What Ever Became Of Those Likely Lads?

Nothing beats the sheer euphoria of having your skull caved in by stranger's elbows whilst having your eardrums pierced by the lyrics of your favourite song bleeding through the speakers a few metres in front of your face.

Welcome to The Libertines.

It'd be incredibly difficult to even attempt to fathom a music scene that wasn't stormed by the creative majesty of Pete Doherty and friends, where would we be without the Anthems that fuelled our doomed youths?

For Fans Of: The Strokes, Dirty Pretty Things, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Nirvana

The Lib's headed up the post punk revival with aid from The Clash's Mick Jones who lent a helping hand with their first two studio albums. The lads debut, 'Up The Bracket' was released when I was a mere toddler, and not discovered by myself until around 13 years later, and since then I've had a good amount of time to dissolve myself into their music, romanticise with their discography, have their lyrics tattooed on my brain, and fall in love with their infectious aura.

UTB was closely followed by a raging self titled sequel in 2004, overflowing with heavy tracks and even more influential lyrics, and after more than a decade long hiatus, 'Anthems For Doomed Youth' rocked the music world and satiated the need for a long overdue re-emergence of the London hailing band.

Support: Whenyoung and Trampolene

My Own Little Shangri La

So. Picture this... It's October 2015, and early teen-me is eager and raring to go to her first non-parentally supervised concert - Jake Bugg at Liverpool's Echo Arena. (If were talking proper first gigs, mine was The Black Eyed Peas - a not so guilty, guilty pleasure).

 I remember it being such a euphoric, ethereal, magical experience, and I can pin-point that as the day I fell truly in love with music, and I haven't looked back since.



For Fans Of: The Strypes & Mumford and Sons


Fast forward a whole half a decade, and I'm Jake's photographer for his Manchester gig - and it's freaking surreal.

~Talk about a dream come true~

During that five year hiatus, Bugg has since released two more albums - On My One and Hearts That Strain, which was produced by the genius behind The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach - joining his roster which also includes talents such as Lana Del Rey and Cage The Elephant.

At just 25, Bugg has a hell of a lot of notches on his belt of a musical career- his single 'Simple As This' being featured on the soundtrack for The Fault in Our Stars, having Chili Peppers' Chad Smith work the drums on some of Jake's earlier tracks, winning NME's best solo artist award, and best new act in 2013 at the Q awards. More recently, the video for 'Be Someone' has been nominated at the UK music video award for Best Dance Video.

Two Days In The Life: The Shambolics

Scottish hailing four piece up-and-coming rock band 'The Shambolics' are storming the music scene with their infectious lyrics, perfectly intertwined with euphoria inducing bass lines and punchy guitar riffs.

Their newest release 'Chasing a Disaster' peaked at number two in the vinyl charts the week of its debut, and it's not often that I find myself unable to escape from a song in my head - but then again, I rarely encounter lyrics as utterly consuming as those that embody the Sham's latest single.


For Fans Of: The Strypes, Oasis, The La's and The Beatles

An Insight Into The Night Cafe

With all of the artistic prowess and creative majesty as the man himself, Vincent Van Gogh - these boys know how to put together a track ~ what will TNC surprise us with next?


A multitude of singles and EP's followed by the announcement of a heavily anticipated debut album has given us an exciting few awe-filled years. If previous releases are anything to go by, or even a glimpse into what's to come, then we're in for a treat.

The upcoming album will no doubt be teeming with mesmerising 'sound track of your day' tunes that you'll eat, sleep and breathe - there's no humming or hawing with these boys - they get the job done and do a bloody good one at that...

I recently had the pleasure of having a chat with Carl from the band, with the opportunity of asking a few questions to gain a deeper insight into the indie-infused quartet.

Here's what he had to say...


Okay so, the band name - did you get it from Van Gogh's painting?

We had to change our name for copyright reasons. We had a bunch of names that were contenders like 'The Blue Velvet Cafe', haha imagine that. We were looking at names of songs, books, everything that could be a band name really, and then one of the lads said ' The Night Cafe' and was like it's also a painting by Van Gogh, so from there on we just stuck with it.

An Interview With BLOXX

Following their huge performance at Manchester's Castlefield Bowl, frontwoman Fee agreed to a little interview with myself to get more of an insight into the immersive world of BLOXX...

Q: As a band, who is your biggest musical Inspiration?
A: For me, it's probably got to be Bombay Bicycle Club, Jeff Buckley, and at the moment from Indian Lakes! I really like all of these artists and what they've done/ are doing for music. Creativity is key I guess.

Q: Do you have any plans in the works for albums or ep's? 
A: We are working on a big piece of work at the moment yeah!

Q: What is the best concert you've played to date?
A: I think maybe Community Festival or Reading and Leeds last year. Both crowds were great. We've had some good shows in the last year especially!

Castlefield Bowl: Sounds of the City 06/07/2019

Venue: Manchester's Castlefield Bowl
Capacity: 8,450
Status: Limited ticket availability 


A monster of a line-up accompanied by some rare Manchester sun combined together made for a night to remember. Previous performers of the festival have included, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Noel Gallagher, The Last Shadow Puppets and The Courteeners.


The lethal combination of high stakes adrenaline fuelled fans, three-person shoulder situations and half-full cups of mystery liquids resulted in a (very wet) bruised ridden night of concert antics. The entire crowd raved and screamed back every lyric verbatim to every song, jumping and thrashing around without a care in the world. Bumper cars and walking disasters in a ocean of sweat and booze - Wombats fans are the craziest of them all.

Our current modern glitch meant that hundreds of phones were constantly in the air capturing every second, every strum, every lick of the drum, every syllable expelled by Murph, all of it on permanent record to be reminisced - there's a certain beauty in being able to relive moments such as these...

A Brief inquiry into ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’ introductory visuals

The 1975 have created waves in the music industry since their 2012 debut album. Releasing their second, a well earned 4 years later in 2016 and their third just two years later in 2018. Their fourth - unannounced yet highly hinted - album however will be released less than a year after their third. A band on a roll.

Looking at their most recent release so exquisitely titled ‘A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships’, the promo started in April with this Instagram post.

The simple black and white poster introduces the new 1975 ‘era’, with a length paragraph filled with text in all capitals and jargon only capable of being written by Matty Healy – if you’ve not heard him in an interview I suggest you have a listen.

The type is small, neatly aligned in an orderly fashion, giving you confidence in the clinical design.

Whilst a more abstract approach it would suit The 1975, this would possibly clash with the babble that is written in the paragraph, leaving you perpetually confused. 

It took me a few attempts to read it but he does talk sense(haha), that can be given. The point being made is our new human need is for phones, internet and everything at our fingertips, literally. The bands attempt to deal and write about real problems is somewhat refreshing, but yet again - confusing.

Billie Eilish: Live

Venue: Manchester Academy 1
Capacity: 2,300
Support:  Finneas + Earthgang

Billie announced her plans to tour the UK mid-august 2018, visiting Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, follow by three London dates. After a venue upgrade from The Ritz to Manchester Academy due to phenomenal demand, over a thousand fans cheered Billie onto the stage for her Manchester debut and the first UK show of her sold out 1 by 1 tour.

To the glee of myself and fans alike, Billie performed some of her early singles and non-album tracks, including Six Feet Under and Lovely (from the soundtrack of 13 Reasons Why). Seventeen years old, loved by millions, and in the top 30 most listened to artists on spotify, this American pop teenage-sensation is only going to get bigger...

Billie Eilish - Average American to Music Sensation at 15

So by this point we’ve all probably heard of the rising star known as Billie Eilish, in her 17 years on this earth she’s manged to reach the Billboard Hot 100 7 times, collaborated with DJ Khalid and is set to play London’s Shepherds Bush Empire (The O2) on the 4 th of March. These are all achievements many musicians and artists can only dream about and yet somehow this American teenage songwriter has already ticked these boxes and isn’t set to slow down any time soon.

Naturally, the same as when any young star appears, people always ask how she managed it? Now there’s many avenues we could explore to explain her sudden stardom including: the fact that she was home-schooled her whole life; or that she was born into a family of creatives including famous artists and actresses (Her brother having appeared in Glee, Bad Teacher and Modern Family as well as having his own musical career, and Her Mother having appeared in Life Inside Out alongside other smaller films); or maybe it’s simply her undying ability to be herself regardless of what anyone throws at her. There is however one factor that until recently would of never been considered and that is the internet and it’s presence in her rise to fame.

Catfish and The Bottlemen

My favourite band since my early teenage years, and I've only just seen them live, not from lack of trying.

Venue: Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena
Capacity: 10,000
Support: Twin Atlantic


For those of you who've been here since the beginning, you'll recall my first ever blog post was to pay homage to these guys, and since then my love has only grown at an exponential rate. I've watched them release two albums (anticipating a third) and seen them go from playing Manchester's Ritz to selling out arenas - yet every time they were in town I was busy, or couldn't go and it was so frustrating, so when I finally got the chance - you bet I'd be standing right at the front.

Watching concert videos, and having a boyfriend who does nothing but worship Van McCann and brag about how amazing they are live, I was incredibly excited for this concert and expected it to be the best gig I'd been to so far. But did it live up to expectations?

Has This Catfish Still Got Us Under Its Spell?

So, its been a long day and I’ve finally got the chance to sit down and browse through my
recommended videos on YouTube. After skipping through some meaningless clickbait titles, I
stumble across a video from a band rather close to my heart, that was Catfish and the Bottlemen with their new single ‘Longshot’.

Having not heard much in the way of new music from this live sensation for a good two years I was definitely not wasting any time pressing play, and as those opening vocal lines hit I knew this was going to be something good...

The 1975: Live

Venue: Manchester Arena
Support: Pale Waves and No Rome

Thursday 24th January was a special night, and not only because my kid sister turned 16, but I finally got to see a band I've loved since my early teens. It was heavily anticipated and a long time coming...

After storming the scene with their debut self-titled album in 2013, and changing it up with a more pop sounding album; 'I Like It When You Sleep For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It' in 2016, it seems that the band opted to find the perfect balance between both of the sounds they created for their latest musical creation. And along with the music change, Matt Healy has once again changed up his look, perhaps nostalgic of his early 1975 days, ditching the pink and big hair for black tie and slicked back hair.

Why I love Florence Welch...

That name rings a bell... right?

If not, you may know her better as the powerhouse frontwoman of Indie Rock band Florence and the Machine, accompanied by Isabella Summers, Robert Ackroyd and Tom Monger, plus a selection of touring members.

Their newest album High As Hope is a ten track work of absolute wonder and ironically the best way to describe it is using the title of its predecessor, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful". It doesn't fall off or fade out at any point, every song is massive and it's impossible to describe just how beautiful this entire album is. I don't think I've ever listened to an album and fallen in love with it immediately, I always have to listen to it a few times before I connect with the music and decide whether I like it or not, but this definitely wasn't the case with High As Hope - it was love at first sight.

Not just a singer - Florence also released a book of lyrics and poetry, titled Useless Magic...