Albert Hall, ManchesterWith quiff, microphone twirls and in-ear monitors resembling hearing aids, 55-year-old Astley makes an an eerily good MorrisseyThe idea of the 80s Stock, Aitken and Waterman hitmaker “performing the songs of the Smiths” with Stoc…
Richard H Kirk obituary
Experimental electronic musician and founding member of the Sheffield-based band Cabaret VoltaireRichard H Kirk, who has died aged 65, was a key figure in the development of British electronic and DIY music, from his co-founding of the Sheffield-based …
Fontaines DC review – sparks fly for once-in-a-generation post-punk poets
University of LiverpoolThe Dubliners burst brilliantly back on stage with literary-hearted rock that’s up there with the Smiths or the PoguesThe pandemic meant Fontaines DC never got to tour 2020’s bleak masterpiece A Hero’s Death, which – following 20…
Nigel Kennedy on his Classic FM fight: ‘Hendrix is like Beethoven, Vivaldi is more Des O’Connor’
Fresh from a bust-up with ‘Jurassic FM’ over playing Hendrix, the violinist talks about musical snobbery, going on strike and his lifelong regret at turning Duke Ellington downThroughout his career, Nigel Kennedy has had run-ins with what he calls the …
Floppy mohicans and pre-race cider: Gary Devine, the punk fell runner
The Leeds punk rocker lived a double life, interspersing band rehearsals and punk gigs with twice-daily runs, despite the occasional arrest and moshpit injury. A new book tells his storyWhen Gary Devine was picked to run for England, the manager took o…
‘It was the happiest time’: The Beach Boys on their strange second coming
They helped define the 60s, but were hopelessly uncool as the 70s began – and Brian Wilson was unravelling. The band discuss the masterpieces they made against the oddsIn the 1960s, the Beach Boys staked their claim as the US’s most popular band, as th…