Venue:

The Academy, Manchester

Date: 02/07/2025

Lucy Dacus may not be a household name, but she is having a bit of a moment. Hot on the heels of the success of boygenius her latest album is getting a lot of traction. Three years ago she was playing at Manchester’s 500 capacity Gorilla; now she’s effortlessly selling out the 2000 capacity Academy.

Her songs are understated, introspective and often low key melodically. But any fears that they wouldn’t work in a standing venue of this size are dismissed from the off, as she and her five piece band launch into ‘Hot and Heavy’ from her 2021 album ‘Home Video’, swiftly followed by the crowd pleasing ‘Ankles’ from her new album, ‘Forever is a Feeling’. She does almost the whole album, interspersed with songs from her earlier records including probably her best known song ‘Night Shift’. That, and the one boygenius song, ‘True Blue’, are greeted rapturously but so too are the new songs. The title track, and ‘Big Deal’ are standouts, but the song which arguably gets the warmest reception is ‘Best Guess’, which clearly is ‘Our Tune’ for many of the audience and I suspect will be much played » Continue Reading.

Venue:

St Georges, Bristol

Date: 26/06/2025

The band Lady Maisery in cahoots with the duo of Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith have worked together for some time now – their Winter show, called ‘Awake! Arise! has charmed and warmed us twice now over the last two years.

Happily they have now been inspired to put together a sibling show for the summer; it’s called ‘Wakefire’ – and last night we went to see them perform it at the wonderful St. Georges venue in Bristol.

What we witnessed was stunningly original, beautifully delivered and expertly played by musicians who have both mastered their instruments and have fabulous voices.

Five part harmony singing. Electric and acoustic guitars, an Mbira, a harmonium, a piano accordion, a drum, an amazing bouzouki, a banjo, some clogs, a violin, an old valve radio and a couple of shaker sticks. Old songs and new songs, songs from Latvia and Sweden, chord sequences and phrases stolen from mash-ups, even cocktails, it’s all there. All in an evening’s entertainment that left a packed, sold-out hall on its feet applauding enthusiastically for the final numbers.

Outstanding and exuberant, original and exploratory and innovative, this was » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Sound Lounge, Sutton, London

Date: 20/06/2025

Gigs by Robbie McIntosh and his band are as rare as hen’s teeth so, when this one popped up at the wonderful Sound Lounge in Sutton, London; I had to go. Apart from anything, Robbie is a Sutton boy so the crowd is peppered with friends.

Five days earlier I was sitting in the Royal Albert Hall waiting for Bonnie Raitt to come on when Robbie and Giles Martin sat in the row in front of me. During the standing ovation for the encore I was able to tell Robbie that I would be at his gig on Friday. He was genuinely chuffed and shook my hand before disappearing backstage, (having had a “I’m honoured to have guitarist Robbie McIntosh in the house tonight,” from Bonnie earlier.)

First off I have to name check his stellar band; some of the best British musicians still doing the miles.

On bass and bv’s, the effortless Steve Wilson; on keyboards and bv’s, the ‘wearer of hats,’ Steven Darrell Smith; on percussion, the evergreen Jody Linscott; on vocals and acoustic guitar; the delightful Hannah Robinson; on harmonicas and jews harp, the unbelievable Peter Hope Evans » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Royal Albert Hall, London

Date: 16/06/2025

Bonnie Raitt at The Royal Albert Hall? It’s always one of my favourite gigs of the year, when it comes around every couple of years.

This time, the support is the Man from Kent who is called ‘the 8th Wonder of the World’ by Bonnie herself; Jon Cleary. He comes out to a packed audience, many of whom know him well due to his ten-year residency in Bonnie’s band around the turn of the century.

Cleary immediately sets about turning the big old hall into a piano-bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans; the city he’s called home for much of his life; and has us in the palm of his hand, (I’m actually sure he has three hands; so mesmerising is his playing.) His voice has been soaked in Sazerac rye whisky and the smoke from a thousand Lucky Strikes and the 40 minutes passes in the blink of an eye and ends with a huge ovation.

Bonnie’s band has two ‘new-boys’ over the last couple of tours; Duke Levine has stepped into the huge shoes left by George Marinelli, Bonnie’s gunslinger for 30 years, and does a brilliant » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Utlilita Arena, Newcastle/BP Pulse Arena, Birmingham

Date: 05/06/2025

The initial viral reaction to the opening Australian dates of this tour were pretty scathing and, it turns out, hopelessly misguided. The general cause of the bitching was that the show is minimalistic, low on stage production and costumes, and generally considered ‘cheap’. Well, to an extent, m’lud – La Minogue is feted for the spectacle of her stage shows, and compared to say the Showgirl and Aphrodite: Les Folies extravaganzas, this one is indeed stripped back. But there are still lasers, a ceiling descent, dancers, confetti showers, bespoke filmed inserts, a mirrorball and copious costume changes, so we’re not exactly talking Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts at the Student Union here. Yet the main objections to those early shows have been emphatically silenced by the sheer quality of the performances and the giddy sense of communal ecstasy that they have inspired. (Review continues in comments)

The audience:

Unsurprisingly an eclectic multi-generational mix, with a gratifying proportion of boomers and Gen-Xers, and heartwarming pockets of dads-with-young-offspring generally congregating near the B stage. And of course a huge gay contingent in their many manifestations, from those in all their glittering peacock finery to » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Bridgewater Hall Manchester

Date: 02/06/2025

Cat Power has been touring her song for song live performance of Bob Dylan’s 1966 tour setlist for the best part of 18 months. Indeed she recorded and released her performance at the Albert Hall (the real one) in late 2023 (@Junior-Wells reviewed it here at the time).

I’ve heard the record and enjoyed it without being blown away. And of course I know exactly what the setlist is going to be, so I wasn’t sure I could be bothered to go to this. But in the end curiosity won out, and I am very glad it did.

The show starts with the acoustic set of course, although unlike Dylan, Power confines herself to vocals, accompanied by one of her band on acoustic guitar and another on harmonica. The sound is impeccable, the lights are low, and there’s an intimacy in her vocals which means the cavernous and characterless Bridgewater Hall is made to feel almost like a late night jazz club. But as the songs follow each other there is a homogeneity in the slow tempo Power gives them all. Its pleasant enough but not really catching fire. » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Algonquin Commons Theatre, Ottawa

Date: 29/05/2025

Probably well known to a number here, The Musical Box are a band from Montreal that recreate Peter Gabriel era Genesis in a live setting.

They are doing a “Genesis 1973” tour. I went primarily to keep a mate company. I like this era of Genesis, but am by no means a massive fan. It was also in a small venue with excellent sound which helps.

And they were truly excellent, amazing musicianship. I could almost imagine it was Gabriel on stage, apparently recreating the original stories/introductions without a trace of a French Canadian accent. I didn’t love all the songs, but all were recreated with much conviction. Special mention to “Phil Collins” who was superb throughout. A fun night out after escaping a massive thunderstorm on the outside.

The audience:

As you would expect

It made me think..

Venue:

Old St Pancras Church, London

Date: 23/05/2025

Faeland are a band probably unknown to most Afterword contributors and lurkers. I came across them some years ago when an advert appeared on Instagram, offering their first album for free and a discount on their then new set. I listened, liked them and sent off for the discs. They are based in the West Country and appear to perform mostly in that area. I believe this was their first London gig for quite some time. The core of the band is Rebecca Nelson (lead vocals, guitar) and Jacob Morrison (guitar), it was a wholly acoustic performance with a band playing upright bass, drums, cello, violin, Celtic harp and other assorted instruments. This was a performance that absolutely transcended the albums, good as they are. Impeccable performances of beautiful songs. It was mellow, melodic, mellifluous and magical. Musical balm for the soul. There’s little point in me listing song titles that mean nothing to you, the reader. They drew on both their existing albums (All My Swim and When I Close My Eyes) and played a few from their forthcoming record (Remedy). Suffice to say that beauteous moments abounded. They play » Continue Reading.

Venue:

St Georges, Bristol

Date: 15/05/2025

Yesterday evening, somewhat bruised and cowed by a punishing week of 21st century nonsense, we made the pilgrimage to St. Georges once again, anticipating a special evening of music from the Rheingans Sisters.

We were not disappointed. The bruising was healed. The 21st century fell away and a timeless place of intensely involving wonder filled its empty absence.

What an extraordinary treat last night at St. Georges was!

The sisters played us their newest album from start to finish, delivering a tour-de-force that surpassed even the contents of its little silver disc that’s been in constant play at home for weeks now.

The entire gig lasted around 4 minutes, as far as I can recall. I was lost in the music, and time stood still.

With great delight I started to hear faint echoes of everything that I imagined they’d taken and poured into this album, all the possible references my ears seemed to find, all the musical influences I thought we must surely share, and then I heard the truth that really mattered at the heart of this piece; the sister’s own fantastic musicality and their voices shining » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Co-Op Live, Manchester

Date: 14/05/2025

Over the past few tours we’ve got used to seeing Bruce Springsteen in a reflective mood; reflecting back on times past and on lost friends. This has led to some wonderful, life affirming shows, especially that Saturday show at Hyde Park in 2023 and last year’s wonderful shows at Wembley Stadium. He became Playful Bruce; Cuddly Bruce; Uncle Bruce.

Well, last night, at the opening of his 2025 Land of Hope and Dreams European tour, we got Angry Bruce.

The chance to see The E Street Band in an indoor setting in the U.K is as rare as spotting a Cadillac on the M6 motorway, (the O2 Arena in 2007 is the most recent I can find,) so I grabbed a ticket for Manchester’s American-owned Co-Op Live Arena with both hands. The advantages over a stadium gig?

Better sound, (I could hear the immaculate bass playing of Garry W Tallent last night, for the first time in years,) and a more intimate setting; I hardly looked at a screen last night, whereas you rely on them in a stadium setting.

On the stroke of the advertised 7.45pm start time, the lights went down » Continue Reading.

Venue:

London Palladium

Date: 08/05/2025

This was the third of three Go West gigs with the Sinfonia Smith Square orchestra to celebrate 40 years since the band’s debut album. The build up to the short tour was marred by an illness to Richard Drummie which meant that singer, Peter Cox was flying solo, albeit with the help of the regular GW band, three backing singers and the orchestra.

The first night at the beautiful Bridgewater Hall in Manchester was a terrific gig. Peter was a little nervous at the start, understandably so, especially when he had to announce that his wingman was unable to be there, but the audience lifted the mood. The setlist was a strong mix of those 80’s/90’s classics mixed in with some of their more recent tracks. The arrangements by Rob Taggert were wonderful, giving plenty of space for the brass section to stretch out.

The second gig, at Birmingham’s wonderful Symphony Hall, was even better than Manchester. Everyone on stage had relaxed into their roles and Peter seemed more at ease with the fact that he was carrying the show. His voice is still one of the best around, as it has been for » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The London Palladium

Date: 09/05/2025

My first David Gray gig was much too long coming. I have every album but, for some reason, his tours have passed me by. His music has resonated with times in my life, something which meant that, on several occasions during the set, I had something troubling in my eye.

The five musicians on stage with him all sang backing vocals which made for a lush wall of sound, while faithful drummer, Clune, demonstrated that he’s as much a part of Gray’s sound as David’s voice.

The delicate After the Harvest from the excellent new album, Dear Life, led into My Oh My and we were off to the races. I was delighted to get three tracks from Slow Motion, one of my favourite of his albums, including the wonderful Nos Da Cariad during which the pesky dust affected me greatly. White Ladder and Silver Lining reminded everyone of Gray’s golden age before the support act, Talia Rae, joined him for Plus and Minus from Dear Life. The atmosphere was building but, when Clune launched into Please Forgive Me, it’s fair to say that the audience lost its collective mind; as did Dave, » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan

Date: 19/04/2025

The Wild God tour – and WILD and GOD were for sure the themes. I had seen him a couple of years ago – Mr. Cave, a piano and a Radiohead bassist. A quiet, subtle, almost delicate performance. This, of course, was very different. Swaggering onto stage skinny and in his usual business suit attire and then starting the gig with a shout of “Fucking Detroit” – pretty much set the tone. A 67 years-old man roaming the stage, owning the stage for nearly two and a half hours. It’s a wonderful thing. Religion, sex, humor it is all there – and the audience lapping up every moment – “yeah, yeah, yeah” and “Look at me now” chants, the crowd surfing, the sheer energy.

Wild God was pretty much covered _ 8 of the songs. Old favorites – Her to Eternity sand Jubilee Street – were also covered plus a couple of songs from the unnerving “Carnage”.

The Bad Seeds are a magnificent band, backed with 4 singers this time- but Warren Ellis is the start of his own damn show. Based on an office chair, standing on it, kneeling, sitting – » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Massey Hall, Toronto

Date: 06/04/2025

I saw her on her first solo-ish tour with Rustin Man more than 20 years ago, supporting the magnificent Out of Season album. Was one of the shortest gigs I have ever seen, they played the whole album, left the stage, came back saying they had no more songs, but then did a version of The Velvets’ Afterhours.

So 20 odd years later she records a (superb) follow up. So twice as much material, and, who knows, maybe the odd Portishead song? Probably not.

First disappointment was that advertised support act Bill Ryder-Jones didn’t make it. The replacement act (didn’t catch their name) were short, dreary and uninspiring..

She has a much bigger band on this tour, 2 drummers/percussionists, a small string section and even one of the percussionists moonlighting on some sort of brass instrument.

Second disappointment it was still a very short show. Barely 70 minutes which was disappointing from a fairly major artist playing in a prestigious venue.

However it was completely magnificent. She has an almost diffident stage presence, addressing the audience only twice throughout and shuffling to the back of thestage to drink plenty » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Union Chapel, London

Date: 01/04/2025

I was looking forward to this one. Sightings of The Decemberists have been rare in these parts for many years (bar a one off glorious 60 mins at last year’s All Points East) This was Colin solo though, a first in Europe? Maybe a chance for older songs, deep cuts etc.

Well he certainly displayed his Anglophile roots right from the start, a cover of the LAs’ Timeless Melody. (“ one of those legendary bands who only released one record…..but at least they released it many times”) At another point in the gig he referenced his obsession with The Waterboys at an earlier age. After the opening cover, the gig emerged into a mix of his own songs; Tristram and Iseult (from his first band Tarkio), Eli The Barrow Boy, Lesley Anne Levine and We Both Go Down Together from his main act. Things were building nicely, helped by a mid set singalong to Burial Ground….but then the impetus slipped. I’m as much a fan of a mid tempo murder ballad as anyone, but I couldn’t help feel like we were getting too much of the same thing. There were certainly jauntier Decemberists » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Esplanade Theatre, Singapore

Date: 26/02/2025

Always a favourite artist, the Asia leg of the Sigur Ros orchestral tour rolled into town at the end of February for two (sold out) nights at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore (a delayed review due to being on holiday in Japan for a couple of weeks !).

This tour the Icelandic trio are playing with a local approx 40 piece orchestra in each venue – this time, The Resound Collective. As can be seen from the video in the comments, the band just integrated amongst the orchestra – no “stage show”, minimal lighting effects, no video screens. This was just about the music – very much like a classical concert !

And boy what music… two sets of about an hour each, starting with Blodberg from the latest album and ended with Hoppipolla (although the orchestra played Avalon after the band had left). No encore. A band that have always been cinematic, the orchestra really added an extra level of richness and depth to the tracks, creating a grandiose immersive soundscape. A respectful audience, superb songs, great orchestration, excellent venue all added up to an experience that felt more than the sum of » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Newcastle City Hall

Date: 06/03/2025

So here I am once more in the playground of the broken hearts to listen one last time to the musical diary entries penned by Derek William Dick the artist soon to be formerly known as Fish.

It’s been over 40 years since I first saw Fish with Marillion on the Real to Reel tour. That was a moment for the teenage me, only my second ever concert and if you’d asked me who my favorite band was for most of the ’80’s I’d have probably answered Marillion. I wore my grey origami jester tour t- shirt under my school uniform the next day and gushed to anyone who’d listen about what I’d seen. I seem to remember that some of Misplaced Childhood was road tested on that tour, a brave move to ask an audience to sit through an unreleased prog suite but it worked and I got to see their star rise as ‘hits’ followed. Whilst seemingly never fashionable with the critics they were on an upwards career trajectory until personal differences brought it to an end in the late ’80’s. Custody of lyrics and music were split and both parties went » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London

Date: 22/02/2025

Inside No. 9 was known for its last minute twists, so maybe it’s not really a surprise that after reaching the end of of its 9th and final series there was an almost immediate announcement that Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton were to bring a stage show to the West End. Fans of the show will know to expect stories within stories, a lot of laughs and clever homage to classic comedy and horror.

If you’re already know the show you will also recognise a fan-favourite episode which is played out pretty much as broadcast, and acts as a framing device for the other plots within a portmanteau show. But the stage show is much more than a simple rerun of old ground. There is a loving tribute to the history of theatre and the ghost stories associated with it, with plenty of highly effective jump scares throw in. The live nature of the event is intrinsic to the flow of the script and it’s a performance which will only work if you are fortunate enough to be in the same room.

The show opens with the funniest instruction » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford Upon Avon

Date: 22/02/2025

The weather Gods have blessed us in this last week with a temperature rise from brass monkey zeros to a balmy – for Feb – 13 or 14 degrees. Any kind of physical exercise has gone from being a chilly thing to a sweaty thing.

So when venturing out for a Saturday night gig yesterday, the first of this year for us, it was nice not to have to wrap up in multiple winter layers. And, as I’d expected from a Kanda Bongo Man gig, not having an armful of heavy clothing to worry about was a very good thing indeed.

With an eight-strong band on stage, the evening kicked off with a short vocal performance from Kanda’s young female dancer and singer, decked out in vibrant African fashion and dancing on dangerously lethal looking stilettos. She was briefly introduced – I didn’t catch her name – and it would have helped those of us in the audience who have a less than fluent familiarity with any African languages to have been given some sort of clue about the gist of the song. I’d guess that she was, like » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Stables, Wavenden

Date: 12/02/2025

To the Stables to see Nick Lowe! Or, more correctly, Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets. Our journey there was enlivened by a tyre blowout in a pothole which was fun but we limped home and started again in Car 2 and made it in time to miss the support and have a restorative glass of wine.

The Stables is one of my favourite venues – great sound, excellent facilities, decent leg room, good views from all seats. Tonight was no exception.

Nick bounded on looking dapper as ever in patterned cream shirt, chocolate brown slacks and suede loafers. How does he continue to look so good? Avuncular as ever, he welcomed us to the evening promising lots of songs both old and new, Hurrah!

Then it went weird. I had not seen him with Los Straightjackets and they bounded on to great cheers so I was clearly in a minority, but I found the masks thing very disturbing. Why would you want your backing band to look like members of The Joker’s gang or the serial killer from a Scandi drama? We didn’t like it at all and had we realised they were » Continue Reading.