pop live review
Les Ardentes Festival, Liege, Belgium. 2016 Edition
Belgium’s Les Ardentes Festival is now over ten years old, so this year it added an extra day, making it a five-day extravaganza. I’ve been to every one, and my role for most of them as onstage announcer has given me fly-on-the-wall access to it and how it operates. Unlike in the U.K., where the …
LIVE: The 1975, Manchester Apollo, 12/3/16
On this tour, The 1975 are doing something rather special- instead of playing arenas to thousands of people like they so easily could, they’re choosing to do several dates at some smaller venues. London’s Brixton Academy saw the band take to its stage no less than four times last week, while the band are now …
Live Review: Kim Wilde, Holmfirth Picturedrome, 16/12/15
When I was ten years old I fell in love for the first time. Her name was Kim. She was an older woman. That was when I heard Kim Wilde’s cover of The Supremes’ hit ‘You Keep Me Hanging on’. I’d never actually heard the original version of the song at that time, but listening …
Live Review: Alex G – Sheffield O2 13.11.15
Of all the reasons I listen to the music that Alex G releases (and have so for a number of years), whether they’re covers or originals, well-written compositions or filled with creative hooks, it’s the honesty in her voice that keeps me listening. After seeing her live show in Sheffield last night, this was the …
Live Review: Against The Current – Manchester Roadhouse – 06.12.2014
It’s been a fair while since I’ve been looking forward to a gig as much as this one. There’s a great feeling about going to a gig for bands on the YouTube scene as there’s the definite feeling of everyone coming together to support them. I’ve been pondering the idea of a future article that …
Live: Kate Bush – Before The Dawn
The story of Kate Bush’s return to live concerts is now well-known: one six-week tour in 1979 finished at the Hammersmith Apollo and she never again went on tour or performed an entire set for the public. Some cited nerves, others exhaustion from her relentless perfectionism. Rumours said that the death of her lighting director, …
Live Review: Megan Nicole – Manchester Academy 21.01.2014
Embarking on her European tour, Megan Nicole played her first full headlining show in the UK last night at Manchester academy. Providing a show length of 75 full minutes (which is more than a lot of gigs I’ve seen recently) Megan proved that she was the great musician and performer that her legions of UK …
Live Review: Hannah Trigwell – The Cockpit, Leeds 18.01.2014
Coming to the end of her first UK Headlining tour, Hannah Trigwell’s penultimate show took place in her hometown of Leeds to great welcome and excitement. The atmosphere for a show on home territory was exactly as you’d expect it to be: a crowd that was filled with friends and fans, both encouraging her on …
Live: Kodaline – The Leadmill, Sheffield 25.3.2013
I had a hard day, and a cold day, and consequently I was grumpy. Number one, there was over a foot of Snow outside our house and temperatures were below freezing most, if not all, of the day. It was the sort of day when I drove to work and had the heaters blasting out …