thu 02/10/2025

New Music Reviews

Neneh Cherry, Brighton Festival 2019 review – beloved bohemian

Nick Hasted

Neneh Cherry’s matchless bohemian life has perversely secured her pop position. The crowd tonight is maybe three-quarters female, and as unconcerned by a setlist almost wholly drawn from new album Broken Politics as Cherry is by the long lacuna in what you could hardly call a career.

Read more...

Peter Perrett, Concorde 2, Brighton review - it’s a family affair for the former Only One

Guy Oddy

It’s been a couple of years since Peter Perrett, the former frontman and creative force behind the much loved but commercially under-performing Only Ones decided that he’d had enough of being a mere legend and got back into the musical ring.

Read more...

Manic Street Preachers, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - 20th anniversary tour lets underrated songs shine

Lisa-Marie Ferla

Nothing brings home the difference between sequencing an album and sequencing a live show like going to see a classic album played in its entirety.

Read more...

Mariah Carey, Royal Albert Hall review – fervent worshippers in Mariah-heaven

Sebastian Scotney

The sheer scale of the Mariah Carey phenomenon is truly astounding. Since the release of her first album in 1990, she has now clocked up worldwide album sales of over 200 million, and had 18 US Number One singles. Also – and far less frequently mentioned – she is actually third in the list of songwriters with the most chart-topping singles, and sixth in the list of producers.

Read more...

The Strokes, All Points East Festival review - let them entertain you

Chris Harvey

Back in 2001, after the release of their debut album This Is It, The Strokes weren’t just the most fashionable band in the world, they were also regarded as the group that could “save rock”. That was asking quite a lot.

Read more...

Reissue CDs Weekly: Bernard Herrmann

Kieron Tyler

Debates about whether 1964’s Marnie presaged Alfred Hitchcock’s downslide as a force will run and run.

Read more...

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Cardiff Castle review - wonder within castle walls

Owen Richards

Blessed with a red sunset and an adoring crowd, Noel Gallagher brought life to the ruins of Cardiff Castle. With support from fellow 90s alumnus Gaz Coombes, and Wales’s next-gen prodigies Boy Azooga and Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, the evening provided a winning mini-festival affair.

Read more...

Spice Girls, Croke Park, Dublin review - uncomplicated fun

Veronica Lee

They’re back and they’re looking and sounding good – and Spice Girls mania took over Dublin’s city centre for several hours before their concert yesterday. Hotels were booked out, every other woman I passed in the street was wearing a Spice Girls T-shirt or hat, and by mid-afternoon the whole city appeared to be moving as one towards Croke Park. 

Read more...

The Waterboys, Roundhouse review - energetic delights

Liz Thomson

Was it imagination or did The Waterboys’ audience at London’s Roundhouse, invited to sing along to “The Nearest Thing to Hip”, really sing extra-loud and lustily on the line “in this shithole”?

Read more...

Oh Sees, Tramshed, Cardiff review - breakneck wig outs

Owen Richards

Oh Sees have long been touted of as the perfect festival band. Their racuous, high-tempo rock'n'roll always riles up the drunken swathes, even if no-one recognises the song. However, going to a headline show is a different prospect - these swathes are the loyalists, not ready to accept anything less than carnage.

Read more...

Pages

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
The Importance of Being Earnest, Noël Coward Theatre review...

Star casting has, since the pandemic, done much to restore the fortunes of commercial theatre. And, when they can pull off a similar deal, the...

Justin Lewis: Into the Groove review - fun and fact-filled t...

Into the Groove is Justin Lewis’s follow-up to 2023’s Don’t Stop the Music, in which he traced 40 years of pop history by...

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight review - vivid...

Fans of Alexandra Fuller’s fine memoir of her childhood in Africa may be wary of this film adaptation by the actress Embeth Davidtz,...

Waylon Jenning’s 'Songbird' raises this country gr...

This is quite a tale: Shooter, son of Waylon Jennings, discovers a tranche of his father’s personal multitrack tapes from the...

Lady Gaga, The Mayhem Ball, O2 review - epic, eye-boggling a...

The backscreens pop alive. A wall of photographer’s flashguns. On cyberpunk crutches, Lady Gaga stumbles jerkily towards us. She sings her...

Get Down Tonight, Charing Cross Theatre review - glitz and h...

In a fair few bars around the world tonight, bands will be playing “That’s The Way (I Like It)”, “Give It Up” and so many more of...

Nick Helm, Touring review - brash comic shows his vulnerable...

Comedy is strange old thing; it’s supposed to be funny ha-ha, but the laughs can often come from a dark place, as evidenced by Nick...

Slovenian avant-folk outfit Širom’s 'In the Wind of Nig...

The 16-minute album opener “Between the Fingers the Drops of Tomorrow's Dawn” coalesces at the 12-minute point, when clattering percussion meshes...

One Battle After Another review - Paul Thomas Anderson satir...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s frantic One Battle After Another is a storm warning for a fascist America and both a lament and a rallying call...