Tellison

The Garage, Islington / 09/05/2012

Ok, so there are two black teenagers who call themselves The Bots on the stage. They’ve come all the way from LA to support Tellison on tour. Apparently the brothers Mikaiah Lei, 18, and Anaiah...

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Chavo

London Battersea Secret Garden / 04/05/2012

Ten minutes before Chavo start I am sat in the Secret Garden tapping my foot to the infectious Balkan beats piping through the PA. My friend Dave, an hour late, texts me to tell me he’s in...

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Primordial

Manchester Moho Live / 04/05/2012

A queue stretching half the way down Tib Street is not a regular sight at Moho, but this is Irish black metal warriors Primordial's first Manchester date for 18 years. A group of tourists...

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Oneohtrix Point...

Berkeley Suite, Glasgow / 01/05/2012

I first became aware of Daniel Lopatin (AKA Oneohtrix Point Never) at All Tomorrow’s Parties last year. He appeared as one of Animal Collective’s choices and I recall lying on the floor...

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Mr B The Gentle...

The Jive Monkey, Brighton / 28/04/2012

The Jive monkey is one of those innocuous little clubs that make you feel like you’ve earned your music and beer just by finding it. Tonight’s benefit (raising money for the musicians...

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Meshuggah

Kentish Town Forum / 20/04/2012

Meshuggah are a band I want to like, that I feel I should like, but who I struggle to like. The metal press love to eulogise about how amazing and technical a band they are but I’ll be honest,...

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Amadou and Mari...

London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire / 13/04/2012

I have never seen Amadou and Mariam live before; I don’t even really know the band, which is part of the reason I wanted to see them. It also meant I had no idea what to expect. The husband and...

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Toy

Manchester Soup Kitchen / 10/04/2012

Arriving early I quaffed a swift Guinness in the Dry Bar and took to the streets of the Northern Quarter, indulging in a little evening pre-gig derivé. My drifting took me towards the venue,...

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BoltFest

Kentish Town Forum / 07/04/2012

Walk down any given high street in any given town on any given weekend and you’re likely to have to play ‘dodge the chuggers’, those street fundraising bib-wearing bastards with...

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Helmet

Manchester Sound Control / 03/04/2012

Somehow, Helmet ended up taking a portion the of blame for the rise of the kind of music that WWE wrestlers walk on to. Somehow, Big Black intensity, Iommi density and a jazz propensity nurtured...

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Breton

Salford Islington Mill / 29/03/2012

With their debut album complete and already picking up a lot of positive reactions from the critics, you could perhaps describe Breton's European tour dates as a sort of victory lap. And it's...

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What The Blood...

13th Note Café Glasgow / 24/03/2012

The evening gets off to an ominous start: after an ungodly wait at the bar, the charlatan posing as a barman stated that they had no Havana Club – but “How about Sailor Jerry’s rum...

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White Hills, Mu...

Leeds Brudenell Social Club / 23/03/2012

If this was a review about venues, I would most certainly give Brudenell Social Club a full 5 stars. Situated in what looks like, well, a traditional Social Club, Brudenell hosts some of the finest...

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Wino & Conn...

Bannerman's Edinburgh / 21/03/2012

Scott 'Wino' Weinrich’s distinctive vocal delivery has been central to a myriad of some of the most well known and highly regarded of the doom genre; Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit...

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Killing Joke

Portsmouth Pyramid Centre / 16/03/2012

Last November I had the misfortune of seeing the 30th Anniversary gig of The Sisters of Mercy at the Roundhouse in London. Shockingly awful doesn't come close to describing how bad it was....

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The Musical Box

Manchester Apollo / 15/03/2012

They say “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore” and in the case of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis this is certainly true. However, they don’t say that there are any rules...

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