Oh Vienna! My first Eurovision adventure
My view from Vienna of Eurovision 2026 – where technical brilliance and a beautiful city met the ugly reality of 21st-century geopolitics. I’ve spent the last few days in Vienna where I was attending the Grand Final of the Eurovision…
One-line gig reviews for (mostly) April
This month featuring: a wodge of 80s nostalgia, a trip to Manchester to see one of my very favourites, and a last minute chance to see one of the rarest shows in town. Princess Julia, Electric Ballroom, Camden, 7 Apr – It…
One-line gig reviews for March
This month wasn’t about big-ticket gigs so much as a run of slightly odd nights out – you probably aren’t expecting gig reviews that reference accidentally going on a yoga retreat, the phrase “I fucked his sister”, being “prissy about…
One-line gig reviews for January and February
This month featuring, among others: Suede x 2, The Umlauts, Maxïmo Park and Kaiser Chiefs, plus a bit of theatre from Inside No. 9 and the Double R Club – and the moment I was absolutely done with The Wolfgang…
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in December 2025
This month featuring, among others, Stereolab, The Last Dinner Party, and not quite Blur. A Certain Ratio: Tribeca and ACR:NYC 1980, Trades Hall, Walthamstow, 1 December – A double bill of films which will be the closest I ever get to seeing…
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in November 2025
This month featuring, among others, Wet Leg, Cabaret Voltaire, Gary Numan, Adam Ant, ABC, Fields of the Nephilim, Desperate Journalist, Swans, Sananda Maitreya, Toyah, and me literally annoying Robert Fripp … Heathen Apostles, O2 Forum, Kentish Town, 1 Nov – Sort of…
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in October 2025
This month featuring, among others, Nadine Fuckin’ Shah, Self Esteem, Kathryn Joseph, Idlewild, Level 42, Sting, Duran Duran, some random at an O’Neill’s in Watford, and not Roland Gift … Roland Gift, Palladium, London, 2 Oct – I walked out of this…
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in September 2025
This month featuring, among others, Everything But The Girl, the Manics (again), Hot Chip, Ash, Suede, my beloved Dog Race, Kevin Rowland talking about his life and Erasure in a place where you couldn’t drink beer while watching them ……
A one-line review of every gig I’ve been to in July and August 2025
This instalment got rather behind schedule while I was having a tricky summer, but anyway, my gig reviews are back, featuring, among others, Duran Duran in Exeter, The Human League in Halifax, Kaiser Chiefs, The New Eves, the Manics, Natalie…
#Sparkstember2025 is on, and today is the best day for the Sparks-curious
Regular readers know I love Sparks. Even more regular readers will know that September is #Sparkstember. The plan is that you listen to every Sparks album in order, once a day during September. A few years back, as part of…