Ceremony #4 – Esquires, Bedford
The team of promoters based out of Esquires brought Ceremony back to the Bedford venue for its fourth instalment on Saturday. The main stage was headlined by Hot Wax and…
Sprints – Esquires, Bedford
Dublin's Sprints played a cracking headline set at Esquires ahead of a festival spot the following day at Live At Leeds. The band released one of my favourite debut albums…
Nightbus – The Garibaldi, Northampton
Manchester's Nightbus headlined the Garibaldi fresh from playing The Great Escape festival. The trio released their excellent latest single Average Boy in February which has followed a singles by the…
The Soap Girls – The Black Prince, Northampton
The Soap Girls returned to The Black Prince in Northampton as part of their Wild At Heart tour. The duo, who ended their last UK tour at the venue, are…
Big Special – XOYO, Birmingham
Black Country duo Big Specials played their biggest gig of their career at Birmingham's XOYO on Thursday, the night before the release of their debut album Postindustrial Hometown Blues. Having…
St Anges / unpeople – The Black Prince, Northampton
Annual weekender Mayday Mayhem III headed to The Black Prince for the first time over the bank holiday weekend. I was only able to make the latter part of the…
Paul Draper – Roadmender, Northampton
Mansun's Paul Draper has been touring across the UK playing the band's 1999 album Six in full. Probably the less I say about this gig the better. We chose not…
Raging Speedhorn / Defenestration / Stormbringer – The Cordwainer, Kettering
Raging Speedhorn headlined two fundraising gigs at The Cordwainer in Kettering as part of Russ Stock. The event was helping to raise money for Russ Russell from The Parlour Studios…
Lemar / Maddox Jones – Town Hall, Birmingham
Northants singer songwriter Maddox Jones joined Lemar for a couple of gigs across the UK as part of the latter's Closer tour. Joining both on the bill at the Town…
Arthur Brown – The Black Prince, Northampton
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown headlined The Black Prince as part of their UK tour. No support at this one, just a headline gig by one of the psychedelic…
Gnoomes – The Black Prince, Northampton
Gnoomes are back in the UK and kicked off a run of dates across the country at The Black Prince. Second time in Northampton for the Russian natives, who are…
Fountain – The Black Prince, Northampton
Rock duo Fountain played a hometown headline at The Black Prince to mark the release of their debut EP Stolen Flowers Bring Sickness. Great to see the venue absolutely packed…
Happy Mondays – Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Manchester legends Happy Mondays returned to Northampton to headline a sold-out gig at Royal & Derngate. The band's 13-song set was mainly made up of tracks from 1988 album Bummed…
Bleachers – O2 Institute, Birmingham
Some people will only know Jack Antonoff for winning three consecutive Producer of the Year Grammys and for his long-time collaboration with Taylor Swift. They’re undoubtedly missing out on a…
C Duncan – The Black Prince, Northampton
Scottish singer, composer and mulit-instrumentalist C Duncan headed to Northampton to play a solo acoustic shows. Duncan's 2015 debut Architect was nominated for a Mercury award and his latest record…
Raiders – The Black Prince, Northampton
Fresh from playing some huge shows with The Blackout, Sam Smith and James Davies bought their other band Raiders to Northampton for an intimate headline gig at The Black Prince.…
Yard Act – HMV Vault, Birmingham
To celebrate the release of their second album Where's My Utopia? Yard Act have been playing a series of 'in-stores' at venues across the UK. The band headed to Birmingham's…
Woahgetter – The Black Prince, Northampton
Mark Cann's Woahgetter packed onto The Black Prince stage in Northampton for their inaugural gig. The avant-garde pop collective released their debut single I Can't Love You Any more in…
Renee Rapp – O2 Academy, Birmingham
US singer songwriter Renee Rapp headlined a sold out gig at the O2 Academy in Birmingham as part of her UK tour. Rapp gained recognition starring as Regina George in…
Fozzy – Roadmender, Northampton
WWE royalty headed to Northampton on Monday night when Fozzy headlined the Roadmender. The band is fronted by wrestling legend Chris Jericho who has been playing in the hard rock…
The Zutons – Roadmender, Northampton
The Zutons are back with their first new album in 16 years and on Saturday, their UK tour rolled into Northampton for a sold-out gig at the Roadmender. After forming in…
IVW – Steve Mason – The Black Prince, Northampton
The final day of Independent Venue Week at The Black Prince was headlined by Steve Mason, lead singer and one of the founding members of The Beta Band. Not really…
IVW – TVAM – The Black Prince, Northampton
The sixth day of Independent Venue Week and the fifth at The Black Prince was headlined by TVAM. This was probably the highlight of the week at the venue for…
IVW – Ten Tonnes – The Black Prince, Northampton
Singer songwriter Ten Tonnes headlined the fourth Independent Venue Week gig at The Black Prince. Ten Tonnes is Ethan James Barnett. He released his debut album Dancing Alone was released…
IVW – Empyre – The Black Prince, Northampton
The fourth day of Independent Venue Week and the third at The Black Prince was headlined by Northampton rockers Empyre. This was the only show of the week at the…
IVW – Hotel Lux – The Black Prince, Northampton
The third day of Independent Venue Week and the second at The Black Prince was headlined by Portsmouth five piece Hotel Lux. Support was by Northampton gloomy post punk collective…
IVW – Skinny Living – The Black Prince, Northampton
Wakefield trio Skinny Living kicked off Independent Venue Week 2024 at The Black Prince in Northampton on the second day of the national initiative to champion venues across the UK…
Low Girl – The Black Prince, Northampton
Low Girl celebrated the release of their singles vinyl compilation with a headline gig at The Black Prince. The 12" features six of their bands previous singles and has been…
The Libertines – MK11, Milton Keynes
The Libertines headed to MK11 in Milton Keynes as part of a short UK tour of intimate venues ahead of the release of their new album. Tickets absolutely flew out…
Bring Me The Horizon – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Bring Me The Horizon played an incredible headline gig at Birmingham's Utilita Arena on Friday as part of their UK tour. Definitely one of the very best bands out there…
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Noel Gallagher is on tour in support of his latest album with the High Flying Birds, Council Skies. Support at the Utilita Arena was by former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan.…
Bex – The Garibaldi, Northampton
Bex headlined the Garibaldi in Northampton following a short tour across the UK to promote her debut EP. The singer songwriter released SCUM in October and has recently been out…
The Bug Club – The Black Prince, Northampton
Having supported The Lovely Eggs last year, The Bug Club returned to Northampton to headline The Black Prince. The Welsh trio joined in the Halloween spirt, dressing up for the…
Maddox Jones – Roadmender, Northampton
Maddox Jones returned to the Roadmender to play his first headline solo gig at the venue. The singer songwriter released his debut single Not Cool Enough For LA this month,…
Sarpa Salpa – Roadmender, Northampton
Sarpa Salpa played an emotional farewell show in front of hundreds of fans at the Roadmender in Northampton. After 238 gigs and 21 songs, the Northampton indie-pop quartet have decided…
Trampolene – The Black Prince, Northampton
Trampolene are out on a UK tour supporting the release of their latest album Rules Of Love & War. Joining them for their headline gig at The Black Prince were…
Dave McPherson – The Black Prince, Northampton
Singer songwriter Dave McPherson returned to Northampton to play a solo acoustic gig at The Black Prince. The InMe frontman was back in town ahead of playing with his band…
NMF – Northampton Music Festival 2023
Northampton Music Festival returned to the town with dozens of acts from the county's music scene playing on stages across the town. The main stage was this year in Abington…
Newton Faulkner – The Black Prince, Northampton
Newton Faulkner played a sold out headline solo acoustic set at The Black Prince in Northampton as part of the United By Music tour. The tour is a partnership between…
Hamish Hawk – The Black Prince, Northampton
Hamish Hawk headlined The Black Prince as part of the United By Music Tour. The tour is a partnership between The Music Venue Trust and The National Lottery and follows…
Cropredy Convention 2023
Fairport Convention returned to the village of Williamscot for their annual festival, Cropredy Convention. This year, the hosts were joined by headliners Nile Rodgers and CHIC and 10cc. I was…
Multitude Festival, Craufurd Arms – Milton Keynes
Last year, organisers of the Multitude Festival put together one of the best all-dayers championing new music. On Saturday, they returned for the second installment of the event. Set across…
Twinfest 2023 – Northampton
Twinfest is one of the highlights of Northampton's music calendar and it was back for another year last weekend for four days live music at venues across the town. This…
Soft Lad – The Black Prince, Northampton
Soft Lad headlined The Black Prince as part of a run of dates being played across the country by the Northants musician. The project of Sophie Galpin, she was joined…
Johnny Marr – Roadmender, Northampton
Johnny Marr returned to Northampton to headline the Roadmender as part of the former Smiths guitarist's UK tour. You can find a full review of this gig on the Northampton…
Hollywood Vampires – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
Rock royalty returned to Birmingham in the form of Hollywood Vampires. The band, fronted by Alice Cooper, features Aerosmith's Joe Perry, actor Johnny Depp and guitarist Tommy Henriksen. Support at…
Weirdoe – The Lab, Northampton
Weirdoe headlined The Lab to mark the release of his debut EP Born In A Barn, The seven track EP by the Northampton grime MC was released earlier this month…
Hell Is For Heroes – Esquires, Bedford
Hell Is For Heroes headed to Esquires in Bedford to play a warm-up gig ahead of playing at this year's 2000 Trees festival. The band released a run of acclaimed…
From The Archives: Enter Shikari – The Pitz, Milton Keynes
This week marks 15-years since Enter Shikari played The Pitz in Milton Keynes, a gig which I think was part of a tour to promote their debut album. The band…
Rod Stewart – Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
Rod Stewart headed to Northampton for the first time in his career to play a headline gig at Franklin's Gardens on the second date of his UK tour. There was…