Spellbinding performance of a career-defining record: Corinne Rae Bailey, at Ladbroke Hall, reviewed
You won’t see two more contrasting shows this year than Corinne Bailey Rae performing her album Black Rainbows and Brian…
Virgin on the astonishing: Madonna, at The O2, reviewed
When I was a kid listening obsessively to AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, I despaired of music writers.…
An awfully long night for a band without any bangers: The National, at Alexandra Palace, reviewed
Over the past few years, the National have become the most important band in modern rock music. The strange thing…
If you can’t get something out of the songs of Shania Twain, you’re a lost cause
Pop critics routinely make the mistake of assuming the most important acts are the ones copied by the groups they…
The Strokes are always terrible – why do I keep going back to see them?
Quite when the concept of coolness became a thing is uncertain, even to etymologists. As early as 1884, an academic…
It was midnight in a field in Wales and I was lying face down in six inches of mud: Green Man Festival reviewed
I love Green Man. The smallish festival is the second most beautiful site I’ve ever visited (after G Fest, which…
Is it all an elaborate practical joke? Mac DeMarco, at Hackney Empire, reviewed
It’s not just who our pop heroes are that marks the passing of the generations; it’s how those heroes present…
A giddy delight: Regina Spektor, at the Royal Festival Hall reviewed
We’ll get on to the brilliance of Regina Spektor in a moment. But first a question: why are pop music…
Intoxicating: Bruce Springsteen, at BST Hyde Park, reviewed
Seven years ago, I asked Bruce Springsteen what he meant when he talked of the covenant between himself and his…
Why aren’t Spoon filling stadiums?
Here’s a mystery for you. Why were Spoon, one of the most dynamic, sharpest rock bands in the world, playing…
Brilliantly unhinged: Grace Jones, at Hampton Court Palace, reviewed
Some artists need flash bombs to make an impression on stage. Some need giant screens. Some need to run around…
One of the most tuneless, vapid, dismaying things I’ve ever seen: Mötley Crüe, at Bramall Lane, reviewed
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything worse than Mötley Crüe in Sheffield. Nothing more tuneless, empty, vapid and dismaying.…
In praise of goths – the most enduring of pop subcultures
Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures
The new Pogues: The Mary Wallopers, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed
I was listening the other week to a solo album by an ageing rock guitarist, once terrifically famous. It was…
A phenomenally exciting new band: The Last Dinner Party, at Camden Assembly, reviewed
A user’s guide to how pop music works in the 21st century. Step one: you see a great new band.…
Glorious: Elton John’s farewell tour, at the O2 Arena, reviewed
Elton John has now been retiring for nearly five years. The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour began in Allentown, Pennsylvania,…
Pretty, charming and largely unremarkable: Devonte Hynes & the LSO reviewed
Think of pop music as being like the parable of the sower. These days the seed falling on stony ground…
Full of love: Butler, Blake and Grant, at the Union Chapel, reviewed
Years ago, I asked Robert Plant what he felt about the world’s love of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. He said he…
The crowd was the star of the show: Carly Rae Jepsen, at Alexandra Palace, reviewed
The other week I saw a T-shirt bearing the caption ‘For the girls, the gays and the theys’. And if…
Going Metric
Why aren’t Metric stars? In their native Canada, several of their albums have gone platinum, but the rest of the…
A brilliant show : The 1975, at the O2, reviewed
The great country singer George Jones was famed not just for his voice, but also for his drinking. Once, deprived…
Why I love Rod Stewart
Reader, I let you down. But I did so for the right reason: for love. On a night when all…
