Ducking beneath the rumbling railway arches and skulking down to the side door of Manchester’s Gorilla always brings with it a sneaking feeling of mystery. It feels as though this small room, tucked away behind a bright,...
Read MoreThe Hallé Orchestra opened its new season last week with a moving and magnificent performance at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Although the orchestra has played a handful of concerts over the summer, this was the first time it...
Read MoreJournalists sometimes get it wrong. In 1849, a chap by the name of Angus Reach talked about the Ancoats district of Manchester in The Morning Chronicle. He wrote: “A more perfectly ugly spot you shall not find between sunrise...
Read MoreSomehow, there are people still around who believe that ‘all folk music sounds the same’ or that it’s solely made by, and for, blokes with beards. Manchester Folk Festival is just the sort of event that these naysayers need to...
Read MoreIt was like nothing had happened. Eighteen months of lockdowns and enjoyment-sapping restrictions were blown away in a second by a post-punk poet and a rock ‘n’ roll band. Manchester must be Fontaines D.C.’s...
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