The time has come to start planning your festival schedule for 2026! Here's some of our favourites where you can discover your new favourite artist... Photo Credit: Kendal Calling 2025 Sound City - Liverpool (2nd-3rd May) Liverpool's city festival always provides one of the best venue hopping experiences and always guarantees new music discovery. The 2026 line up features some of the most talked about newcomers from the world of Indie and Post-Punk including Keo , Westside Co

There is a delicious irony in watching one of the most abrasive bands in the UK right now perform in a room bathed in neon pink. Last Thursday, Mandy, Indiana took to the Yes Bar Pink Room stage for the opening night of the BBC Radio 6 music festival delivering a performance that solidified their status as the definitive torchbearers of European noise rock. Mandy, Indiana (BBC 6 Music) Following a blisteringly high-octane support act in Silverwingkiller , the Manchester/ Berl

Last week, Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid took over Manchester Academy to showcase her new infectious 2025 album 'There's Always More That I Could Say' . Her notable confidence and comfortability in the spotlight let the connection between herself and her audience prevail, driving an energetic set that underscored her undeniable enjoyment and on-stage prowess.  Photo Credit: Paul Lang // @paullangphotographer She kicked off her set with ‘I’ll Always Be Your Girl’ , the op

Where have all the goths in Liverpool gone? The punks, the queer kids, the ones that used to hang out by the courts, or around the museum? They’re here, in Outpost, a sticky backroom thick with gig posters and synth, seeing the very best of Liverpool’s local bands.  The first wave of fabric draped gig goers are here to see The Nocturnal , a gothic swirl of Siouxsie vocals and Cure covers. They’re volatile, with safety pins stringing together their lines of synth and shimmerin

Georgia Johnson  headlined a sold out show at ARCHIVE in Liverpool on Thursday night, taking to the stage after four other excellent artists from a range of genres had warmed up the crowd. Accompanied by a cellist/banjo player, drummer, lead guitarist, bassist and trumpet player, Georgia Johnson and her band captivated the room at the cosy and intimate venue, but you could easily imagine them selling out much larger venues with their dazzling stage presence. Georgia was clea

On Friday night, Gorillaz kicked off their ‘The Mountain’ tour at Manchester’s Co-op Live. In what can only be described as a striking, immersive spectacle, Damon Albarn lead the virtual band through a masterclass performance. Every single inch of the stage was utilised by the extensive, diverse array of live instruments, and the on-screen graphics truly transported the audience into their virtual world. Overall, the finely-honed stagecraft and attention to detail was omnipr

Jazz legend Courtney Pine returns to Liverpool's Tung Auditorium on Saturday 14th March with this award-winning show, House of Legends . Courtney Pine (Credit: One Fell Swoop) In 1986 a 22 year old Courtney Pine appeared on the front cover of the iconic British music publication NME, he is the only Black British jazz artist to do so - the last quote in a two page interview read “You know I’m doing this for a reason” and you better believe he still is… House of Legends is a ve

On Friday night, the Liverpool's O2 Academy saw Man/Woman/Chainsaw supported by Little Grandad. This event is probably best described as the inside of the weird kid's orchestra practice room. There were instruments scattered around the stage, a couple of the performers had made it into suits but most of them were in stripy tights and graphic tshirts, and the music was an experimental mixing pot of everything from David Bryne to  Fat White Family. And it was brilliant.  Little

We recently took time off from our usual schedule of attending gigs and interviewing artists to visit one of the most talked about restaurants in the North-West that promised a unique audio-tasting experience. Situated in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, Manifest was opened by Chef Patron Paul Durand and his wife and business partner Charlotte Jones in 2022. Inspired by Paul’s travels around Europe, the wine bar and restaurant offers a combination of relaxed European dining an

STONE have been one of the most exciting, visceral acts in the Liverpool scene for a good few years now. They’ve gained a cult following for the intensity of their live shows and last year they finally delivered what the fans had been calling for… their debut album. ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ was a poignant culmination of their journey so far and was a fierce Rock record laced with heartfelt undertones. However, there was a rumbling in the background that the album release p

Celebrating the 20 th  anniversary of their debut album in 2025, Kaiser Chiefs’   20 Years of Employment  tour truly took fans back in time. The Indie Rock band hailing from Leeds found success with their debut album, ‘Employment’ , released in 2005 and selling over three million copies. Playing the full album alongside their greatest hits, Kaiser Chiefs rocked their Manchester performance from start to finish on Saturday, 14 th  February 2026. Supported by Corella , O2 Victo

Since we last saw Cardinals back in 2024 when they supported Been Stellar , it’s clear a lot has changed. Gone are the fresh-faced, Fred Perry-clad members of the past. Now they enter the stage – hoodies up and puffer coats still on – as a band who no longer need to question their place in the room. The shift is subtle but clear. Where they once carried themselves as EP-era hopefuls, tonight they stand firm in the identity their debut has carved out. That confidence bleeds i

Given that Ash  burst out of the blocks with their debut album ‘1977’  thirty years ago, the youth of today would be forgiven for not being familiar with the nature of these Northern-Irish alternative rock and rollers. But whilst ignorance may be understood, it is certainly still pitied, because an Ash gig is a palate-cleanser that we could all do with - a night off from reality, on a harsh winter’s evening. Photo Credit: Paul Lang They kick the gig off with the barnstorming

Discover some of the best new music from emerging artists in Liverpool, Manchester and all the beautiful places in between! Wax Head Wax Head’s new single arrives like a brick through a greenhouse window. 'Bug Doctor' is the ferocious lead single from the Manchester outfit’s upcoming debut album 'GNAT' (Out April 1st 2026) and the track leans into the psych edge that’s run through their previous releases but tightens everything into a three-minute panic attack you can dance

Ahead of the BRIT Awards coming to Manchester for the first time in its history, The K’s  took to the Gorilla Stage on Friday night in support of War Child as part of the highly-anticipated Brits week lineup. The Merseyside quartet showcased their ever-growing prowess on the concert stage to a sold-out crowd, creating the perfect sense of communal celebration not only for their music, but for an incredible cause.  Photo Credit: Paul Lang / @paullangphotographer On what would

It’s not often you get a line up that demands you arrive the second the doors open but that was the case last Friday night at Manchesters New Century Hall. Headlining the night was the energy-fuelled Indie Pop duo Good Neighbours but first up was FLETCHR FLETCHR , one of the most exciting new live acts in the country.  From start to finish their set was filled with a dramatic tension. A blend of moody synths, dense drum beats and echoed vocals that floated through the venue.

The city’s biggest celebration of the best new and independent film, Manchester Film Festival , returns in 2026. An annual celebration of storytelling through cinema, MFF brings film lovers and filmmakers together for 11 days of screenings, Q&As, red-carpet glamour, and so much more. Now in its twelfth year, Manchester Film Festival has grown year-on-year, and is now one of the biggest celebrations of cinema in the UK, with consistently high reviews from The festival will als

Suede are having fun on this tour. That’s all. They’re in sweaty, beer coated venues playing songs they’ve only just written and bouncing about like lunatics. They have a weird goth-punk band opening for them and a mass of dizzy teenagers lining the barrier; they’re a definitively modern band.  Suede at RFH 14 Sept 2025 credit Paul Khera The strange gothic kids that christen the night are called Bloodworm, a three piece band from Nottingham whose instruments hang lazily from

Entering the stage following a dancey remix of ‘Strawberry Fields’ , Hushtones turn their walk out into a playful mission statement for the night: prepare for something retro, thoroughly Liverpudlian, but with a subtle hint at something fresher. The quintet has spent the past few years becoming a staple of the North-West music scene, known for blending guitar-driven indie with bright male-female vocals and a penchant for 60s and 70s leaning songcraft that nods to Fleetwood M

Punk Rock duo Kid Kapichi  returned to Liverpool last week to give us a laidback, acoustic introduction to their new era. After the departure of guitarist Ben Beetham and drummer George Macdonald last year, the two-piece have released the perfect send off with new album ‘Fearless Nature’. With a sold out crowd at Rough Trade, they embodied the intimacy of the introspective album, telling anecdotes on creating the album together as a final farewell.  The short set gave us ju