The best gig that I never went to was a 2008 reunion gig by the Liverpudlian band The Pale Fountains. I’m told this on good authority, because while I was never there, several friends of mine were, and they spent most of the gig texting me annoying updates.​ Around the same time that the band broke into their anthemic 1984 ‘Jean’s Not Happening’, I was most definitely not happening. I was standing in a bus shelter outside the Shepherds Bush Empire desperately trying to call

Cast your mind back to the not-so-recent past, and there was a massive fuss when it was announced in 2024 that Oasis were reforming and going on tour. No offence to the Burnage boys, but there was a northern band going on tour that I was a little more excited about – and that was Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band. As someone who grew up in Greater Manchester in the 80s and 90s, surrounded by the sounds of ‘the Madchester’ scene, there were plenty of northern bands I was ex

Somewhere in the centre of Manchester, not far from the site where an IRA bomb in 1996 injured two hundred people, lies the site of the old Cona Coffee Bar . It was practically the waiting room for The Twisted Wheel, that famous mod haunt only a few streets away, but the bar was famous in its own way too. First there was the jukebox: crammed with RnB and northern soul. It was the hub of the city’s skiffle craze too, in the mid to late 50s, when my dad as a quiff-haired

On the subject of Manchester bands, I was really affected last month by the news that Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield of the Stone Roses and Primal Scream died, aged 63. The Stones Roses were a massive part of my teenage years growing up in Greater Manchester . My friends and I saw them play many times at venues around town when the band was still just a local phenomenon, and before they hit the dizzy heights of fame. Somehow we all knew something big was happening -- the gigs were ele

I was surprised to discover that, next month [March 2025], it will be ten years since Sujfan Stevens brought out his beautiful album Carrie & Lowell. This album helped me through the death of my mum, which I wrote about some time ago. I’m sharing the piece below, in case it helps anyone going through a similar thing. Her death also coincided with the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, so it also comes with a trigger warning, in case you were affected by the tragedy. Music h

May the long-time sun shine upon you / all love surround you.’ Finally this month I’ve been getting in touch with my inner hippy by delving into some old recordings of the influential 1960s band The Incredible String Band (ISB). I’ve been a fan of this eclectic, highly idiosyncratic group since I was a teenager and was introduced to them by a friend and fellow music-lover (ie, the poor chap leant me his records and still hasn’t got them back ). To me, ISB symbolises all that