Michael Hann

Spellbinding performance of a career-defining record: Corinne Rae Bailey, at Ladbroke Hall, reviewed

4 November 2023 9:00 am

You won’t see two more contrasting shows this year than Corinne Bailey Rae performing her album Black Rainbows and Brian…

Virgin on the astonishing: Madonna, at The O2, reviewed

21 October 2023 9:00 am

When I was a kid listening obsessively to AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, I despaired of music writers.…

An awfully long night for a band without any bangers: The National, at Alexandra Palace, reviewed

7 October 2023 9:00 am

Over the past few years, the National have become the most important band in modern rock music. The strange thing…

If you can’t get something out of the songs of Shania Twain, you’re a lost cause

23 September 2023 9:00 am

Pop critics routinely make the mistake of assuming the most important acts are the ones copied by the groups they…

The Strokes are always terrible – why do I keep going back to see them?

9 September 2023 9:00 am

Quite when the concept of coolness became a thing is uncertain, even to etymologists. As early as 1884, an academic…

It was midnight in a field in Wales and I was lying face down in six inches of mud: Green Man Festival reviewed

26 August 2023 9:00 am

I love Green Man. The smallish festival is the second most beautiful site I’ve ever visited (after G Fest, which…

Is it all an elaborate practical joke? Mac DeMarco, at Hackney Empire, reviewed

12 August 2023 9:00 am

It’s not just who our pop heroes are that marks the passing of the generations; it’s how those heroes present…

A giddy delight: Regina Spektor, at the Royal Festival Hall reviewed

29 July 2023 9:00 am

We’ll get on to the brilliance of Regina Spektor in a moment. But first a question: why are pop music…

Intoxicating: Bruce Springsteen, at BST Hyde Park, reviewed

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Seven years ago, I asked Bruce Springsteen what he meant when he talked of the covenant between himself and his…

Why aren’t Spoon filling stadiums?

1 July 2023 9:00 am

Here’s a mystery for you. Why were Spoon, one of the most dynamic, sharpest rock bands in the world, playing…

Brilliantly unhinged: Grace Jones, at Hampton Court Palace, reviewed

17 June 2023 9:00 am

Some artists need flash bombs to make an impression on stage. Some need giant screens. Some need to run around…

One of the most tuneless, vapid, dismaying things I’ve ever seen: Mötley Crüe, at Bramall Lane, reviewed

3 June 2023 9:00 am

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything worse than Mötley Crüe in Sheffield. Nothing more tuneless, empty, vapid and dismaying.…

In praise of goths – the most enduring of pop subcultures

27 May 2023 9:00 am

Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures

The new Pogues: The Mary Wallopers, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed

20 May 2023 9:00 am

I was listening the other week to a solo album by an ageing rock guitarist, once terrifically famous. It was…

A phenomenally exciting new band: The Last Dinner Party, at Camden Assembly, reviewed

6 May 2023 9:00 am

A user’s guide to how pop music works in the 21st century. Step one: you see a great new band.…

Glorious: Elton John’s farewell tour, at the O2 Arena, reviewed

22 April 2023 9:00 am

Elton John has now been retiring for nearly five years. The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour began in Allentown, Pennsylvania,…

Pretty, charming and largely unremarkable: Devonte Hynes & the LSO reviewed

25 March 2023 9:00 am

Think of pop music as being like the parable of the sower. These days the seed falling on stony ground…

Full of love: Butler, Blake and Grant, at the Union Chapel, reviewed

11 March 2023 9:00 am

Years ago, I asked Robert Plant what he felt about the world’s love of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. He said he…