One, Two, Three, Four, Who’s Punk, What’s The Score? Jawbreaker Return To London
What happens when the big boys in punk earn their wings? In my experience their wings are clipped. It's a sad fact in our little corner of the music industry, you're allowed to earn legendary status but you're never allowed to eat at the banquet table. By all accounts...
William McCarthy Plays A Rapturous Gig In Surrey Town of Oxted
William McCarthy rolled into the gentle town of Oxted (more famous for its gas tower than rock 'n' roll) at about 5pm on Friday, having just landed on a flight from New York a few hours earlier. Just him, his guitars, momentous voice, and stories. After a thorough...
Lowdown, Dirty Brilliance: Daddy Long Legs @ 229 The Venue, London
Brooklyn based blues alchemists; Daddy Long Legs are making their mark on the UK this spring with a series of dates to introduce their new album Lowdown Ways. Lovers of Americana, down ‘n’ dirty Blues and Southern Gothic; this may well be your new favourite album,...
Joe Bonamassa Is Deep In The Blues Again At The Royal Albert Hall
On the cover of Joe Bonamassa's latest album stands a man, alone, in a barren wasteland, his back to the world. It might represent the emotions that went into creating the LP. ("I’m going through some other stuff in my life I didn’t expect to be going through," he...
Loyle Carner Album Launch @ House Of Vans LDN
Loyle Carner got the long Easter weekend under way respectably with a memorable launch for his new album at London’s House of Vans. Released on 19 April 2019, fervour for Loyle’s sophomore record Not Waving, But Drowning had been building since the release of...
Todd Rundgren Shows Love For The Common Man Live @ Hammersmith Apollo, London
Todd Rundgren made a welcome return to London, his first for five years, on the second leg of his Individualist tour in support of his new autobiography of the same name. The idea of this tour is to play songs that trace his musical history in tandem with small...
Chris Shiflett Shares The Hardest Lessons At Omeara
“London, my name’s Chris Shiflett. Nice to meet you,” says the man on stage within arms length of the front row. The Foo Fighters lead guitarist may be in a band that played to almost 160,000 people over two consecutive shows at London Stadium last summer. But he’s...
David Gray Runs A Tight Ship At Royal Festival Hall
For a popular musician, it’s a simple equation: bigger venue = more casual listeners = bigger demand for the hits. So, say, U2 wouldn’t be able to play most of their latest album from start to finish at Wembley Stadium. But put them in a club in front of 250 rabid...
Wilko Johnson: Going Back Home
I’ve written on these pages before how were it not for former Dr Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson, I wouldn’t be photographing live music. I won’t labour the story again now, though if it’s of any interest, you can read about it here. Suffice it to say that I love the...
The Struts Raising The Temperature At Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Yesterday was the hottest February day on record. The sky was a deep blue from horizon to horizon, I’d cracked open a tee-shirt and shorts, and a wild-fire blazed on Saddleworth Moor. Come the evening though, as the sun gave way to stars twinkling through crystal...
Maggie Rogers Illuminates London’s Brixton Academy
A full moon shone down on South London’s Brixton Academy ahead of Maggie Rogers’ appearance at the iconic venue, the final night of her sold-out UK tour before heading off to Europe. The 24-year-old’s catapult into the public eye is well documented. An alumna of New...
Sweet Not Sour Lemonheads Live @ Forum, London
Grunge rockers take it down a notch to celebrate the songs that have influenced them and tour new covers album Varshons II. Remember the ‘90s? It was longer ago than you think. Those heady summers rocking out to grunge, going to music festivals wearing clothes that...
Mayday Parade & The Wonder Years Doubled The Energy In Birmingham
As people were winding down from Valentine’s Day, whether it was celebrated with a loved one or alone, there was still one thing for rock fans to look forward to: the co-headline show of American bands Mayday Parade and The Wonder Years at Birmingham’s O2 Academy2 to...
White Lies Believe It At Kentish Town Forum
As far as stirring singalong choruses go, “Let’s grow old together and die at the same time” wouldn’t seem the likeliest choice. Yet the line from To Lose My Life, shouted by over 2000 people in unison, is almost the loudest of an already exuberant night. It also...
Giants Of Rock Kicks Out January Blues
Some say that January is the longest month of the year. It's mostly gloomy, thanks to the bad weather and sad. Just look of your post-Christmas bank account. But, believe me, there is a remedy: Giants Of Rock, a three-day music festival in the heart of West Somerset,...
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