Live Reviews

Travis Scott’s futuristic WOO HAH! Festival show is a trippy spectacle – but enough with the autotune

Travis Scott has a magic formula for writing the perfect hook, but more than that, his live shows are spectacular beyond words, and his...

The Twilight Sad at Mad Cool 2019: more like group primal scream therapy than ‘entertainment’

There are some bands who have their stage moves choreographed like a ballet and banter scripted like a pantomime. The Twilight Sad are no...

Pop treasure Robyn brought Mad Cool 2019 to a sophisticated close (except when she snogged herself)

The music of pop’s heartbreak Laurette Robyn is many things – emotionally savage, honeyed and unbelievably good fun to dance to – but you...

Stormzy’s victory lap at WOO HAH! Festival proves instincts win every time

Stormzy has always been box office - even before his genre-defining Glastonbury moment a couple of weeks ago. Garnering unbelievable levels of attention for...

The cult of The National sucks in every man, woman and insect at Mad Cool 2019

We’re only a few bars into The National’s opener ‘You Had Your Soul With You’ at Mad Cool 2019 as frontman Matt Berninger’s voice...

Play nice! Performing in an enormous toy box, Smashing Pumpkins rolled out the hits at Mad Cool 2019

Smashing Pumpkins look like they’re playing inside of an enormous toy box. Behind the band tower three massive doll-like figures, Victorian-era gothic faux wooden...

Bob Dylan & Neil Young in London: two legends doing whatever the hell they like

You have to admire both Bob Dylan and Nell Young for spending the past 50 odd years doing exactly what the hell they want....

Bon Iver at Mad Cool: a fine end to the ‘22, A Million’ era, but they “don’t know how” to play the new songs

We’re coming to the end of Bon Iver’s ‘22, A Million’ era. Justin Vernon et al’s brilliant, glitchy third album was released almost two...

Iggy Pop at Mad Cool: 50 years on, rock ’n’ roll’s great survivor is still the most thrilling performer

In the summer of 1969, everything changed. In June, the Stonewall Riots in New York kickstarted the LGBTQ+ rights movement. In July, man set...

Noel Gallagher shows Mad Cool how to be a Rock ‘N’ Troll Star

“Any Oasis fans here?” Noel Gallagher drily asks the midnight Mad Cool crowd. “Well,” he continues, “this one’s for you” – before launching into...
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