Category Archives: Music – concerts, lists, reflections

Four concerts: Francis Dunnery, This is the Kit, Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker and Honeyblood

I had a great little run of concerts recently. Got the New Year going. All small-to-medium in scale and based in West London, and including Honeyblood. The best band. The fun started on Sunday 21 January at Bush Hall in … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Guitar is the Star

I’ve been mucking around with a playlist on Spotify tonight, on and off. Inspired by my favourite tune of the moment, “Honey” by Pumarosa, which I wrote about recently. Since then it’s grown on me even more. The wonderful tension … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Mark.E.Smith of the Fall

It was announced tonight that Mark.E.Smith, the leader of the Fall, had died, age 60. The person who told me was Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music, who had actually been in the Fall in their early days. He got … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries

I was sad to hear of the death, at such an early age, of Dolores O’Riordan this week. The reports in the Guardian suggested that she had had quite a troubled life. But, in their heyday, the Cranberries, for whom … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A soundtrack for the New Year!

A happy New Year to you all. Hope 2018 is a good one for you. And let’s hope some sanity returns to politics. I rustled this playlist up on Spotify for a bit of the New Year’s Eve celebrations. A … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

2017 – A Year in Music

I say the same about every year – it’s been brilliant. Because every year is briiliant. You read all this stuff about indie, for example, going through a rubbish time. But if you actually listen to it, listen to BBC … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Honeyblood at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 19 December 2017

If you’ve read my top ten albums of the year, and any number of other blogs, you’ll know that Honeyblood are my favourite new band. Actually they’ve been going for a while, but their second album, “Babes Never Die” has … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Catherine McGrath at Koko, Camden, 28 November 2017

It’s not so long since I saw Catherine McGrath at an invitation event at Cambridge Audio in Borough, South London. That was great. Tonight, she was supporting the American country pop duo Dan + Shay.  I managed to persuade my … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Wolf Alice at Alexandra Palace, 24 November 2017

On Friday evening I went up to Alexandra Palace in North London for the second time in a couple of weeks – the first being The War on Drugs. After mistiming it completely last time, and keeping my friend Jon … Continue reading

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leeds, Manchester, Aldous Harding, 18-19 November 2017

Aldous Harding is a singer from New Zealand who has been described as psych-folk. In other words, the foundation of her music is folk, but it twists and turns into something quite different. Her second album, “Party”, came out this … Continue reading

Posted in Art, books, theatre, cinema, Music - concerts, lists, reflections, Photos | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment