This evening just did not work. From start to finish, mistakes littered the show’s entirety.

If you want a week in the sun, away from the pilled up Eastern European destinations, Optimus Alive must be the choice.

As the Beach Boys celebrate their 50th anniversary tour, trawling the length and breadth of America and Europe off the back of their 30th studio album, one must hark back to pop music’s golden age. The Beach Boys were once part of one of pop music’s most notorious duels, in constant competition with four mop-haired […]

With this being the last issue of The Mancunion for this academic year, Tom Hickman takes a look at some of the top athletes from in and around Manchester who are looking to set the world alight at the 30th Olympiad.

ISSL Review

With only six games to go in the npower Championship the conundrum of three into two is becoming more and more apparent, as the race at the top of the table reaches its tumultuous conclusion. Behind the runaway triumvirate had sat a congestion of four teams all on 63 points, and a substantial number more […]

Can McIlroy win the Masters?

It’s that time of year again.

This is more than just glorified lift music. Air are dancing down an avenue of great promise.

The release of The Chemical Brothers’ debut film proves the music industry can seem more alive than you think.

When a band like The Courteeners is able to sell out the MEN Arena, there must be a clear dearth of anything remotely listenable coming out of the city.

If the thought of who the coolest man on the planet is has ever crossed your mind, step this way and let Tom Hickman help you out.

Gone are the gender bending days of Culture Club. You’ve just got to wear a suit of lamb chops and you’re halfway to number one.

The decisive nail in the coffin of independent record stores?

The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Elbow come under Tom Hickman’s scrutiny in the first of our summer festival highlights.

After 2008’s insanely popular In Ghost Colours, Cut Copy were always going to struggle to follow up with an album that packed the same punch and ability to fill the dance floor. The Australian quartet’s third instalment provides us with a more serene landscape in which, whilst still maintaining the summertime bounce and sunshine appeal of old, also offers a more experimental insight into the path the band may now take. After due consideration, this path appears one I do not want to hear much more from.

As the show started, and timid guitars gathered together to create a melancholic atmosphere, a fellow spectator echoed my thoughts and turned to ask: “Is this Wolf People?” Yet undeniably, it was. This minimal, almost shy entrance was immediately juxtaposed by the introduction of the anthemic ‘Silbury Sands’ and a raw, guitar-based aggression was installed. At times I found myself returning to the heavy rock heaven of the early ‘70s and, dare I say it, a slight tinge of Led Zeppelin was evident in certain moments, as towering guitar riffs and booming bass lines resonated throughout the jam-packed Deaf Institute.