Live Reviews

Gruff Rhys & London Contemporary Orchestra @ Barbican Hall, London

by Ben Hogwood

First, the encore. Gruff Rhys has never been a man bound by the book, and in typically about-face fashion he delivered his first solo gig…

Festival Review: Festival No 6 2018

As the curtain came down on Festival No 6 the boutique event enjoyed one last chance to demonstrate why it has been head and shoulders...

Festival Review: End Of The Road 2018

Now in its 13th year, End Of The Road is firmly cemented as a final hoorah in the UK festival calendar. Set amidst the idyllic...

Festival Review: Leeds 2018

Debate has raged ever since the first wave of acts for the 2018 Reading and Leeds Festival were announced earlier this year. Some labelled the...

Phoebe Bridgers @ Scala, London

There is a heavy air of anticipation across Scala this evening, and the venue is already two thirds full as support Gold Star take the...

Dirty Projectors @ Village Underground, London

The heatwave, it would seem, is back with a vengeance. Or at least it is in this underground corner of Shoreditch, in this near-capacity, windowless...

Goblin @ Union Chapel, London

The idea that a chapel might screen a film about a murderous coven of witches seems rather unlikely, but then finding a coven of witches...

Jenny Lewis @ KOKO, London

Appearing on TV and film from an early age – from The Golden Girls and Baywatch to thinly-disguised-Nintendo-advert The Wizard – Jenny Lewis knows a...

Festival Review: Cambridge Folk Festival 2018

Now in its 53rd year, Cambridge Folk Festival is undoubtedly one of the world’s most celebrated festivals. From humble beginnings back in 1965 it now...

Festival Review: WOMAD 2018

The 36th WOMAD festival may have coincided with depressing reports on the difficulties certain artists faced in obtaining visas to perform in the Brexit-fixated UK...

Festival Review: Indietracks 2018

This was the second year that the beleaguered Y Not festival – recently sold to a festival group, with an increased capacity of over 25,000...

Festival Review: Kendal Calling 2018

In a year where the festival calendar has a rather large Glastonbury shaped hole it’s a relief to know Kendal Calling always manages to bring...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Barbican, London

Recent years have been a productive time for Canadian post-rock forefathers Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Since returning from a period of inactivity they’ve released three...

Festival Review: Latitude 2018

The public image of Latitude probably goes something along the lines of a collision between BBC 6 Music connoisseurship and BBC Radio 4 intellectual comedy,...

Paul Simon @ Hyde Park, London

While the legendary Paul Simon’s farewell UK performance was understandably the main draw at Sunday’s final British Summer Time Hyde Park concert, two other veteran artists...

The Cure @ Hyde Park, London

People clad in black in 31 degree heat, round the corner from London’s Pride march, and with a revitalised England playing in the World Cup....

Sigrid @ Somerset House, London

“I forgot to say that the last song was my new single, which came out today”, Sigrid announces from the stage, with a slight chuckle....

MGMT @ Somerset House, London

Time travels quickly. Surely it can’t be a decade since MGMT burst onto the scene with Kids, their take down of hedonist living? Yet as...

Iggy Pop @ Finsbury Park, London

This final weekend of mini-festivals at Finsbury Park will, despite the incredible performances of many artists, surely go down in history as one of the...

Kristin Hersh @ Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

Kristin Hersh was among the pioneers of music crowdfunding, ending her contract with longterm label 4AD and striking out on her own, into a forever...