The Setlist & The Script

Category: Music

  • Live Review: THE WOMBATS, The Guest List – Arts Club, Liverpool, 15/9/23.

    First of all, let’s get the housekeeping out of the way. It’s good to have the Arts Club back on the Liverpool music scene. Closed in February of this year, the venue has been taken over by Manchester based Tokyo Industries, the team behind Gorilla and The Deaf Institute. Improvements…

  • Single Review: Crooked Ties – Enough isn’t Enough.

    Sheffield band Crooked Ties aren’t hanging about. The indie/alternative foursome formed at the the start of 2023; played their first gig in March; headlined their own hometown show at Network 3; and only last month released their debut single Don’t Let Reason Intervene. Not the type of band to let…

  • Live Review: San Quentin – The Moth Club, London,1/9/2023.

    San Quentin’s Debut EP “Feed the Ego” launch at the Moth Club, the first show in their upcoming list happening throughout September, kicked off with a bang. A band hailing from Southend-on-Sea, with a very local fanbase who managed to make it to London despite the train strikes on the…

  • Album Review: The Roadside Bandits Project – ‘The Siberian Candidate’.

    The Roadside Bandits Project is a vehicle for the endeavours of London based musician and producer Santi Arribas. It’s a vehicle packed with collaborators like Nell Bryden, Matt Johnson (Jamiroquai) and J.J. Sterry (Gang of Four). Listening to The Siberian Candidate it appears that the vehicle is travelling determinedly down…

  • Live Review: Birkenhead Live – THE LOTTERY WINNERS, ANDREW CUSHIN, The Kairos, and more – Future Yard 14/8/2023.

    I only got to taste the bread in the three show Birkenhead Live sandwich. I saw Skinny Living headline a few weeks ago, missed out on the meaty filling that was The Royston Club and Rianne Downey, but this last show of the project did more than enough to surfeit…

  • Single Review: CEDAR – Nightshift.

    The main raison d’etre of Halfway 2 Nowhere is to bring to your attention new and interesting music that may have slipped the attention of the mainstream media. With Nightshift, the intriguing debut release from Cedar, I think we are hitting our mark. Formed in 2022 Cedar are Patrick Murphy…

  • Live Review: BIRKENHEAD LIVE – Skinny Living, Murmurs, Jamie Wooding, and LASS. Future Yard, Birkenhead, 29/7/2023.

    This Saturday saw the first leg of a triple-header of events coming under the banner of ‘Birkenhead Live‘. If this was a taste of things to come then the good citizens of Wirral are in for a treat. Held on the sunny, newly refurbished outdoor stage at Future Yard the…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – Mil1ion.

    Yorkshire band Apollo Junction are big football fans (well they support Leeds United anyway). I know this from seeing their delight on social media when their music has been used on football related TV shows such as The Disney Channel’s ‘Welcome To Wrexham‘. The lyrics of their latest single Mil1ion…

  • Live Review: THE HEAVY NORTH, Cedar – The Arena, Gibraltar – 30/6/2023.

    It was a big weekend for Merseyside artists. But while the likes of Jamie Webster, The Coral and Red Rum Club were playing to excited crowds in front of a damp Liver Building, some of Liverpool’s other favourite son’s were causing a fuss 1,700 miles away in a slightly warmer…

  • Live Review: THE CORAL, Roy – Future Yard, Birkenhead – 8/5/2023.

    I’d normally start a review with a little bio of the band. But to be honest if you aren’t aware of The Coral, then I’m not entirely sure this is the blog for you. Formed in 1996, for many music fans The Coral helped to fill the chasm left by…

  • Live Review: Sound City 2023 – New Music Friday.

    Just like the ‘Glorious 12th’ is a landmark for those ‘huntin’ and fishin’ types, so the first Bank Holiday of May is a significant date in the gig-goers calendar. For many it represents the start of the Festival Season, and for some that means a trip to Liverpool for Sound…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – ‘History’.

    Hot on the heels of recent release By The River, Leeds Indie quintet Apollo Junction are back with a new song History. Despite the evidence in the above photo these boys certainly don’t let the grass grow beneath their feet. Apollo Junction are becoming known for their up-beat, anthemic, feel…

  • Album Review: First Class and Coach – ‘Neon Hip’.

    Before we get going I want to thank Cork band First Class and Coach for two things. Firstly for producing a rather excellent, darkly atmospheric alt-rock album in Neon Hip. Secondly for giving me the opportunity to highlight the work of one of my current favourite record labels – FIFA…

  • Single Review: Sleaze – ‘Daffodils’.

    South-East London Indie-pop quintet Sleaze describe their music as ‘Post pub kebab shop Glam-Rock’. If that description doesn’t pique your musical curiosity then I’m afraid there’s nothing down for you. Daffodils is the band’s second release and it’s a delicious slice of Indie-pop telling the tale of a boyfriend’s half-arsed…

  • Live Review: THE DREAM MACHINE, Bright Town, Idyllic – Jimmy’s Liverpool, 23/3/23.

    In preparation for the release of their eagerly anticipated debut album Thank God! It’s The Dream Machine, Wirral band The Dream Machine are embarking on a short three date residency at Liverpool venue Jimmy’s. On Thursday I went along to the middle episode of the trilogy to see what all…

  • Live Review: Rianne Downey. Oporto, Leeds. 19th March 2023.

    There are some points in an artist’s career when, if you’re lucky enough, you can look back upon and say ‘I was part of that’. I’ve got a feeling that this tour, and Sunday night in Leeds, will be one of those.  I’ve seen Rianne Downey live twice before; once with just…

  • Live Review: THE CLAUSE, FEVER, Wull – Jimmy’s, Liverpool -17/3/2023.

    If you’d entered a packed Jimmy’s just before The Clause came on stage you may have felt a mild sense of dislocation. Witnessing the plethora of Tricolour flags and Guinness top hats, and hearing the occasional shouts of ‘Yam Yam Army’ you’d have been forgiven for thinking that you’d stepped…

  • Live Review: PANIC SHACK, Shelf Lives – Jimmy’s, Liverpool, 8.2.2023.

    This was definitely an early contender for ‘Gig of the Year 2023’ as Welsh pop-punks Panic Shack combined with electronic rap-grunge duo Shelf Lives to systematically take apart a packed Jimmy’s basement. Respect to the organisers who limited the support to a singular act allowing Toronto/Northampton duo Sabrina and Jonny…

  • Single Review: Apollo Junction – ‘By The River’.

    Perhaps less dramatic than recent releases, but just as impactful and equally strong, the new song By The River from Leeds favourites Apollo Junction does not disappoint. Jamie Williamson’s vocals very much continue in a similar vein to previous releases – drawing you in through a clever, singular lilt before…

  • Live Review: JOE ASTLEY, Flechettes, The Facades – The Cavern, Liverpool – 22.1.2023.

    Such was the show of support for Joe Astley at The Cavern that it seemed like Liverpool’s famous Mathew Street had turned into Wigan’s King Street. The good townsfolk of Wigan had travelled en masse down the East Lancs Road to attend the launch event for Astley’s debut album Twenty-First…