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FUCKED UP ALL DAYER
28 July 2009 / Dry Bar / Manchester
:: La Haine :: The Window Right :: Insect Guide :: Closed Eyes Are Dancing :: Trojan Horse :: Anthony Harris :: Hadaka No Fi :: The Resistance :: Before I Explode :: Fonik :: Blood Moon ::
If you're reading this sometime in the distant future, just cast your mind back to the last weekend of June 2009. Michael Jackson's been dead for two and a half days and his music is carpet-bombing every TV and radio station

THE LAST STAND
30 June 2009 / Tiger Lounge / Manchester
:: The Vipers :: Lux Decorus ::
The visceral sandblasting feel of those early Sub Pop singles to the point where you can half imagine John Peel's dry tones coming in at the end

GLASTONBURY 2009 SUNDAY
28 June 2009 / Glastonbury / Shepton Mallet, Somerset
:: The Prodigy :: Bat For Lashes :: Bon Iver :: Linda Lewis :: Tom Jones ::
Closing night at Glasto and a battle of conscience = Blur or Prodigy - Liz Tray does the mental arithmetic - Rave or Britpop by 40+'s ? Read on >>

GLASTONBURY 2009 SATURDAY
27 June 2009 / Glastonbury / Shepton Mallet, Somerset
:: Kasabian :: Metric :: Spinal Tap :: Crosby, Stills & Nash :: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band ::
Saturday comes around - will The Boss topple Mr Young's benchmark as the sun bakes the mud and everything moves into full swing ? - Liz Tray reports...

GLASTONBURY 2009 FRIDAY
26 June 2009 / Glastonbury / Shepton Mallet, Somerset
:: Neil Young :: Fucked Up :: N*E*R*D :: Fleet Foxes :: Lamb :: The Specials ::
By the time you see your first band you’ve been there two days and almost forgotten there is even music coming...Liz Tray makes the pilgrimage to Britain's best festival..

FEELING LIKE A PAIR OF CURTAINS?
26 June 2009 / Fuel, Withington / Manchester
:: Amida :: Monster Island :: Shrieking Violets ::
Pull Yourself Together adds fuel to the fire in Withington...

AND I FEEL HEAVY METAL...
18 June 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Skeletons :: Life Amongst People :: Mental Defect ::
...The drummer sports a rather large silver sheriff’s badge - some kid's going to be disappointed at the fancy dress..

A TRANSITION
12 June 2009 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: The Longcut :: Beat The Radar :: King Tree & The Roots ::
Within about three seconds of The Longcut coming onstage you can spot exactly who's downloaded the album

RHYMING SLANG
11 June 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Smuggler’s Run :: Hope In The Proles :: Mista Rizzo :: Nothing Rhymes With Orange ::
He must be wearing the tightest trouser in Manchester....In fact, they’re such a slim fit, it was distracting, being hard to tell on a first glance if he indeed had any on at all

CANTEEN'S GENEROUS HELPINGS
06 June 2009 / Abode (Chorlton) / Manchester
:: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters :: The Lucid Dream :: Yucatan :: Crooked Rooks ::
Three pints of shoegaze with a skiffle-pop chaser, please. Certainly, that'll be nought pounds and nought pence....

HALF A FIELD AWAY
06 June 2009 / Heaton Park / Manchester
:: Oasis :: Kasabian ::
As individuals, they are everyman, never changing into something you can’t identify with

WELSH WHIRRING
05 June 2009 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Its A Buffalo :: Joy Formidable :: The Heartbreaks ::
In an electro-soaked year where the humble guitar has almost become unfashionable, The Joy Formidable are happy to go against the grain

A NORTHWEST PASSAGE
02 June 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: The Northwestern ::
A fine set of fuzzy, pacy alternative pop which is not short on catchy melodies and uplifting spirit

MM10 : BOLTON FUNDRAISING PARTY
30 May 2009 / Dog & Partridge / Bolton (mcr)
:: Islands Lost At Sea :: The Minions :: The Planets :: Backahyard ::
The best sounds in town, fill the balmy night time air with hard evidence that the Bolton music is more than well...

WHO ARE YOU ?
26 May 2009 / Tiger Lounge / Manchester
:: Hop Man Jr :: The HeebieJeebies ::
The set is a cross between Dr Who and a demo setting on a keyboard set up to play Nintendo gaming tunes...

GIRLS NIGHT OUT
20 May 2009 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Vivian Girls ::
The lyrics paint out pictures of broken romances but you get the impression with this crowd that they do the dumpin'

INSIDE IT'S NIGHT TIME
18 May 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Wintersleep :: Snailhouse ::
There is something faintly weird about going to a gig and stepping out into a summer's 9pm daylight, although not as weird as getting yourself to a gig venue for twenty past six

RETURN TO OZ
17 May 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: British India :: Hot Red Disco ::
Our guests from down under make it hard not to draw parallels between the decades of Antipodean classic rock and roll and the sneering impulses of post-punk Britain

FUTURESONIC 09 : JAPTOP
17 May 2009 / Night & Day / Manchester
:: De De Mouse :: Riddim Saunter :: Tucker :: 80kidz ::
"I play fucking sexy Japanese dance music, I hope you enjoy it!!"

STRIPTEASE
16 May 2009 / Cambridge Corn Exchange / Cambridge
:: Morrissey :: Doll & The Kicks ::
Viewing him as a younger man, one might not have imagined that, nearing 50, he would rip his shirt off, stripper style

I CAN SEE MOUNTAINS
14 May 2009 / Dry Bar / Manchester
:: Castrovalva :: Mt. ::
At long last the PA wheezes a final fizzling sigh of relief

STRANGE NOISE
10 May 2009 / The Academy 3 (Hop and Grape) / Manchester
:: Holy Fuck :: It Hugs Back :: Dutch Uncles ::
Who would have predicted that a band whose very name limits their PR opportunities and who play demented Krautrock-flavoured dance music on things that look like they found them in a skip would be a viable proposition?

THIS TOWN IS LOOKING LIKE A GHOST TOWN
09 May 2009 / The Castle / Oldham
:: Slow Readers Club :: Edith Fiore ::
Purveyors of skyscraping sounds built from northern anthems

A CABINET MEETING
07 May 2009 / Dry Bar / Manchester
:: Politburo :: Billy Ruffian :: Plague Doctors :: The Thinman Project :: Kingfishers Catch Fire ::
A Cabinet Of Curiosities....A musical play of extraordinary proportions by persons unknown...

LETS ZEP
07 May 2009 / The Academy 2 / Newcastle
:: Airship ::
Airship announce their arrival, with a grandiose sound that quickly resonates well with all sectors of the audience

SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 09 - #1
03 May 2009 / Various Venues / Salford
:: Banjo Or Freakout :: Wu lf Wu lf :: Lost Knives :: Dorian Wood :: Vinny & The Curse :: Elvis :: Plugs :: Todd ::
Another year, another SOUNDS FROM THE CITY and for this trusted barometer and melting pot of the wild, wonderful and the new

SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 09 - #2
03 May 2009 / Various Venues / Salford
:: GNOD :: Banjo Or Freakout :: A Middle Sex :: (unknown electronic artist) :: The Lexie Mountain Boys :: Gordon Tinnitus :: Chops ::
That a selection of such exceptionally curated leftfield music even exists is a cause for celebration; that it's managed to sell out (tickets) without "selling out" (to commercialism) is nothing short of a triumph

SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 09 - #3
03 May 2009 / Various Venues / Salford
:: David A. Jaycock :: A Middle Sex :: (unknown electronic artist) :: Infinite Light :: Peggy Sue :: Mazes :: Nia Morgan :: Chops :: Sam And The Plants :: The Invisible :: Bridget Hayden :: Todd ::
Once again it's an opportunity to take in some off-kilter rock in gritty pub venues, courtesy of Sounds From The Other City

LIVE AT LEEDS 2009
02 May 2009 / Various Venues / Leeds
:: iLiKETRAiNS :: International Trust :: Sky Larkin :: Future Of The Left :: Wintermute :: Slow Club :: The Dharma :: Lord Auch :: Fryars :: Take A Worm For A Walk Week ::
May - the month where you can quite easily go to more gigs than there are days

HEAVEN DOWN HERE
30 April 2009 / Dry Bar / Manchester
:: The Lightshines :: Insect Guide :: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters ::
It's heartening to see the resurgence of Beat Promotions aptly ambitious Fucked Up Thursdays - regardless of pun they are far from disorganised

I AM THERE
26 April 2009 / The Roundhouse / London
:: Bob Dylan ::
The crowd stretched for hundreds of yards as the desperately ticketless looked toward the heavens for a miracle...Liz Tray catches Bob in his rarest form..

KERLANGG!
26 April 2009 / The Cluny / Newcastle
:: The Rakes ::
Klang ! - The Rakes are back with a taster of their new album and news of late Autumn tour - MM catches them in the NE >>

TANKED UP
25 April 2009 / Abode (Chorlton) / Manchester
:: The Suns :: Sycamore :: 3 Dimensional Tanx ::
"That's got to be one of the bands" says my mate as a bunch of lads with vaguely mod hair walk in

EAST SIDE OF LANCS
25 April 2009 / Bar Bliss / Leigh
:: Puressence ::
Once famed for its cheese-making and the alleged (and later pirated by industrialist Richard Arkwright) invention of the Spinning Jenny ...

CAMDEN CRAWL -
24 April 2009 / Venues / London
:: Three Trapped Tigers :: The Whip :: Echo & The Bunnymen ::
Despite a fear of being inside a personal episode of Nathan Barley, as ever, nothing matters but what you hear...

SOCIAL EXCURSION
24 April 2009 / The Trojan Rooms (Whitley Bay) / Newcastle
:: Hatcham Social ::
From Newcastle we somehow catch up with ones to watch Hatcham Social..

SHELLSHOCK
23 April 2009 / Trof (The Deaf Institute) / Manchester
:: 65 Days Of Static :: Amusement Parks On Fire ::
It still amuses me occasionally, even after a year or so, that we have a venue called the Deaf Institute..

CINEMA PARADISO
23 April 2009 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: The Cinematics :: Hip Parade :: Catfish And The Bottlemen ::
A blistering supercharged retake of an early Simple Minds place the band close to being genuine nu-New Romantics

HIGH TIMES IN THE LOWLANDS
17 April 2009 / Sub071 (Leiden) and Vera (Groningen) / The Netherlands
:: Air Cav :: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters ::
Take two of the best bands in Manchester, one van, and a small forest's worth of Multimap print-outs; destination Holland. It couldn't have happened without MM's friends at Incendiary Mag - they'd never seen the bands before, so we let them review it...

GREAT POP, FULL STOP.
13 April 2009 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Brakes :: The Voluntary Butler Scheme ::
Tunes so perfect you wonder how it took pop music 50 years to come up with them - and a pineapple. Yes, it's another evening of long set lists and short songs with the best all-round pop band in Britain.

EASTER SHAMBLE
10 April 2009 / The Black Lion / Salford
:: The Loves :: The Bobby McGees :: Pocketbooks ::
Cakes, fanzines and bittersweet pop - we discover a little corner of Salford where it is possibly still 1986.

BUZINESS AS UZUAL
09 April 2009 / The Witchwood, Ashton Under Lyne / Manchester
:: No Tokyo :: The Uzual Suspectz ::
A capacity crowd on the eve of a four day weekend; forget your NME-friendly indie rock, this is the real music for the people.

NORTHERN ROCK AND ALL THAT - LOOKING FOR BUDDY
03 April 2009 / The Octagon / Bolton (mcr)
::
Alan Plater himself teamed up with award-winning multi-instrumentalist Alan Barnes, to bring the World Premiere of this new musical to Bolton's Octagon...

PEACE BURIAL AT TEA
02 April 2009 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: A Place To Bury Strangers :: Sycamore :: Darker My Love :: Dead Confederate ::
Half seven in the evening is basically tea time for most civilised adults; it's certainly not rock'n'roll time...

CURFEW WHAT YOU WISH FOR
02 April 2009 / The Roadhouse / Manchester
:: Me Vs Hero ::
...the crowd surfing and stage invading celebrates the impending arrival of 9pm

CHICKEN FEED BACK
02 April 2009 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: Talons ::
There are two tracks about “Buff Orpington” (which from what I can gather, is a breed of Chicken)

THE ITALIAN JOB
01 April 2009 / Retro Bar / Manchester
:: A Middle Sex :: Aucan :: Celebrity Love Crisis ::
Somewhere down Sackville St, just past the bank you can hear it, although you wouldn't be sure what it was if you didn't know what goes on down here the first Wednesday of the month