The End Festival is at the half-way mark, and so far it’s been an enjoyable, if slightly chaotic, experience, with a daily roster of bands appearing at venues around Crouch End. Opening night at Earl Haig featured Icelandic outfit YLJA (they are appearing twice more over the festival’s duration) and are notable for their crystalline…
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Richard Hawley is on his best form yet, and delivers a storming crowd-pleaser set: dense guitar driven sound combined with beautiful ballads. I imagine that many others in last night’s audience at The Roundhouse had, like me, put the final episode of Downton Abbey on ‘Record’. I’m indeed thankful for such technological wonders, because I wouldn’t have missed this incredible…
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Set against a muscular, driving bassline and wall of dense synth/guitar, Weaver’s voice adds a spacey, ethereal lightness, the two elements balancing each other, creating almost visible layers.
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For blues guitarist Aidan Connell, the launch of his debut album Grio may be an important occasion, but his music career hasn’t exactly been short on seminal moments. Seasick Steve hailed him as “the only rock ’n’ roller in town”; he’s played with venerated California band Mazzy Star after Dave Roback took note of the talented youngster, and praise…
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Festival Number 6 feels as if it has fully got into its stride. It offers a dizzying array of intelligently-curated events, from bands and DJs to comedy, nighttime processions, workshops and talks, plus something this festival has come to excel in – interviews and intimate performances by a handful of the main-stage artists.
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Minesweeping is Larry Love’s new album, co-written with Brendan O’Connell. How unusual of Love to dedicate an album to the practice of mine removal, I thought (and the album does contain many seafaring references). Inevitably Google led me to the more commonplace use of the word (not sure how I got to my age without knowing this). Ah, now we’re on…
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With a rare glimpse of sun in a gloomy July, we headed to Ealing Blues Festival held in Walpole Park, it’s one of a series of summer festivals run every year put on by Ealing Council. The event always resembles a ‘proper’ festival in miniature, with a choice of two big music tents – the Main Stage,…
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“I saw The Felice Brothers at the 100 Club, back in the day, with Simone Felice. They were amazing. Lots of us got up and danced on stage with the band, it was a bit of a party.” If that was a top Felice Brothers moment – experienced not by me sadly, but by my companion for tonight’s gig – this one at The…
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Shirley Baker is only now being recognised as one of the most important female photographers and social documenters of the last century. The haunting and compelling 2007 documentary of Joy Division, directed by Grant Gee, opens with a montage of images of Manchester in the 70s. It depicts a time of sweeping changes after the post-war streets were systematically cleared…
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The Water Rats, five minutes’ walk from King’s Cross station, has undergone a refurbishment and now has a stylish and minimalist interior – but what the venue is to be congratulated over is its commitment to live music. The intimate music room, which is in the back room, has been similarly upgraded and offers a very welcoming…
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