Live Review: Chameleons “home is where the heart is parts 1 & 2” – O2 Ritz 15th & 16th december 2023
Words and pictures by Andi Callen – All rights reserved We all have our little rituals in the lead up to the Christmas period. Whether its the works do, or the once a year meet up with old school chums, the distant relative who always stops off the weekend before the 25th, on their way …
Live Review: Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart – Blues Kitchen, 23/11/2023
Words & pictures by Andi Callen – All Rights Reserved The Blues Kitchen in Manchester is a fairly new venue to the city, which to be honest has no shortage of live music spaces. One of its previous existences was as Aussie watering hole the Outback, now converted into a bar restaurant with music upstairs. …
News: Millie Manders & The Shutup to tour in Spring 2024
Backseat Mafia ska/punk favourites MMATSU fresh off the back of a hugely successful UK tour throughout the autumn with several sold out shows, have announced their ANGRY SIDE TOUR for April and May 2024. With their dynamic sound and candid lyrics, the band delves into themes like loss, betrayal, anxiety, heartbreak, environmental concerns and political …
Live Review: Spear of Destiny at Retro Bar Manchester 4/12/23
Words and pictures by Andi Callen Photography – All Rights Reserved. So 40 years on, from the first time I saw the fledgling Spear of Destiny perform at the Lyceum in London, I’m at an underground music venue, on a Monday night with another 120 or so music fans, barely believing what’s about to unfold. …
News: The Dualers bring the heat to warm you up Manchester!
Heralded as Britain’s finest ska and reggae band, The Dualers, come to Manchester’s Albert Hall this Saturday, 9 December. First hitting the headlines when their single “Kiss on the Lips” entered into the UK charts at number 21, despite having no professional industry backing, the band have won the hearts and ears of the nation ever since. …
News: Shane MacGowan dies aged 65
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (25 December 1957 – 30 November 2023) Born on a Christmas Day in Kent to Irish parents, MacGowan is synonymous with Irish nationalism, hard drinking and Celtic punk, a genre that his band The Pogues, pretty much invented. Their influence can be traced in many bands lineages, both here and in the US, …
News: Get ready for the 2024 festival season!
Bearded Theory Festival – Pic Credit: Andi Callen Photography – All Rights Reserved. As the first frosty mornings of the winter bite hard, the summer festival season seems a long way away. The UK festival season, once dominated by large festivals like Glastonbury, Reading, and Donnington has mushroomed to the extent that now there are …
News: Rat Scabies rejoins The Damned for UK tour in 2024
Captain Sensible – The Damned [Pic Credit Andi Callen Photography – All Rights Reserved] The worst kept secret in punk sees original Damned drummer Rat Scabies reunite with bandmates, Vanian, Sensible and Gray, to perform a series of UK shows, 11 in total in December 2024. This will be the first time since 1989. that …
News: Lockjaw records release new EP by Tunbridge Wells punks, Animal Shithouse
Well this is certainly going to wake some people up in the UK punk scene. Hailing from Tunbridge Wells, the four-piece are a product of the Kent town’s grassroots venue The Forum, an ex-public toilet converted into a community space, with studio facilities. The quartet all met at The Forum, recorded their music there, learnt …
News: Geordie Walker from Killing Joke dies aged 64
Geordie Walker – Killing Joke @ Albert Hall Manchester 2022. Pic Credit Andi Callen Photography One of the most influential post-punk guitarists of his generation has died in Prague, just two days after suffering a stroke. One of the original members of Killing Joke, Kevin “Geordie” Walker was known for creating vast swathes of noise, …