Glorious: Elton John’s farewell tour, at the O2 Arena, reviewed
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
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
Years ago, I asked Robert Plant what he felt about the world’s love of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. He said he…
The crowd was the star of the show: Carly Rae Jepsen, at Alexandra Palace, reviewed
The other week I saw a T-shirt bearing the caption ‘For the girls, the gays and the theys’. And if…
Going Metric
Why aren’t Metric stars? In their native Canada, several of their albums have gone platinum, but the rest of the…
A brilliant show : The 1975, at the O2, reviewed
The great country singer George Jones was famed not just for his voice, but also for his drinking. Once, deprived…
Why I love Rod Stewart
Reader, I let you down. But I did so for the right reason: for love. On a night when all…
A generational pop talent: Rina Sawayama, at the O2 Academy Brixton, reviewed
The first time I saw Franz Ferdinand was at the sadly lost Astoria, just after the release of their first…
We should take Robbie Williams more seriously
Oh, nostalgia – so much better than it used to be! You’d never have guessed pop music was once the…
The death of the pop star
The definition of ‘pop star’ in the Collins English Dictionary is unambiguous: ‘A famous singer or musician who performs pop…
Incredibly his new songs were the best songs: Lyndsey Buckingham, at the London Palladium, reviewed
Lindsey Buckingham, at 72, still has cheekbones that cast shadows. He has the upright shock of hair, too, though now…
Joyous and sexy: Nathy Peluso, at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, reviewed
Few forms of music have colonised the world like metal and hip-hop. Wherever you go you will find these two…
Confounding and fantastic: 100 Gecs, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed
Let me introduce you to the two poles in pop and rock. One is marked by authenticity, musicianship, a certain…
Full of unexpected delights: Green Man Festival reviewed
One learns the strangest things at festivals. That, for instance, this summer has been a bit of a blackcurrant disaster…
A magnificent farewell: Stornoway, at Womad Festival, reviewed
The greatest pleasure of writing about pop music – even more than the free tickets and records, nice as they…
They have the weakest catalogue of any major act: Abba: Voyage reviewed
One of the biggest talking points in pop these past couple of years has been how successful old musicians have…
Harry Styles has entered his imperial phase – but his music still has no distinct identity
At the turn of this century, looking back on the late 1980s when the Pet Shop Boys could do no…
I’m not sure they ever reached a fourth chord: Spiritualized, at the Roundhouse, reviewed
Every so often, Jason Pierce drifts into focus. It happened at the end of the 1980s, when his then group…
The perfect pop star: Dua Lipa at the O2 Arena reviewed
Dua Lipa’s second album, Future Nostalgia, was released at the least promising moment possible: 27 March 2020, the day after…
I would be surprised if his next tour included arenas: Louis Tomlinson at Wembley reviewed
You don’t need to be a historian of pop to realise that having been part of a huge manufactured group…
He is now a family entertainer: Stormzy at the O2 Arena reviewed
Stormzy occupies a curious place in British pop culture right now. He’s the darling of liberals for all his good…
Felt like being caught on the moors in a storm: Keeley Forsyth, at the Barbican, reviewed
It took a moment to realise Keeley Forsyth was there. There were already three musicians, faint figures on a dark…
The buzz band of 2022 sound like they're from 1982: Yard Act, at Village Underground reviewed
One of the curiosities of modern pop’s landscape is that no one knows any longer how to measure success. An…
One of the most exciting hours I’ve spent in ages: Turnstile at O2 Forum Kentish Town
Even leaving aside its origins as prison slang, punk has always meant different things on either side of the Atlantic.…
