Category: gig reviews
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Cory Wong live at Manchester Academy review – utterly tireless
On his first post-pandemic UK performance the prolific funk guitarist aptly delivered a vast amount of music with flair, showmanship and boundless enthusiasm. A strong entourage of improvisers helped compensate for weak songwriting on a night when objective critique became difficult.
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cleopatrick live at The Wardrobe review – a powerful return to the pit
A muddled set list failed to make the most of the band’s hardest-hitting tracks, but cleopatrick still summoned plenty of pandemonium for a Leeds crowd quite happy to render social distancing well and truly a thing of the past.
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Samm Henshaw live at Gorilla review – pristine at the cost of personality
With a lack of the real horns and backing singers that his densely-layered pop-soul hits demanded, Samm Henshaw was always fighting a losing battle on an underwhelming opening night in Manchester.
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Sons of Kemet live at Gorilla review – a tour de force of British jazz
In an almost entirely wordless opening night, the boundary-pushing quartet chose impulsive danceability over the political potency they’ve become known for. The result was a thrilling set that seemed to fly by in a matter of minutes.
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Oscar Jerome live at Belgrave Music Hall review – a night of laughs, grooves and missed potential
In a belated end to his UK tour, Oscar Jerome had enough strong material and bewildering virtuosity to compete with the very best of his UK jazz peers. It’s a real shame he was let down by a patchy setlist, limiting instrumentation and questionable sound design.
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Nubya Garcia live at Gorilla review – a gripping jazz odyssey
On her first UK tour since the release of her critically-acclaimed debut album, Nubya Garcia’s complex jazz creations were finally given time and space to be explored in their full glory, aided by a stunning trio of supporting musicians that might have even outshined Garcia herself.
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Trafalgar Sinfonia live in London review – a night to remember for years to come
On a rainy summers’ night in central London, a competent and faithful reproduction of one of classical music’s most recognised crowd-pleasers hardly pushed the envelope, but that’s besides the point; this was a night destined to be unforgettable due to everything except the music itself.
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Orla Gartland live at Leeds University Stylus – great songs worthy of bigger occasions
Despite being in desperate need of an extra bandmate or two, Orla Gartland had plenty of strong enough material to give the crowd exactly what they wanted in Leeds. Unlike her friend and peer dodie, however, her live act still has plenty of room to grow in the years to come.
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Jungle live at Victoria Warehouse review – cool grooves on a hot night
Jungle topped off their two-night residency at Victoria Warehouse with pizazz and confidence, aided by a dazzling set and the many dance-ready revellers in front of them. All that was missing was some half decent ventilation.
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dodie live at O2 Apollo review – a beautiful pop extravaganza
Two years after last hitting the road, dodie returned with a technically ambitious and intensely emotional opening night in Manchester that surely deserves recognition as the creative pinnacle of her now well-established musical career.
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Declan McKenna live at Newcastle City Hall review – a showman back where he belongs
Exactly one year on from a chart-storming album, Declan McKenna brought plenty to sing and dance about for an electrified Newcastle crowd, even if some songs landed better than others.
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Larkins live at Brudenell Social Club review – emotional night of summer pop
At the start of their post-lockdown UK tour, Manchester band Larkins were at times overcome with emotion, yet still proved that yes, everything does sound better live.
