged 62. full post

(778 words, 1 image, estimated 3:07 mins reading time)