Virgin

Glastonbury is on the horizon folks and it’s looking gigantic. So, what sets shouldn’t you miss and which hidden (and less well-hidden) treasures are waiting? Here’s a list of 10 bands not to miss…

Credible artists spawned from reality TV shows are few and far between and economic crises do little to alter such a true reality. Yet with this summer’s Blur reformation in full swing, bassist of the Colchester quartet Alex James obviously saw a glimmer of hope in the forlorn, longing eyes of Scottish troubadour-in-waiting Tommy Reilly whilst on the panel for this year’s Orange Unsigned Act…

A fine summers day this was not, but a fine spectacle of a mini music festival it was. The Gallagher brothers on superlative form, despite the odd mud slide…

Two nights ago, Billy Talent restored 85,000 Germans’ faith in punk-rock, headlining Rock AM Ring alongside Limp Bizkit. Tonight they play to somewhere closer to 85 and the streets have been lined with black hoodies and cheap spirits since three. Something special lurks below…

Evidently still riding off such a colossal high as playing in front of 85,000 forty eight hours previously, Billy Talent guitarist Ian D’sa and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk take a breather to talk charity work, Billy Talent III and the fad of Ramones t-shirts that’s swept the UK for years…

With much made at the start of 2009 of Victoria Hesketh’s pending propulsion into the realms of megastardom, and with the Lancashire lass’s hotly tipped debut album Hands finally upon us, there was plenty of anticipation surrounding this showcase London gig…

As the dying sunlight bleeds through Union Chapel’s wondrous stained glass windows, the brightest light in Islington tonight beams out from pearly whites amongst a wash of troubadour stubble beneath a tweed flat cap…

Sprawling across Bristol city centre like ants at a picnic, Dot to Dot Festival thrives in the moment. Leaving no stone left unturned, the afternoon was spent chasing glimpses of sonic hope up and down Park Street…

Post War Years singer Si took time out from tour preparations to chat with little old us about the state of music, living in a hairdressers and, of course, Jack Bauer…

Madame Welch preaches to Salford’s masses yet Eoghan McKeever is yet to be converted…

For those who don’t scathingly shred every fashion faux-pas whilst on the way to a warehouse for a Vice photo shoot, Shoreditch is a dirty word. So dirty in fact that an evening spent staggering from rammed pubs to sweaty halls is a somewhat daunting proposition. Add the inherent snobbery of London’s suited and booted and it seems as though anywhere west of Holborn’s bustling with snide remarks and anti-counter culture. Thank goodness that Stag and Dagger has returned then. Taking over more venues than most cities boast in total, the invaders have conquered.

Solo projects for guitarists in big, brilliant, successful bands can often be a formula for the overblown extravagances that are honed back on their day jobs. For Graham Coxon, it is quite the opposite. The Blur member now has seven solo efforts to his name, the latest of which – The Spinning Top – he showcased in the cosy confines of The Lexington. It is a mainly acoustic, whimsical offering, a tone that dominates and dictates the set…

Friday at the Great Escape brought even wetter weather than the day before (it was like Scotland down there!) but once again there was a packed house at Coalition for the second of our Road to V mentor nights, this time hosted by The Charlatans…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have gone all electro? What happened to the filthy riffs and filthier vocals? Worry not, enthusiasts of Karen O’s provocative gasps and Nick Zinner’s distinctive solos – they’re all present and correct…

Another year, another horde of overdressed, overwhelming devotees descends upon the streets of Camden. Even the sun turned up, which helped make the expected crawl seem more like a stroll, the food seem that much more edible and the music that much better…

The cavernous Bristol Academy has tonight off to recover from whichever fading reformed hair metal troupe graced its soulless stage the night before. From the opening lupine howls of Too Young to Love, it becomes as blindingly resolute as The Big Pink’s epilepsy-in-5-minutes strobe show: Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze are not a singles band…

Arising from the tangled industrialisation of Wembley Park tube, a dark, humid grey lurks over the imposing bow of England’s new home yet tonight the traffic’s streaming down a different channel. Anticipation, exhilaration and aggression linger in the air amongst a bustle of touts turned dealers, cigarette buts and chlorinated water that litter the Arena’s doorstep. Liam, Keith and Maxim’s three-night London stint is as close as they’re going to get to a homecoming this Spring with Essex yet to construct some sort of stadium worthy of housing the rave overlords and the hordes of camouflage-clad forest dwellers and suited and booted city workers alike are quite literally chomping at the bit come half seven…

On Monday April 13th, Vancouver music heads were treated to some sweet sweet disco, synth pop and industrial goodness courtesy of The Golden Filter and The Presets at the Commodore Ballroom. The last time The Presets rolled into town opening for Cut Copy, I actually didn’t have a chance to catch them because of unforeseen circumstances. So there was a definite anticipation on my part…

Well sweaty gig, a slow starter, it turns into probably the best gig of the European part of the tour. We head out to a bar with the support band, Fertig, Los, as they are locals and should know what’s happening, which turns out to be very fucking little as it’s Easter weekend in’it. If you ever go to Germany and go to a bar you’ve gotta get the Erdbeer Limes in, a strawberry flavoured shot that could well turn out to be the death of me!

The boys from the Bloc have gone and got a bit big. This place looks like you could hold a giant British Union of Fascists rally here (anyone listening in history class?) let alone the homecoming gig for an indie band. By the time Kele and company come onstage, the crowd feels full and ready for the group to confirm themselves as a proper, you know, whisper it, stadium band. Thankfully, it never looks a possibility…