Live gigs - Who you've seen were they good, bad etc.

[balti-pie]

48 minutes ago, Padjeq said:

 

 Not even a band I listen to on record, but phenomenal live 

 

 

 

you couldnt sum Gurriers up any more accurately than that to be fair 👍 a band who's albums are just an invitation to see em live. Thats not in any way a criticism, they're just absolutely amazing live! 

[Jarski75]

2 hours ago, balti-pie said:

 

 

you couldnt sum Gurriers up any more accurately than that to be fair 👍 a band who's albums are just an invitation to see em live. Thats not in any way a criticism, they're just absolutely amazing live! 

Yep, a lot more to come from these boys too hopefully

[-TLR-]

Sting - London - last night

 

let me start by saying Mrs -TLR- absolutely loves Sting.. me... well, not so much.... but having exhausted all possible avenues of getting out of going... off i went...

 

we thought we'd timed it so we'd get there for the start of Sting, but we ended up catching the last few songs of the support which was someone called Sophie Grey... absolutely no idea who she is but actually very enjoyable. she did a cover of "Video Killed the..." which Trevor Horn joined her onstage for which I guess was pretty cool. if I stumbled across her on the Farm in some little tent at 4am I'm sure I'd think she was the greatest thing ever...

 

Sting was very good.

 

did I enjoy him?

 

yes, yes I did... but I enjoyed it in the same way that I would enjoy seeing a half decent bar band.

 

one little point - the volume all night was VERY low... when we first arrived I thought it was the changeover music playing as it was so quiet, it wasnt til I got to the bar I noticed someone was actually on stage.

 

also, we were packed in fairly tight in the standing bit... just behind me somewhere there was some annoying prick who did not shut the f**k up through Sting's entire set... it reminded me of that bit in Nineteen Eighty-Four in the canteen when that guy is just spouting non stop party drivel...  I've no idea what this guy was saying but it was a non stop flow of bullshit all night...

 

but aside from from any minor moans - yeah, it was good.

 

Mrs -TLR- is going to see him again next week which thankfully I don't have to go to - I did indeed enjoy it last night, but once is enough.

 

🙂 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2025 by -TLR-
spelling

[Gnomicide]

2 nights at Manchester Apollo for me.

 

Friday was Counting Crows, I've seen every tour since the debut one back in 1993 when they played what is now Manchester Academy, always a great show and they're still delivering. Setlists are getting a bit more predictable these days, but they still like a meander off piste in the middle of a few songs. Excellent stuff.

 

Saturday was Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Really nice, beautiful harmonies, and man, Dave can wrangle that old acoustic.

 

[dotdash79]

Saw The Divine Comedy at the Manchester Bridgewater Hall, first time I've ever been to a show there. It's a cracking venue and the acoustics were warm and wonderful. Definitely a middle aged crowd (which I am firmly in). Quite a mixture of new stuff as well as some classics, hour 45 flew by and his voice still sounds great.

[Pipine]

Bit late posting but saw Gaga at Manchester Coop Live on her first night there. Really amazing show, impeccable vocals and she really knows how to connect with the crowd.. the piano section was beautiful.  Super impressed with the venue too, great sound for an arena. Which kind of spoiled me for the next arena gig a few weeks later which was Self Esteem at Sheffield Arena.  
 

Really amazing show as always but god the sound sucks.. compared to Coop Live it’s like someone blasting their poor quality stereo in a big tin shed. 
 

 

[dotdash79]

1 hour ago, Pipine said:

Really amazing show as always but god the sound sucks.. compared to Coop Live it’s like someone blasting their poor quality stereo in a big tin shed. 

Sheffield area was one of the first of the American style multi purpose arenas to be built, it's almost 35 years old. The design is quite dated, event compared to the AO which is only a few years younger.

[Pipine]

48 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

Sheffield area was one of the first of the American style multi purpose arenas to be built, it's almost 35 years old. The design is quite dated, event compared to the AO which is only a few years younger.

Yeah, didn’t seem so bad last time I saw Pulp there but I think it really stood out given I’d just been to coop live.   Just got tickets to see Wolf Alice at Leeds First Direct arena, which apparently has decent sound for an arena.. fingers crossed. 

[dotdash79]

It is decent there, it's a bowl arena.  I would imagine Self Esteem sound tech/budget might not have been suitable for the arena as most of her shows on the tour were a lot smaller.

[sheffinghell]

33 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

It is decent there, it's a bowl arena.  I would imagine Self Esteem sound tech/budget might not have been suitable for the arena as most of her shows on the tour were a lot smaller.

You may be right about the budget, plus tickets were c. £45, for 3 artists, which is a steal for an arena gig. I was in standing, c.25% centre from the stage and it was fine. Not on a par with Leeds or Coop, but they are so much more up to date, and the Leeds wider/shallower layout helps massively with feeling more immersed.

[SPW]

Not a gig as such (but there was some live music and it is about a band) but went to the New Dawn Fades play in London on Tues after hearing good things. As a bit of a Joy Division/New Order geek I loved it especially with the added exhibtion of posters, music instruments, floppy discs, vinyl etc. Plus got to talk to both producers including a great long natter with TJ Davidson (MUFC as it often does, made the link) - Joy Division / Mcr music aficionados will know of him and his studio/label.  Play seems to follow and lift a lot of dialogue from the Jon Savage JD documentary (no bad thing as that is brilliant).

[charlierc]

Anyone go see Queens of the Stone Age with surprise guest Matt Berry yesterday?

 

I wasn't there but the idea of such a combo is quite something. Much as I'm aware Josh did stuff on Toast of London back in the day. 

[idb]

Old Dominion at Manchester Apollo last night. The gig was great, but was unfortunately sat upstairs two seats away from a woman who just didn’t shut up. She necked three two pinters before the support act game on.

 

She eventually went into a strop and shut up when the crowd started to stand up and then left when the started to play their hits. Aside from that really enjoyed it.

[balti-pie]

1 hour ago, idb said:

Old Dominion at Manchester Apollo last night. The gig was great, but was unfortunately sat upstairs two seats away from a woman who just didn’t shut up. She necked three two pinters before the support act game on.

 

She eventually went into a strop and shut up when the crowd started to stand up and then left when the started to play their hits. Aside from that really enjoyed it.

bloody hell, fair play to her bladder capacity 😄

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, idb said:

Old Dominion at Manchester Apollo last night. The gig was great, but was unfortunately sat upstairs two seats away from a woman who just didn’t shut up. She necked three two pinters before the support act game on.

 

She eventually went into a strop and shut up when the crowd started to stand up and then left when the started to play their hits. Aside from that really enjoyed it.

 

How long did she get before someone told her to shut her little trap?

[Johndenis]

On 26/10/2025 at 21:05, dotdash79 said:

It is decent there, it's a bowl arena.  I would imagine Self Esteem sound tech/budget might not have been suitable for the arena as most of her shows on the tour were a lot smaller.

Do you mean SE would had to have hired in extra equipment for the arena? And didn't hire enough?

[idb]

On 31/10/2025 at 14:14, The Nal said:

 

How long did she get before someone told her to shut her little trap?

To put it kindly, she was one of the biggest people in size I've encountered outside the USA. I wouldn't have fancied my chances, apart from running away from her.

Edited November 3, 2025 by idb

[henry bear]

The Stranglers at Bristol Beacon last week. I’ve seen them many times over the years, and there’s only JJ left from the original line up, but they still sound great. 

[Ben7amin_]

Saw Daniel Avery at New Century on Friday - continues to be one of Manchesters Best live music venue - Especially as you can easily grab a pre gig pint of Cloudwater!  

 

I enjoyed it that being said it suffered a bit from the Friday night pissed and coked talk over the act crowd -  

 

It was heavy on the new album -  (to be expected for the album tour) but I think with it being a very different style probably would have done better to give us at least a week to digest it rather than releasing it earlier that day.   I definitely also noticed a few confused expressions as some of the tracks sounded a bit more nine inch nails than perhaps the floaty electronic music he is known for. 

 

Worth noting Daniel was joined by a full band for some of the new rockier tracks - which is an interesting dynamic -  

 

[Sitruc97]

Turnstile at Mayfield Depot last night:

 

Bit of a love/hate relationship with the venue. Been a couple times for WHP events however this was my first standalone gig at the venue. Its dark and dingy and suited the vibe, sound was good, getting to toilets/the bar was fine, however those bloody pillars block the view for a good chunk of the crowd.

 

High Vis opened up, had caught them on the woodsies stage last year and was impressed again last night, will have to catch them at their own gig soon.

 

The Garden were next up and were interesting to say the least, certainly provided plenty of energy.

 

Turnstile were quite simply brilliant, fair to say they are one of the best lives acts on the go currently. Their rise since glow on has been thoroughly deserved and show no signs of stopping anytime soon.

[superhans]

Yeah I was at turnstile last night too, it was incredible. 10/10.

[Nathan Explosion]

Also at Turnstile last night, agreed they were pretty incredible. Had the entire (massive) crowd bouncing at points, such good energy.

[archiegow]

Will be frequenting this page a lot this month by the potential of my calendar - Ratboys tonight at Zerox in Newcastle (excited to see them but gutted they clash with Stewart Lee), then a potential run of Swim School and Joey Valence & Brae later this week, followed by SPRINTS, CMAT (confirmed), Loyle Carner (confirmed), The Last Dinner Party, Lambrini Girls, Royel Otis and Rizzle Kicks but we'll see how many we end up at. Planning to start up a website for longform gig reviews ASAP!

Edited November 4, 2025 by archiegow

[CantWaitForGlasto22]

Saw Cat Burns doing an acoustic set in Kingston to launch her new album. Some nice tracks. Very chilled, beautiful voice. No Traitors spoilers 🤣

[balti-pie]

Couple of gigs in the last few days, down in Brighton: 

 

Froglord at Daltons just off the seafront - amphibious doom metal, and an awful lot of fun! The frontman is great, but he was genuinely still shorter than me while on a stage, which is a first as far as i can remember. Tiny man, great voice, a lot of head nodding fun. Big riffy excellence, would Froglord again. 

 

Margarita Witch Cult/Castle Rat last night - first band are an Alice in Chains-style grunge rock type, and a very good live experience - very recommended! Even had the briefest of chats to the drummer and guitarist afterwards, who were lovely fellas. 

and on to Castle Rat - who are a sort of seventies doomy Sabbath with a bit of Fleetwood Mac type harmonies - a really well fleshed out concept, from look to lyrics to stage show - its like watching live He-man, with swords and queens, plague doctors, rat-headed dancers and all of the nonsense imaginable - i think they could get big, yknow. If they just get a song picked up by Stranger Things or something like that, they'll be on tea towels, baseball caps and every tv show imaginable. Classic daytime festival entertainment, i hope they get massive! (Wolf I would be the song you should give a burl to)