Factory Records Day: Factory - A Guide by John Robb
Or 'The Factory Experience' by Manchester-based journalist and leader of punk-rock troop Gold Blade, Mr John Robb.»
Articles
jrobb has written the following articles:
Manchester Missives from the Rock 'n' Roll Frontline
Writer and Goldblade frontman John Robb straps a DiS-shaped saddle atop his mare of choice and heads into Manchester's live music scene in search of the rock and the roll»
Puressence, Adom at Manchester Life Cafe, Thu 14 Aug
Packed. Hot. Here's the other side of Manchester. The east side. The forgotten side. Whilst the media celebrates the rise of 'Gloomchester' with its honoured Northern Quarter buddies- Puressence are still out there. There are no 'faces' in the crowd tonight. This is 100 per cent locals. The sort of p»
Arthur Lee at London Royal Festival Hall, Wed 15 Jan
Arthur Lee is a fucking legend. The prime mover behind late sixties LA crew Love he perfected that dark psychedelic pop sound that has been an influence on so many bands over the past quarter of a century that I could clog up this review yakking on about them. Love's music, ostensibly pretty, »
John Squire at Manchester Ritz Ballroom, Tue 04 Feb
These are desperate times. Every politician in the world is cranking up the lie machine. Scum weapons seem to be everywhere and there is some dumb muscle flexing going on. "Gimme some truth" as someone once last sang. So John Squire's stencilled 'Screw The Government' shirt»
Foreign Legion - S/T
This is a neat rush of old school melodic punk rock from long term south Wales punk rock crew. With a much more British twist in their sound than the current toon charged American spuzz that dominates the market, Foreign Legion are veterans of the south wales punk rock scene with roots that go right back to the »
Rai Ko Ris - Rai Ko Ris
Wanna hear what's going down in Katmandu? Then look no further than Rai Ko Ris, Nepal's prime purveyors of full on hardcore punk rock. Championing the tiny local scene in the strife torn country in the Himalayan foothills the band are at the epicentre of the nation¹s tiny hardcore scene. Their album is a»
Jackie O at Manchester Jabez Clegg, Fri 20 Dec
Jackie O have been around for ages. And yet even though they seem to play all the time they always kick ass live. Recently they have been ‘discovered’ by London media types and finally got a spot of deserved attention. First time I saw them I was walking down Oldham Street a few years ago and heard »
The Stranglers at Manchester Academy 2 (formerly MDH), Sun 17 Nov
Bikers, punks, crusties, even some nu metal kidz - all the outsiders are here tonight, crammed tight into a sweat stained hall to pay homage to perhaps the most undervalued band in British pop history.
Outside there are several punters who can’t get in to see a band that, even into their thirtieth year of ex»
Ben Myers - American Heretics
Ben Myers is one of our best rock n roll writers. Since he moved down from the North East Ben has become one of the main writers on Kerrang and many other magazines. He writes about rock n roll with fannish enthusiasm and a rare idealism. An innate understanding of just what makes rock music tick that is a»
Elvis Costello at Manchester Apollo, Tue 10 Sep
Fuck! Elvis lives. Making middle age seem like a healthy proposition this Elvis is as wired and fantastic as ever- mule whipping a stripped down mean as fuck band into splenetic tight power garage rock riffola. The sole survivor of punk's parallel Stiff records power pop scene that also featured Ian Dury and Nic»
Dead Kennedys at Blackpool Winter Gardens, Wed 21 Aug
It really shouldn’t be this good.
There should be a law against this kind of thing. But the fierce racket on the stage belongs to a reconstituted Dead Kennedys. And there is something missing.
No Jello Biafra. One of the mainmen of punk rock - the charismatic Biafra fell out with his ex colleagues in»
SOiL at Manchester Academy 2 (formerly MDH), Wed 26 Jun
Chicago. Maybe its something about coming from an industrial heartland but Chicago based bands seemed to have this machine like grind down to a art. There is a cool history in the city of balancing hard rock with something meaner and more linear, Shellac have honed it down brilliantly in whatever universe they »