Just before Christmas I ventured to Manchester as a christmas present from the Mr. I took  my aunty, who'd come down for the festive season, to her first gig, a Liam Fray acoustic gig. What a treat. For those of you who don't know, Liam Fray fronts The Courteeners, a Manchester indie band with a huge following and massive tunes, the kind you wanna be swigging cider to at a festival in the beaming sunshine.

However, It wasn't sunny, we weren't at a festival, it was dark, freezing, two days before Christmas and we were legging it to the coach station after a breakdown on the Merseyrail train line (lovingly known as Miseryrail.) The journey was a memorable one, convinced we were about to miss the coach as we saw it reversing, my aunty decided to do a full on commando barrel roll over the barriers, in front of all the passengers and driver to see. Unlucky for her, her impressive gymnastics were fruitless as the coach was only parking up, getting ready for us to board. On the plus side, we didn't miss it.

Now i'm pretty sure Manchester is at least 5 degrees colder than Liverpool, it was like stepping into the Arctic and my hair was on the verge of freezing.  Feeling rather ravenous and not wanting to travel too far we set upon Cornerhouse. Situated at the bottom of Oxford Road Station, it's a 2 minute walk from Sound Control, Palace Theatre and HMV Ritz, perfect location for a bite.

With a pretty good selection, from pasta, gourmet pizzas and burgers, we both tucked into a good ole steak sandwich (cooked to perfection may I add - Rare) and fries.





 I ordered garlic dough balls on the side, they did not disappoint however, my aunty said they were a bit too doughy, I found them light and completely more-ish. Look at them doughy balls of garlicky goodness.



The only downside  to Cornerhouse is that the chairs are pretty uncomfortable and the fries were more like potato bites than fries.

After being fuelled up we braved the winds and headed off to the gig. Once inside the atmosphere was electric, 300 capacity and it was sold out. Drinks were flowing, the energy was rising and so was the temperature. Sound Control is basically a converted loft and it gets hot pretty quickly. If you're on the bevs have plenty of water otherwise you will not last 4 hours of a gig in there!


The support act, Liam Frost, whilst obviously talented, with beautiful vocals and intricate melodies and rhythm, sadly just didn't seem to grab the audiences energy or attention. Possibly a bit too laid back and chilled for this crowd, who were completely buzzed and ready for a big sing along. He is however, well worth a listen. ( I apologise for the fuzziness of the photos, only having a camera phone on hand with a hazy environment I did the best I could.)




 After half an hour of chants of Courteenrs 'Are you in love with a notion' and 'Liam, Liam, Liam.'  The time had come for it all to begin, with a shrug of a guitar over his shoulder and a nonchalant 'Alrite Manchester?' Fray kicked it off with 'How Come' to a hoard of cheers bringing in the first big sing along of the night with 'Small Bones,' which continued throughout with tunes such as 'Acrylic,' 'Van Der Graaf,'  'Sunflower', 'Sycophant', and my personal favourites, 'Lose Control' nd 'Cross My Heart & Hope to fly.'


I promise you that is Liam Fray.



Fray was on form, hitting note after note, he had the crowd eating out of his hands, getting louder and  more energetic as each song passed.  The night ended on a high with a few well placed golden classic,  'Smiths Disco', 'Bide your time,' 'Please Don't',  and the anthemic 'Not Nineteen Forever'. With a pretty much 'best of' set list (with the heinous absence of 'What took you so long?') it was
the perfect way to bring in the Christmas for any Courteeners or music fan.

(personally one of the best gig pictures I have taken, proud of this one)


If you're lucky enough to bag yourself a ticket, somehow, catch them on 5th June @ Heaton Park, Manchester it's going to be a mad one. X