&U&I, Back In Birmingham As If They Never Left
Some gigs feel significant before they even begin. The return of &U&I, after nearly a decade off the radar, was one of them. Muthers Studio in Digbeth was already heaving long before the trio stepped onstage, the room buzzing with the kind of charged...
Never Mind A Wet Night In Stoke, Bad Nerves Made The Best Of A Cold Tuesday Night At The O2 Institute Birmingham
Bad Nerves rolled into theBad Nerves tonight armed with a setlist built for chaos, and although the room was a little quieter than expected, the people who were there lit the place up. A smaller Tuesday night crowd didn’t dull the spark – instead it made the gig feel like a secret show shared only between the band and the diehards. And the band fed off it.
Hot Milk Bring Fire, Fury & Pure Catharsis To London’s Roundhouse
On a bitterly cold Wednesday night in Camden, Manchester hard rockers Hot Milk turned London’s Roundhouse into a sweat-soaked pressure cooker of chaos, catharsis, comedy and pure community. Fronted by the unstoppable duo of Han Mee and Jim Shaw, with Tom Paton...
Sophie Grey Lights Up Hammersmith Apollo With Retro-Electro Dazzle
If Sophie Grey’s intention was to bring a dose of retro-futurist electro-pop to the second of Sting’s three-night stand at the Hammersmith Apollo, she certainly committed to the bit. Appearing through laser-like synth pulses, dressed in a silver metallic bodysuit with...
A Double Dose of Rock ’N’ Ridiculous: Nic Cage Against The Machine + Elvana At The Roadmender
There are gigs you plan for months in advance, gigs you travel across the country to see, gigs that feel like cultural homework. And then there are gigs that fall into your lap on an ordinary Thursday night and proceed to melt your brain in the most spectacular way...
Hometown Glory: The Enemy Turn HMV Empire Coventry Into A Choir
There’s something almost sacred about seeing The Enemy in Coventry like returning to the source of a spark that never really went out. Night one of their hometown run at the hmv Empire felt less like a gig and more like a pilgrimage. People didn’t just arrive – they...
Luvcat Dazzles At KOKO: Theatrical Noir, Liverpudlian Charm And A Dash Of Red Wine Magic
For an artist whose world seems stitched together from silver-screen glamour, smoky jazz clubs and the afterglow of heartbreak, Luvcat – the stage name of Liverpool-born Sophie Morgan Howarth – is every bit as cinematic live as her debut album Vicious Delicious suggests. At KOKO, Camden on Wednesday night, the rising star turned the storied venue into a dreamscape of old Hollywood, haunted romance and camp theatre – a show that was equal parts cabaret, confession and carnival.
Reef Replenish The O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire On Debut LP’s 25th Anniversary Spectacular
Thirty years after Reef hit the charts, they’re back to celebrate the record that cemented them as Britpop stalwarts. After three decades, Replenish stands up as a strong statement, and the way it emerges onstage at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire is a slow, realised appreciation of how an album can spread it’s roots over time.
From Storm To Spotlight: The Nocturnal Affair & The SoapGirls Bring Contrast And Chaos To Islington Assembly Hall
London’s Islington Assembly Hall was drenched in both rain and anticipation on a stormy November evening that felt tailor-made for the gothic grandeur and theatrical energy that would unfold inside. Outside, a devoted queue wrapped around the venue in dripping corpse...
Home Again: The Temper Trap Triumphantly Return To London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town
Sixteen years on from Conditions, The Temper Trap proved they can still make a London crowd soar. Returning to the O2 Forum Kentish Town after a long absence from UK stages, the Australian four-piece delivered a set that balanced nostalgia with fresh intent — a love letter to the city that helped them break through and a promise of what’s yet to come.
Sting Brings Masterful Intimacy To London’s Hammersmith Apollo On The 3.0 Tour
The lights dim at the Hammersmith Apollo, and the crowd’s gentle chatter fades to a low hum of anticipation. A bass guitar hums through the PA — deep, resonant, unmistakable. Three silhouettes appear on stage: Sting, his longtime guitarist Dominic Miller, and drummer...
The Beast, The Band, The Moment: Cardinal Black Conquer KOKO With Soul, Fire, And Timeless Class
It’s a rare thing to witness a band that sounds bigger than the room they’re playing — a band whose sound, emotion, and sheer presence seem to stretch beyond four walls. But that’s exactly what Cardinal Black achieved at KOKO in London's Camden. The Welsh rock-soul...
Queens Of The Stone Age Unearth The Catacombs At London’s Royal Albert Hall
An ominous soundscape of chirping crickets and rumbling synths filled the Royal Albert Hall, a bell tolling through the dark as silhouettes began to move through the aisles. From the shadows emerged Queens Of The Stone Age, sharply suited and swaggering, arriving not...
Hot Water Music Heat Up A Cold Evening At London’s Roundhouse
There are punk shows, and then there are Hot Water Music shows where sweat, heart, and community all melt together into something bigger than just a gig. When the Common Thread Tour rolled into London’s Roundhouse, it wasn’t just another date on the calendar; it felt like a celebration of everything punk rock stands for: passion, honesty, and a damn good sing-along.
Architects Give London’s O2 Arena So Much More Than Whiplash
The O2 Arena is dark. A rumble transforms into what sounds like an air raid siren. Bass drones stab through, in time with bars of light above and below the stage. Shimmers appear further back, casting shadows. Electro beats kick in. Suddenly, just for a moment, the lights and sound cut out; a deep breath before the synths of Elegy begin. Spotlights hit Sam Carter as he starts to sing, the rest of the stage still murky.
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