Gig plans / Live reviews

2026!

• ESNS (Eurosonic) Festival, Groningen, 14-17 January [Report for CLASH here]

• Coach Party, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 12 February [Review for LeftLion here]

• Fright Years, The Victoria, London, 24 February [Interview and live report here]

• Holly Humberstone, The Level, Nottingham, 21 March [Review for LeftLion here]

• Sharpe Festival, Bratislava, 24-26 April [Report for CLASH here]

• Focus Wales, Wrexham, 7-9 May

• India Arkin, The Grove, Nottingham, 17 June - A Music Observer gig! Tickets here

• Gate To Southwell Festival, Nottinghamshire, 3-4 July

• Splendour Festival, Nottingham, 18-19 July

• Deer Shed Festival, Thirsk, 24-26 July

• YNOT Festival, 30 July-2 August

What I did in 2025

• Lizzie Esau, Billy Bootlegger’s, Nottingham, 1 February [Review by Gemma Cockrell for LeftLion]

• Girl Scout, The Bodega, Nottingham, 11 February [My review for LeftLion]

• Katherine Priddy, Leicester, 7 March [My review for MIL]

• Nieve Ella, KOKO, London, 12 March [My review for CLASH]

• Thea Gilmore, Leicester, 13 March [My review for MIL]

• Better Joy, The Old Blue Last, London, 3 April [Observations here]

• Bottlemoth (supporting China Bears), The Grace, London, 9 April [Observations here]

• Cliffords, The Bodega, Nottingham, 16 April [Review by Gemma Cockrell for LeftLion]

• Hachiku, The Victoria, London, 14 May

• Get Together Festival, Sheffield, 17 May [My review for CLASH]

• Gracie Abrams, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, 25 June (rescheduled) [My review for LeftLion]

• Olivia Rodrigo +++, BST Hyde Park, London, 27 June [My review for CLASH]

• Gate To Southwell Festival, Nottinghamshire, 4 July [My review for LeftLion]

• Maya Lakhani, 93 Feet East, London, 10 July

• Splendour Festival, Nottingham, 19-20 July [LeftLion / my review of Saturday]

• Deer Shed Festival, Yorkshire, 25-28 July [My review for CLASH]

• Y Not Festival, Derbyshire, 1-2 August [My review for CLASH]

• Ella Clayton, Dalston Curve Garden, London, 19 August [My review here]

• Nieve Ella, The Bodega, Nottingham, 23 August [My review for LeftLion]

• Lewis Capaldi, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, 26 September [My review for LeftLion]

• Ellur, The Bodega, Nottingham, 3 October [My review for LeftLion]

• Somebody’s Child, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 20 October [My review for LeftLion]

• Sigrid, Metronome, Nottingham, 23 October [My review for LeftLion]

• Adwaith, 100 Club, London, 30 October [My review here]

• English Teacher, The Roundhouse, London, 26 November (A great show - thank you to Supercat PR! No write-up for this one)

• Hazlett, Union Chapel, London, 9 December (A sublime evening of the kind of musical beauty that demands attention and respect - thank you to Measure PR! No write-up for this one)

Music heard, and observed is mostly free to read (except content older than one month). But if you enjoyed this post, you could donate a coffee/gig ticket/etc. or upgrade to a paid subscription.

What I did in 2024

• Fabio & Grooverider, Rock City, Nottingham, 20 January (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• New Acoustics with Michael Vickers, Upstairs at The Western, Leicester, 2 February (for MIL) [Review on MIL here]

• Katherine Priddy, Rough Trade, Nottingham, 20 February (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Baby Queen, Lafayette, London, 21 February [Observations here]

• Lonely Ghxst, The Water Rats, London, 5 March

• Holly Humberstone, O2 Academy, Leicester, 12 March [Observationsq here]

• Freya Beer + Tizane, The Camden Assembly, London, 15 March [Observations here]

• Apollo Junction + Grace Calver, The Camden Assembly, 11 April

• SPRINTS + Venus Grrrls, The Bodega, Nottingham, 13 April (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Plasticine, Signature Brew Haggerston, London, 17 April [Observations here]

• Record Store Day 2024, Nottingham, 20 April [No write up but great photos on LeftLion here]

• Carpark + Devon + Sister, Moth Club, London, 26 April [Observations here]

• EEVAH + DB Jones, The Met Lounge, Peterborough, 27 April [Observations here]

• Francis of Delirium + Gia Ford + Dog Race, Oslo, London, 14 May [Observations here and my interview for CLASH is here]

• Hannah Grae, The Grace, London, 22 May [Observations here]

• Dot To Dot Festival, Nottingham, 26 May (for LeftLion) [Full write-up here]

• Jodie Nicholson, The Lower Third, London, 5 June

• Gate To Southwell Festival, near Nottingham, 6 July (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Foolhardy Folk Festival, Nottingham, 25 August (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Dolores Forever, Rough Trade East, London, 1 October [Observations here]

• Bess Atwell, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 4 October (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Alexandra Leaving, Signature Brew Haggerston, London, 10 October

• Twisterella Festival, Middlesbrough, 12 October (for CLASH) [Write up on CLASH here]

• Dolores Forever, Village Underground, London, 5 November Postponed - new date TBC

• The Felice Brothers, Electric Ballroom, London, 7 November [Observations here]

• King Creosote, International Arts Centre, Leicester, 20 November (for MIL) [Review on MIL here]

• Hazlett, Lafayette, London, 21 November

• Blue Violet, Metronome, Nottingham, 27 Nottingham (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• renforshort, The Lower Third, London, 29 November (for CLASH) [CLASH profile here]

• Thea Gilmore, Metronome, Nottingham, 4 December (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

What I did in 2023

• Lizzie Esau / George O’Hanlon + Drew Thomas, Nottingham, 1 February [Interview and observations here]

• Alela Diane, London, 2 February [Observations here]

• Charity Stow, Stamford, 3 February

• Jenny Colquitt, Leicester, 22 February [Interview and observations here]

• The Candle Thieves + Ross Stewart, Stamford, 10 March [Observations here]

• The Slow Readers Club, London, 14 March (for The Songbird) [Review on SongbirdHQ here]

• Record Store Day 2023, Rough Trade, Nottingham, 22 April [Observations here] [Partial review on LeftLion here]

• Guy Garvey + Katherine Priddy (part of In The Round Festival), London, 25 April (for The Songbird) [Review on SongbirdHQ here]

• CHVRCHES, Nottingham, 9 June (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Castle Bytham Music Festival, Lincolnshire, 24-25 June

• Barn on the Farm, 30 June-2 July 🤩 [Full write up here and here are photos from Saturday and Sunday]

• Newark Hustle, Nottinghamshire, 26 August

• Durand Jones + Nia Wyn, London, 29 August [Observations here]

• Cinder Well, Nottingham, 14 September (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Dictator, London, 22 September [Observations here]

• The Joy Formidable, Nottingham, 1 October (rescheduled from March) (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Holly Humberstone, Nottingham, 3 October (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Somebody's Child + Lizzie Esau, London, 11 October

• IDLES, London, 17 October (secret gig) [Observations here]

• Chloe Lorentzen, Stamford, 21 October [Observations here]

• Charity Stow, Stamford, 28 October

• Fizz, Nottingham, 29 October (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Bleach Lab + She’s In Parties, Nottingham, 7 November (for LeftLion) [Review on LeftLion here]

• Soda Blonde, London, 22 November (for The Songbird) [Review on SongbirdHQ here]

• Charlotte Carpenter, Leicester, 24 November (for Music in Leicester) [Review for MIL here]

What I did in 2022

• Mark Stevens + Division + Collars + You & I, Peterborough, 20 January

• The Howl and the Hum, Leicester, 21 January [Interview with band here]

• FNL Presents: Moonlight Parade + The Valla + Maya Lakhani + Perry Manning, London, 28 January (Unable to attend due to other commitments 😒)

• Charity Stow, Stamford, 30 January (Unable to attend due to other commitments 😒)

• Chloe Lorentzen + Mali Faraz, Bourne, 19 February [Observations here]

• Wolf Alice, Norwich, 26 February (rescheduled from 10 January) [Observations here]

• Dry Cleaning, Nottingham, 27 February [Observations here]

• Dutch Mustard + Lemondaze + Alex Jayne, London, 2 March [Observations here]

• BSWAID, Birmingham, 6 March [Some photos here]

• Wet Leg, Birmingham, 23 April (Unable to attend due to other commitments 😒)

• Music Observer presents: Emma Mae + JJ Lovegrove + Greysha + Emily Carr, Leicester, 25 April [Observations here]

• The Collective Band + Death Of The High Street + Comprehend, Stamford, 29 April

• Neck of the Woods Festival, Norwich, 29 May [Observations on SongbirdHQ here]

• William the Conqueror, Leicester, 13 June (rescheduled from March) [Observations here]

• Castle Bytham Music Festival, Lincolnshire, 18-19 June

• Folkingham Folk Festival, Lincolnshire, 9 July

• Cambridge Folk Festival, 28 - 31 July [Observations here]

What I did in 2021

• Joe, Chloe & Mark - The Songwriters, Peterborough, 11 June [Observations here]

• Mark Morriss + Mark Stevens + Richard Rodriguez, Peterborough, 19 June

• Folk by the Oak festival, Hertfordshire, 18 July [Observations here]

• Charity Stow + Chloe Lorentzen + Nath Wilson, Stamford, 8 August

• Little Comets + The Tenters + Chloe Lorentzen, Peterborough, 19 September [Observations here]

• Twisterella Festival, Middlesbrough, 9 October [Observations here]

• The Rapscallions + Chloe Lorentzen, Stamford, 15 October

• Alice Robbins + Greysha, Leicester, 31 October [Observations here]

• Lanterns on the Lake + Hilang Child, Nottingham, 21 November [Observations here]

• Peggy Sue, Coventry, 24 November [Observations here]

• Oliver Beardmore + The Purple Shades + Greysha, Birmingham, 26 November

• Black Foxxes + Jools, London, 1 December [Observations here]

• Ozric Tentacles + Silas & Saski, Leicester, 7 December [Observations here]

My wishlist

• Bleach Lab ✅

• Blue Violet ✅

• Chloe Qisha

• CHVRCHES ✅

• Dictator ✅ x2

• Dolores Forever✅

• English Teacher✅ x2

• First Aid Kit

• The Felice Brothers✅

• Francis of Delirium ✅

• Fright Years ✅

• Gracie Abrams ✅

• Girl Scout ✅ x2

• Hannah Grae ✅

• Holly Humberstone ✅ x4

• Hurray for the Riff Raff ✅

• IDLES ✅

• Jake Xerxes Fussell

• The Joy Formidable ✅

• NewDad

• Nova Twins

• Olivia Rodrigo ✅

• Somebody’s Child ✅

• Soot Sprite

• SPRINTS ✅

• Swim School ✅

• Wet Leg ✅

• The Wind and the Wave

• Wolf Alice ✅