Tag: live music
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The Lemon Twigs live at Brudenell Social Club review – they just don’t make pop like this any more
Playing to a packed room on a glorious May evening in Leeds, the Twigs seemed perfectly at ease on stage for this faultless set. The grand orchestration of their new album was necessarily dialed-back, but no bother: these are some of the best-written pop rock songs this side of 1970.
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Florence Road live at NUSU review – viral Irish rockers are stadium bound
The buzzy Wicklow rock group have only released a handful of songs, but have already received support from a staggering array of the global music industry’s big names. This set of largely unreleased songs in Newcastle mostly justified the hype, although Flo Ro’s live offering still has plenty of room for improvement.
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Nubiyan Twist live at Digital review – soul-filling neo jazz is for humans only
Tom Excell’s Leeds collective made a thoroughly convincing argument against AI in music with this evening of unadulterated phone-free joy. The funk and soul delights lit up a dance-ready crowd in Digital, but it was the surprise EDM and punk diversions that really took the breath away.
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Searows live at Leeds Irish Centre review – minimalist atmospherics from indie folk’s new leading light
Searows’ beguiling new album provided the most compelling songs for this understated performance in Leeds. At his best, his broadly coastal-themed new songs sound windswept and epic. Other times, it’s more of a wishy-washy damp squib.
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Psychedelic Porn Crumpets live at NUSU review – rapid-fire riffs hit like a drug
Kick-starting their umpteenth UK tour, the Crumpets are very much a well-buttered machine these days. A strong ninth album has only bolstered their set list of precision-tooled riffs and prog rock neck-breakers. NUSU’s paltry sound system simply couldn’t keep up.
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Westside Cowboy live at the Crescent review – new kids on the block are the real deal
Their claims of genre invention may be a little dubious, but no bother – this fresh-faced Manchester band already has a wealth of perfectly imperfect indie rock zingers, delivered in a succinct York set that promised much bigger stages to come.
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Twisterella 2025 review – a rewarding potpourri of fresh talent
Now in its 11th year, Middlesborough’s fabulous one-day festival continues to showcase a host of promising, forward-thinking talent from the North East and beyond. Highlights of this year’s edition include the country croon of Our Man In The Field and gilt-edged alt rock of Legss, but it’s Roller Disco Death Party that really get the…
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Adwaith live at the Cluny review – Welsh indie trio are worth rooting for
The pioneering Welsh-language trio had plenty of quality material from their recent double album to dig into in Newcastle, although the scuzzy guitars and restless basslines were occasionally let down by Hollie Singer’s limited vocal performance.
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Thundercat live at O2 City Hall review – virtuoso bassist goes full jazz fusion
Thundercat may be one of the world’s most respected bassists, but in this exhausting set of samey solos his technical wizardry was largely lost to City Hall’s booming acoustics. Alex Walden and Bertie Kirkwood jointly report.
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Jacob Collier: Djesse Vol. 4 review – his most gloriously incohesive yet
Ticking off everything from electropop to metal, Indian folk music to club-ready dance numbers, the finale of Collier’s four-album extravaganza is eclectic even by his standards. It makes for a mightily impressive listen, even if the 26 featured artists might overwhelm even his keenest fans.
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Abel Selaocoe live at Boiler Shop review – fiery cello beats come filled with love
No Bach Preludes were to be found here, just consistently thrilling African beats propelled by Selaocoe’s fierce bowing and awesome throat singing. In between show-stopping dance numbers and a spellbinding percussion solo, it was the audience participation that lifted this gig towards something spiritual.
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Emma Rawicz live at Brudenell Social Club review – youthful boundary-pushing veers towards indulgence
Challenging and ambitious, Emma Rawicz’s polymorphous jazz sought to tread new ground on a yearly return to the Brudenell. Epic solos and an extraordinary closing number had the audience baying for more, not least because her 90-minute set contained just six songs.
Undertone 