What a week it has been in the UK. The sun was out and Nigel Farage gained seats in the local election, threatening to tighten up immigration and the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson retired after 27 years at the top of his game. You may wonder what all this have to do with Femi Kuti performing [...]

When I first heard of this line-up I thought it was a tad odd. Bands from two different eras and two different generations of fans – the mighty Echo and the Bunnymen – once princes of the indie alternative scene of the early and mid 80s. And then, James, the kings of 90s indie dance [...]

Wouldn’t it be good to be able to pick the venues for the bands that you want to see? For Low this would be a room where you could get close enough to the stage and the band members so that you could experience the full emotion and the spirit (or that should that be [...]

As I sat down to write this, Frank Turner was playing on BBC6Music. If you haven’t been living in a cave for the past month then you too have probably seen his face on the pages of music magazines, TV interviews with him or heard his new single being played on numerous radio stations. He’s [...]

Sometimes, just sometimes, an evening of live music can surpass whatever expectations you may have held previously. Elevating a listless Monday night from the doldrums of the working week and transforming it into an evening tinged with anticipation and revelation; realms usually only privy to that of the weekend. The superb Matt Sheehan kicks off [...]

It is odd that throughout 1993 and ’94 Counting Crows’ debut album was never off my stereo, only for circumstances to intervene, and even hearing Duritz’s voice would bring back painful memories… “3500 miles away and what would you change if you could?” still echoing in my ears. For almost fifteen years I chose not [...]

If ever there was an odd beginning to a Dog Is Dead show, it was possibly this (although please read the interview for an even stranger beginning to a gig…). The howling gales battered the mobile Deezer stage which was overshadowed by the gothic spire of the church. It all felt a little Bronte-like: incongruous [...]

Music is a work of art when properly executed, as displayed tonight by Italian piano extraordinaire Ludovico Einaudi, performing his latest album “In a Time Lapse” in his sell out tour of the UK at Symphony Hall Birmingham. I first came across his work when he was promoting his album on the BBC Breakfast Show, [...]

When a tour comes to town under the moniker, The Mosh Lives Tour, you know that you’re in for a rowdy evening! Tonight’s gig is headlined by New York deathcore merchants, Emmure, who are back in Birmingham a few short months after opening for Parkway Drive at The Ballroom. Academy 2 is packed out with [...]

British Sea Power is a band I have always found inaccessible, described as sounding similar to The Cure, Arcade Fire & The Pixies, I knew I should love them but with a humungous back catalogue of 6 albums to wade through they’d never quite managed to hit the spot for me. However a friend from [...]