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LIGHTS, BALLOONS, ACTION
09 March 2010 / The Academy 4 (Basement) / Manchester
:: Optional Wallace :: Charlie Barnes :: Dutch Uncles ::
Forget the chicken suits and baths of porridge of old; these days when students want to raise money for good causes they start record labels and promote gigs, and here they do it very well indeed.

MIDDLE CLASS REBELLION
07 March 2010 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: Sara Lowes :: The Miserable Rich :: Jamie Harrison ::
They play chamber instruments and manage to make one of Iggy Pop's dodgier tunes sound immense and beautiful: The Miserable Rich prove that defying convention doesn't have to be rude or noisy.

BACK TO THE FUTURE
06 March 2010 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: The Woodentops :: The Slow Readers Club ::
If a bunch of edgy looking twentysomethings from this week's fashionable postcode were playing this exact same set, note for note, NME would be messing its trousers.

WE'LL MEAT AGAIN
04 March 2010 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: The Witch And The Robot :: Arthur Rigby And The Baskervylles ::
One lucky gig goer looks pleasantly confused by the generous chunk of shrink-wrapped ham presented to her by the man with the papier mache face, as a large pumpkin dances behind her...

A QUIET REVOLUTION
04 March 2010 / The Academy 1 / Manchester
:: Fanfarlo :: Mumford & Sons ::
And then it suddenly hits you. This is a folk band packing out the Academy. Someone starts crowd surfing. Everyone knows the words. As a triumph of a musical genre over adversity, it’s somewhere akin to Merthyr Tydfil winning the FA Cup.

SPACED OUT AT BLOWOUT
26 February 2010 / Irish Association Social Club, Chorlton / Manchester
:: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters :: The Telescopes :: One Unique Signal ::
Three minute pop tunes are absent from this week's Blowout event as three bands deliver their visions of blissed out rock.

SELLING THE BIG ISSUE
26 February 2010 / The Factory (Fac251) / Manchester
:: Twisted Wheel :: Young Rebel Set ::
Welcome to Britain's most relevant rock band with fans who dress like mods and dance like punks

LOVE AND DANCING
26 February 2010 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: (we are) Performance :: I Am Blackbird :: Futurecop :: Nowhere Again ::
Joe Stretch looks like Cristiano Ronaldo on a forced diet of Joy Division and caffeine, while Laura Marsden looks like a Blade Runner Replicant Seductress. In a good way, of course. And the sound is equally sexy and sleek - welcome back.

FAIRGROUND ATTRACTIONS
23 February 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: The Janice Graham Band :: The Heavy :: The Kill Van Kulls ::
Highlights include a song that sounds like it almost came straight out of the Jungle Book...

COUNTRY PASSION
22 February 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: The Yellhounds ::
Showcasing an accomplished mix of Americana style blues and and traditional folk rhythms, local five-piece The Yellhounds offer a refreshing alternative to current mainstream trends with an infectious performance on a cold, dreary evening.

THE MAN IN BLACK IS BACK
21 February 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Frank Sidebottom :: John Cooper Clarke ::
Good health may be temporary but class is permanent

I HOOP TO GOODNESS
18 February 2010 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: Jo Rose :: Jesca Hoop ::
A magical evening of smokes on the balcony and enchanting voices from the stage.

CHARM OFFENSIVE
18 February 2010 / Shepherds Bush Empire / London
:: Midlake ::
Now expanded to a seven-piece live, Midlake's chilled psychedelic folk rock is a charming way to spend an evening

HERE COMES THE BLACKOUT
16 February 2010 / Band On The Wall / Manchester
:: Stornoway :: Beth Jeans Houghton ::
The quintet prove themselves to be masters of the slow-build, with music and harmonies of such youthful intensity, yet carved firmly into the granite of classic songwriting

CUCKOO SEASON OPENS
15 February 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now ::
Midway through the set, Eddie Argos announces that he's an idiot...

OH LA LA
15 February 2010 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: Hot Club de Paris :: Spokes :: Trojan Horse ::
Greeks, the invention of the wheel and ‘stage heights’ in Paris....

FACTOTUM
11 February 2010 / The Factory (Fac251) / Manchester
:: Elgazelle :: Dead Celebs ::
As we file out past Tony’s gaze and into the night, thoughts return again to what Mr Manchester would have made of tonight’s fayr...

DRUMMING UP SUPPORT
06 February 2010 / The Academy 1 / Manchester
:: The Drums ::
The bigger slots on the night may be set up for the new British blood, but it's the boys from across the Atlantic who come out showing their feathers at the NME Awards Tour.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
06 February 2010 / The Factory and Sound Control / Manchester
:: LoneLady :: The Whip :: The Drums :: May 68 :: Surfer Blood ::
Two brand new venues open for business on the same weekend, within five minutes' walk of each other, one with the bands on early, the other with the bands on late? Sounds like a night out...

WIGAN OUT TO THE PSYCHEDELIC SOUNDS
05 February 2010 / Wigan Social Club (AKA The Legion) / Wigan
:: Moco :: The Loungs ::
When Wigan's former Royal British Legion Club elected to start holding "un-Legion like events for younger people", were they ready for The Roaring Psychedelic Octopus?

ROCKIT TO THE MOON
02 February 2010 / The Academy 3 (Hop and Grape) / Manchester
:: Oceansize :: Vessels :: And So I Watch You From Afar ::
Oceansize are working on a fourth album whilst exponentially increasing their fan base - the world will listen...

THE APOCALYPSE YOU CAN DANCE TO
02 February 2010 / The Arena / Manchester
:: Rammstein :: Combichrist ::
...and have we mentioned the exploding babies with laser eyes? MM's Cath takes a trip to the dark side, and stands well back...

FRIENDS OF MANCHESTER FESTIVAL (AFTERNOON)
30 January 2010 / Kro and Jabez Clegg / Manchester
:: Optional Wallace :: Plank! :: Kin :: Standard Fare :: I Am Austin :: Uncle Meat And The Highway Children :: DiscoKidz :: Hyacinth Girl :: New Street Adventure :: Gasoline Alley (Murph) ::
70 bands across six stages in two venues over 14 hours, we feel like kids in a sweet shop. here's what we managed to guzzle before tea time...

FRIENDS OF MANCHESTER FESTIVAL (NIGHT)
30 January 2010 / Kro and Jabez Clegg / Manchester
:: No Tokyo :: The Answering Machine :: The Black Knights :: exLovers :: Young British Artists :: Vagner Love :: Jo Rose :: The Psycho :: Zacc Rogers :: The Paris Riots :: Yucatan ::
Country, indie, Welsh language dreampop, acoustic blues, noisy electric blues and a 2am love-in: MM somehow makes it to the end of Friends Of Manchester and congratulates them on a brilliant day's live music.

HALCYON DAZE
29 January 2010 / Islington Mill / Salford
:: Delphic :: May 68 ::
With their debut album riding high in the charts, Manchester's official next big thing prove they're more than worthy of the accolade.

NEVER MIND THE BARRACKS
27 January 2010 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: Arficeden :: Cyril Snear :: From The Kites Of San Quentin :: Box ::
Dingo Barracks bring us a chance to catch up with some regular favourites of the local experimental / post-rock scene - alongside another entry for our favourite new bands of 2010 list.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND
23 January 2010 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: Audio Supply :: Orcas Blitz :: Lionface Is Dead :: Boss Mosquito ::
Suddenly 2010 is looking like a very exciting year for Mancunian electronica...

RISE OF THE FALLEN
23 January 2010 / Northern Lawn Tennis Club, Didsbury / Manchester
:: Factory Star :: Pearl Divers ::
They survived stints in the Fall and lived to tell the tale: MM takes what we suspect is our first ever trip to a tennis club to catch up with Mike Leigh (no, not the film director) and the Hanley brothers.

NO RETRO FOR TOTO
22 January 2010 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: Run Toto Run :: The Zetlands ::
One of our tips for 2010, Run Toto Run start the year with a melodica, a megaphone, three lightsabres and a set so new they haven't actually played about half the songs before...

BRIT POP SHINES
22 January 2010 / Shepherds Bush Empire / London
:: Brett Anderson ::
Anderson,42, is still dazzling to look at, in a sunken-cheeked Man Who Fell To Earth kind of way >>

GREAT SOUNDS FROM START TO FINNISH
20 January 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Advances In Mathematics :: Asleep Beneath Volcanoes :: Joensuu 1685 :: Barberos ::
A classic Wotgodforgot with four excellent and complementing bands: one local, one from Cumbria, one international and possibly from outer space.

A MATCH MADE IN HELL
19 January 2010 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Kong :: Future Of The Left ::
No, not the Carling Cup Manchester derby match, although granted one team here is wearing red. The city centre streets are quiet tonight in favour of the action at Eastlands, but down in Ruby Lounge there's an almighty racket going on...

WEIRDO LO-FI POP
18 January 2010 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: Bird Names :: Crooked Rooks :: Sick Lillys ::
The basement smells a bit mouldy and the crowd is a little selective, but as ever Wotgodforgot are intent on bringing the world's strangest bands to our city.

RAILING AGAINST THE MAINSTREAM
15 January 2010 / The Britons Protection / Manchester
:: Graham Dunning :: SNDSUKINSPOOK :: Pesticide Organica, Fonik and Noise Research ::
...Beyond this is something else, where sound becomes less music in the conventional sense of melody with rhythm than art installation: MM takes a trip to Manchester's most abstract live session.

STEALING HEARTS
14 January 2010 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: The Steals :: Those Little Anodynes :: Fables ::
With a stunning vocalist and a sort of shoegaze all- stars backing band, The Steals are definitely ones to watch in 2010 - but there's some decidedly strange supports to get through first...

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
12 January 2010 / Tiger Lounge / Manchester
:: The Bent Moustache :: Kin :: Mr Heart :: Boz Hayward ::
FictionNonFiction may have departed but Tiger Lounge is still the place to experience Manchester's true underground - and indeed Holland's, as an old Manchester alternative scene face returns. Not that we get to see much of said face...

HOW MANY BOYFRIENDS?
09 January 2010 / Saki Bar / Manchester
:: This Many Boyfriends ::
The melted snow has formed pools of water on the floor and jackets are still required inside, but Saki is packed with people ignoring the outside chill...

THE LAST CHAPTER
29 December 2009 / Tiger Lounge / Manchester
:: The Black Knights :: Lux Decorus :: Brown Brogues :: Kid Voodoo ::
After several years of putting on your new favourite bands before you'd heard of them and sending us press releases with lines like "Stagnant crop of base and tender, gender the f of hallowed and Ovaltine aberrations" FictionNonFiction bows out.

BOWING OUT DISGRACEFULLY
11 December 2009 / The Well (formerly Joseph's Well) / Leeds
:: International Trust :: The Hydropaths :: Instant Species :: The Swindells ::
After three years of making unfeasibly brilliant singles far too few people were ever aware of they're bowing out in typically disgraceful style, promising a midnight set involving everyone who's ever been in the band. It could get messy.

OUT ON THE EDGE
10 December 2009 / Kings Arms / Salford
:: Denis Jones :: Vuk :: Caro Snatch ::
All the ingredients for a brilliant live music session: innovation and imagination, organic and electronic, loop box and autoharp, candles and cakes.

WARPED OUT
07 December 2009 / The Academy 2 (University MDH) / Manchester
:: Battles :: Flying Lotus ::
Manchester's DIY promoters club together to bring us the vodka swigging future of experimental hip-hop and the weirdest dancefloor filling party tune of the decade. Happy fucking Christmas indeed!

FIZZY POP PARTY
04 December 2009 / The Academy 2 (University MDH) / Manchester
:: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart :: The Depreciation Guild :: The Heartbreaks ::
It's worth remembering the 80s wasn't all overcoated angst and synthpop. Odd that it takes a bunch of New Yorkers to remind us how great good old-fashioned sunshine indie-pop could be...

THE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE GIG PROMOTER
04 December 2009 / The Castle / Oldham
:: Victorian Dad :: Drink And Drive ::
Tonight it is Manchester’s newest of the new, in the form of Oldhamites Drink & Drive, crossing swords with the enigmatic and rather mighty men of Wigan, Victorian Dad at this, the esteemed Castle.

BLACKPOOL ROCKS AGAIN
03 December 2009 / Moho / Manchester
:: The Membranes ::
Someone's hammering at what looks like a milk churn, but even this can't distract attention from the human tornado at the front:

ANSWERING BACK
26 November 2009 / The Academy 4 (Basement) / Manchester
:: The Answering Machine :: Post War Years :: The Crookes ::
Indie guitar music is not dead - anyone who says it is just isn't going to watch the right bands.

VERY PROMISING
25 November 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: We Were Promised Jetpacks ::
The sort of brooding but powerful widescreen indie-rock our friends north of the border do so very well, so we'll let them off rhyming 'lightning' with 'frightening'. Just this once.

SUNDAY - THE NEW FRIDAY?
22 November 2009 / Irish Association Social Club, Chorlton / Manchester
:: Little Engine :: Frazer King :: Jerzey Street Band ::
So, what exactly are we doing in Chorlton Irish Club on a Sunday night then? Blowout. I suppose it's one way to beat the Sunday night downer - pretend it's Friday again...

NOVEMBER RAIN
22 November 2009 / Various Clubs / Santander, Spain
:: The General Lee Swing Band :: The Queers :: Los Idolos Del Extrarradio :: Soul Gestapo :: The Fleshtones :: Betunizer :: Violence By Braille :: Tito & Tarantula :: The Chicktones ::
Four months ago Nathan swapped the inner city Manchester life and the helm of one of the City's most exciting alt.rock acts, for the sun drenched beaches of northern Spain - here's what he found...

THIS FEELING IS ALL I WANT
14 November 2009 / Apollo / Manchester
:: Puressence ::
A glorious celebration of a career where in between all the bad luck the band has faced within the industry, self-belief and ambition was never in doubt

I HATE GOLF
14 November 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Razor Cuts :: Hell To Pay :: The Exhibition ::
Outside, a fluorescent-jacketed man looks wistfully inwards through a bus window wishing he could’ve been here tonight. I give him the finger.

ANNUAL APPOINTMENT
11 November 2009 / Moho / Manchester
:: The Fall :: No Tokyo ::
He's a fifty year old man and he likes it; they're a bunch of scruffy ****s from North Manchester and they love it...

VAGINA ANALOGUE
11 November 2009 / Troxy Ballroom / London
:: The Flaming Lips :: Stardeath & White Dwarfs ::
A pair of oversized hands bookend the stage as the band emerges from a giant LED vagina

IN-SYNCH
07 November 2009 / The Witchwood, Ashton Under Lyne / Manchester
:: Only This Remains ::
Firts gig nerves eventually evaporate for this new Bury band..