sat 02/08/2025

New Music Reviews

David Byrne, Eventim Apollo review - twice in a lifetime?

Peter Culshaw

Forgive the sports metaphor, but David Byrne knocked this one out of the park.

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The Rolling Stones, Twickenham Stadium review - until the next goodbye?

Tim Cumming

Eel Pie, the tiny eyot in the Thames, is not too a long walk from Twickenham stadium – within hollering distance, almost, if you had that kind of voice. And if anywhere could lay claim to being the nursery that provided the perfect growing conditions for The Rolling Stones, then Eel Pie and The Crawdaddy in Richmond would be it.

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Scorpions/ Megadeth, O2 Arena review - by turns lavish, silly and exhilarating

Russ Coffey

Scorpions stepped on stage wearing leather jackets and shades, and launched straight into "Going Out With a Bang". For a band who, only a few short years ago, were tempted by retirement, the song was a statement of intent. "No sign of slowing down," went the words. And boy did they mean it.

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Paloma Faith, Bedgebury Pinetum review - positive pop in a woodland setting

Katie Colombus

There is a real festival ambience to this quintessentially English field-gig, set amidst the stunning forests of Bedgebury Pinetum as part of the Forestry Commission’s Forest Live concert series. Groups of 40-something chino-clad daahhlings lay out their Joules picnic blankets and luxury camping chairs as visions of the local Waitrose being positively looted for champers and strawbs dance in my mind.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: The Rose Garden

Kieron Tyler

The Rose Garden didn’t linger in the bright lights but for those inclined towards harmony pop their name resonates due to the quality of their sole album rather than memories of them as a one-hit-wonder.

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CD: Soulwax - Essential

Owen Richards

It took Soulwax 12 years to release 2017’s From Deewee, a triumphant one take clash of live drums and electronic wizardry. It’s taken less than 12 months for their follow-up; at their current rate, we can expect another release sometime next weekend. As described in an opening voice-over, this is an “essential mix” equivalent to a mixtape, originally created for a BBC Radio 1 session.

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theartsdesk at Download Festival 2018: three days of metal mayhem

theartsdesk

Since Glastonbury lies fallow this year, Download is the biggest British green field festival of the summer. 100,000 souls gathered to celebrate the canon of metal on the land around Donington Park racing circuit.

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Reissue CDs Weekly: Gene Clark

Kieron Tyler

“Past My Door” weaves together a series of leitmotifs. Beginning as a downbeat, mid-tempo shuffle, it then shifts into a staccato passage after which the tempo picks up before a more pacey section. Next, the character established at the song’s introduction returns. Over four-minutes 20 seconds, the different approaches are supported by oblique lyrics which include the memorable phrase “too late, cries the melting snowman".

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Taylor Swift, Etihad Stadium, Manchester review - pop perfection on epic scale

Lisa-Marie Ferla

The line that best summed up the European opening night of Taylor Swift’s latest tour had nothing to do with snakes, or tattered reputations, or tabloid melodrama. It came, in fact, from opening act Charli XCX, who chose the intro to cotton-candy sound-of-last-summer “Boys” to shout out the “three incredible, badass women” who’d take turns sharing the stage tonight.

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Hidden Door Festival, Edinburgh - transforming spaces

Miranda Heggie

In just five years, what the team behind Hidden Door Festival has achieved is quite remarkable.

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