You may have visited and worshipped within the 600 year old building or you have been led to its doors because of your interest in history, in the Cathedral bells, or to find out more about the bee hives on the roof, the hate crime reporting centre, the “Cathedral Our Faith, Our Planet” a forum raising awareness on environmental issues and encouraging collaboration to tackle the climate crisis across the region’s different communities. You might have attended to a Service, a wedding, a funeral or a joyous Christmas concert. If so, you will have trodden where priests, choirs, worshippers, royalty, rich and famous, poor and hungry have walked before you. This gothic building bathed in light from its stained-glass windows, perhaps the Fire Window in Regimental Chapel, or from the many candles at a Sunday service would show the ancient architecture in a heavenly glow. You may have never ever visited the Cathedral and certainly never thought of a Cathedral in terms of a great night out for all the family, well might I suggest that the LUMINISCENCE experience at Manchester Cathedral might just change your mind!

After captivating more than one million spectators globally and illuminating 20 of the world’s most extraordinary historic landmarks, LUMINISCENCE has made its highly anticipated UK debut at Manchester Cathedral and I was absolutely honoured to attend. Combining 360° video mapping, new orchestral arrangements of iconic songs, and a narrative celebrating all that is great about the city and its people, visitors can now step into a spellbinding fusion of light, sound, and storytelling on a three-dimensional, walk-through musical journey.

Following its international success across Europe and the USA, LUMINISCENCE brings its immersive spectacle to one of the nation’s most cherished landmarks, with plans for additional iconic UK venues to follow. The experience pays tribute to Manchester’s rich cultural heritage through specially arranged orchestral renditions of legendary anthems. A brand-new script, written by BAFTA award-winning writer Tim Whitnall, is voiced by Manchester legend Christopher Eccleston, best known for his roles in Doctor Who and Our Friends in the North. The show is brought to life by the incredible Collectives Gospel Choir, adding soaring choral depth to this immersive experience, with a set list including songs by Oasis, The Verve, Joy Division, Elbow, and more.

Within Manchester Cathedral, light from a battalion of high-power projectors becomes the storyteller, transforming the ancient architecture into a vast living canvas where every statue, carving, pillar and stained-glass window comes to life and seemingly glows in harmony with the music. Breath-taking visual tableaux reveal the cathedral’s intricate architectural beauty. Layers of voices, strings, brass and woodwind resonated throughout the space, bringing to life its history. Through powerful narration, evocative sound and breathtaking visuals, LUMINISCENCE pays tribute to Manchester’s creativity, innovation, its global influence and the enduring pride of its people.

Applause rang out repeatedly during the performance at points of specific interest to the huge audience of people of all ages. It might have been the music, sparking a memory, or the sheer visual thrill as hundreds of flowers filled the archways for fleeting moments followed by another scene of devastating beauty of bees in flight, the very symbol of Manchester.

So, what exactly is LUMINISCENCE? It was created in 2023 by French based business LOTCHI. LUMINISCENCE’s mission is to promote and preserve iconic global World Heritage sites through immersive experiences combining digital and live performances.

Since its creation, more than 100,000 spectators in France alone have enjoyed their spectacular performances. A belief that art and technology have the power to tell captivating and moving stories drives this innovative business. By highlighting the most emblematic cathedrals and basilicas, guests can celebrate shared heritage through unique visual and sound shows. Using advanced 3D modelling and projection technology, every architectural detail is recreated with remarkable precision. In addition, performances integrate a sound dimension with a three-dimensional system enriched by the presence of a live choir, creating a unique multi-sensory experience.

LUMINISCENCE is actively committed to the conservation of heritage sites, by donating a portion of its revenues to the restoration of historic monuments. More than €1,000,000 has already been donated by LUMINISCENCE to the various venues that have hosted the show.

It costs over £ 1,460,000 a year to run Manchester Cathedral. The Cathedral receives no regular funding from the government or diocese. Funds are raised through initiatives and the generosity and support of visitors and congregation.

A portion of each ticket goes directly to the Cathedral to help its upkeep and preservation. This aligns with the LUMINISCENCE ethos to share, preserve and celebrate the historical monuments that provide the backdrop for its shows. Whilst the experience is designed as a walk-through, standing concert, that allows guests to fully immerse themselves in this magical setting, there is some seating available on request for anyone unable to stand for the full 45-minute performance. Audiences can choose between gold and silver ticket tiers, offering options to suit every budget. Gold tickets include fast-track entry and a sparkling wine on arrival. Silver tickets for adults start from £29 (including a 10% booking fee), with concession and groups prices available too, making this extraordinary experience accessible to all.

With a strict capacity in the Cathedral and a limited run in Manchester, audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid missing this unique experience. Performances began on Wednesday 14 January and available until 26 March 2026. Manchester Cathedral, Victoria St, Manchester M3 1SX

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Samantha’s response? An intimate, glacial orchestral piece, performed by one Manchester’s leading musical ensembles.

Wintering is a special commission by the Wigmore Hall in London and sees the Manchester Collective’s string quartet join The Marian Consort vocal ensemble on a national two-week tour. Part-meditation, part-monologue, Wintering channels the near-universal sense of melancholy that settles over the year’s end, mulling it over through strings and voice before freeing it once again. The performance is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers outside, and a gentle reminder of the value of rest and retreat.

Wintering is much like a cold wind – deeply felt, but impossible to catch hold of. The music sweeps between low, threatening notes that evoke the feeling of looking into a gaping abyss to sounds that would be unobtrusive at heaven’s gate. In Vista, Wintering’s opener, such is the harmony between vocals and violin that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Breezing forward, Wintering’s fourth number – ‘To Do: Do Less’ – marked itself as a particular standout piece. A duet of spoken word and guided meditation in song, To Do: Do Less struck as an intimate look inside an anxious, but universally relatable mind. “Collect prescription, find a babysitter, laundry, living room, groceries…” echoes in the silence, only to be answered by gentle lyrics of breaths returning to a natural rhythm. Particular applause is reserved for The Marian Consort’s soprano Caroline Halls, who was effortless moving between both roles in her performance.

In the performance, Wintering is enveloped by four other pieces from various composers across history. Orlando di Lassus’ 1570 piece Prophetiae Sibyllarum (‘Sybylline Oracles’, or ‘Sibylline Prophecies’) opens the concert to a dazed, stuttering prologue – a masterclass in key changes that looks back on the sibyls of Ancient Greece, a group of pagan prophetesses said to have foreseen Christ. The National Anthems from David Lang follows behind, bearing vulnerable anxieties of the uncertainty of freedom, and Jonathan Dove’s Out of Time uses strings alone to sketch a memory of a much-missed husband.

With Wintering continuing the introspection after the interval, the performance rounds off with Andrzej Panufnik’s Song to the Virgin Mary. As Polish society collapsed with 1939’s Nazi invasion, Panufnik’s response was to form a boogie-woogie-playing piano duo with fellow composer Witold Lutosławski, touring Warsaw’s bars under increasing Soviet censorship before making a daring escape to Britain in 1954. Song to the Virgin Mary was conceived during his exile in fond memory of the country he left behind: an abstract love letter to, as he described, “the naïve beauty of the religious folk art of Poland”.

The themes of rest, reflection, and the surrender of productivity are as resonant now as they ought to be the rest of the year. In a landscape of rising traditionalism, conformity, and financial slashing for the arts, it’s a real treat to see a personal, more conceptual performance not only included, but tightly embraced in concert halls across the country. Wintering is best enjoyed with a programme in hand to truly appreciate the stories behind each piece. A delight to experience.

Wintering was performed at Stoller Hall on the 27 November 2025 and tours until December 5.

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The second was the BBC Radio 3 audience hearing the special edition of “Sound of Gaming” show live over the airwaves, tuning in to the only radio station in the UK to broadcast live classical music.

The third, and what separates this event from other simultaneous broadcasts, was the ability for listeners to attend virtually via their internet browsers by visiting a cutting-edge portal devised in partnership by BBC Research and Development, Max-R and Improbable.

Throughout the concert, the online community were able to navigate their avatars around the immersive concert space using augmented reality and virtual reality to learn more about specific sections and instruments within the orchestra while also adopting some gaming go-to abilities, such as flying around the venue.

Following a quick but interesting introduction from Adam Szabo, the Director of the BBC Philharmonic, who explained the precision required in getting the timing right to the second to allow for the seamless transition between the preceding and succeeding BBC Radio 3 shows, the show was ready to go on-air.

The production was hosted by Elle Osili-Wood, the award-winning radio and television presenter and video game voice-over artist. Osili-Wood is the regular compere of the “Sound of Gaming” radio show and she faultlessly explained each of the tracks with clarity and enthusiasm.

Conducting the orchestra for this special performance was none other than the ground-breaking Eímear Noone who was the first and currently only female conductor to perform at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2020. Noone, who conducts orchestras across the globe (including Royal Philharmonic of London; Sydney Symphony; Singapore Symphony; Pittsburgh Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra), clearly has a love for gaming soundtracks. Her joy at bringing each of the pieces to life was infectious. Having composed 28 scores for movies and video-games, including for the international phenomenon and World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductee that is World of Warcraft, we couldn’t have wished to have a more befitting person to direct the music than Noone.

A wide range of music followed, starting with two pieces from Call of Duty the second biggest gaming franchise (only out-performed by Super Mario) which evoked bombers and battlefields. Gareth Coker’s relaxing score for Ori and the Will of the Wisps was enhanced by the soothing vocals of Noone’s fellow Irishwoman, Andrea Delaney.

After a visit to the Fortnite universe (thankfully without anyone performing the floss dance), Noone got to conduct her own World of Warcraft wonderful composition, “Malach, the Angel Messenger” for which she received the “Hollywood Music in Media Award” for “Best Video Game Score” with its sweeping strings, jaunty wind section and imposing brass.

The innovative soundtrack composed by one of Osili-Wood’s “Sounds of Gaming” presenting predecessors, Jessica Curry, to “Dear Esther” containing morse-code spelling out “Esther”, with its crescendos and crashing drums brought to life the Hebridean landscape.

There was a James Bond style urgency to the “Psychonauts 2” performance while Inon Zur’s Starfield, seven years in the making, was reminiscent of John Williams’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Star Wars” and “E.T.”

Delaney returned for the final two pieces: Ben McCreary’s haunting “God of War Ragnorok” and Tetris (sung in Russian), showing off her incredible vocals and range.

The note-perfect show that showcased how classical music is used to elevate the gaming experience is available to listen to on BBC Sounds here Sound of Gaming – On air, online and in concert with the BBC Philharmonic – BBC Sounds.

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Under guest conductor, Mark Wigglesworth the orchestra draw the audience in gently with Oliver Messiaen’s tribute to Mozart, Un sourire (A smile). Composed in 1989, Messiaen described writing the piece, ‘in the spirit of Mozart’ and here it starts with the melodic grace and beauty we associate with Mozart’s work. But this is more than an imitation and within this short piece there is much to admire in the cacophony of sounds, particularly the joyous birdsong of the woodwind and the playful percussion, notably the xylophone.

The second piece sees the orchestra welcome renowned German soprano Dorothea Röschmann to the stage for the Richard Wagner’s operatic Wesendonck-Lieder. Composed around five poems written by Mathilde Wesendonck during their affair, it enables the audience to experience Wagner’s passionate, soaring melodies on a much smaller scale.

The passionate theme continues after the interval with Hector Berlioz’s opium-induced obsession with unrequited love. As with any obsession there is an element of repetition in each of the five movements. Alongside the exaggerated romanticism are elements of nightmarish angst, unleashing the fierce energy of the brass and percussion sections, making for a rollercoaster of a ride.

Highlights include a wonderful, dreamy cor anglais solo from Drake Gritton. Both the sounds and sights of the strings playing pizzicato; the deep resonance of four harps; two sets of timpani and tubular bells make this live performance a sensory feast.

This eclectic finale described by the programmers as ‘mind-bending and transcendant’ leaves the audience on rousing high.

And if you want to hear more over the summer, the BBC Philharmonic are playing BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, before returning to The Bridgewater Hall to open their new season with Holst’s The Planets in September.

Ending on a High The BBC Philharmonic was at The Bridgewater Hall on 22 June 2024.

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Full disclosure: I did not arrive at the Apollo with my critical gears in neutral. I am a Floyd-fan…  my controls were already set for the heart of the sun… they already had me at hello. Origin story: In the early 1980s, an errant uncle appeared from Australia, took me to a London record store and bought me an album – Dark Side of the Moon – and changed my life. A black vinyl slice of popular culture, a prism bouncing fractured light that I found both fascinating and bewildering as an early teenager. I’ve seen various variations of Floyd live since then, including at Live 8, when they ‘got the band back together’. And in 2022 I co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Pink Floyd, spending years immersed in their music. So this could never be an impartial review. But at least I’ve laid my cards out on the table.

Pink Floyd, as an entity, have been through many phases and this latter incarnation –Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – is a strange contraption built, it seems, in his garden shed from bits of other bands and junkyard metal and old electronics and good intentions; all powered, at the flick of a switch, from some elemental electrical source. Here’s one example of this strangeness: After deaths and departures, the Floyd drummer could claim to be the only continuous element in that shape-shifting band. And yet look up the set-list for tonight’s gig and you’ll see it’s all credited as Floyd ‘covers’, as though he had nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, self-appointed frontman of Pink Floyd – Roger Waters – is long gone and, in fact, the bassist who replaced him in Floyd, and who also plays tonight – Guy Pratt – could claim to be part of Pink Floyd for longer than Waters. And how to then further explain the presence in this already peculiar band of the songwriter who drove Spandau Ballet – Gary Kemp – these days not so much a new romantic as an old romantic. How to explain?  Maybe the point is not to even try… perhaps it shouldn’t work… but it just does. So true. Funny how it seems.

The cosmic ontology of this particular band is to play the early stuff – the wonderful Syd Barrett-era Floyd I discovered much later than Dark Side, unearthing weird and wonderful sonic treasure, magic lyrical potions – but also through to early David Gilmour-period Floyd (up to Dark Side, I guess). Here, the more whimsical, fairytale, psychedelic edges of 60’s Floyd were smoothed off by Gilmour’s honey vocals and precision guitar bends… and a planet of somnambulant, supine stoners found their soundtrack.

So earlier on in the evening we tend to get the more trippy stuff. Barrett was a visionary – even before any further chemical acceleration and alteration – and tracks like ‘Remember A Day’ and ‘Lucifer Sam’ sound bright and important, coming up to 60 years after their birth. I love Barrett’s rich imagination; I love the crazy (before the crazy, maybe, became the problem). Although not played tonight, my kids grew up thinking the utterly bonkers ‘Bike’ was a twisted nursery rhyme, as I played it so much. But the first two singles – ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’ – are dusted down tonight, appearing very early in the set. This is niche Floyd but there is no sense of over-complicating – this is already a tribute band to someone who was there; no need to bend this post-modern conundrum further out of shape. For the Gilmour period, we get tracks including ‘Obscured by Clouds; ‘One of these Days’ and a complete rendition of ‘Echoes’, the extended piece that is the whole second side of 1971 album Meddle. Lee Harris (previously with the Blockheads) is credited by Nick Mason for putting the whole project together and he does indeed provide a very faithful impression of Gilmour’s guitar work. Kemp and Pratt share vocals, with Kemp a more accomplished guitarist than many might credit, based on the vainglorious pop pomp of his Spandau past.

Between songs, the band members swap stories and share amusing anecdotes. Mason is not beyond a couple of digs at his erstwhile band ‘leader’, Waters, and also ‘remembers the day’ – the first time Floyd played Manchester, as part of a Jimi Hendrix tour. Pratt says it’s his favourite city (with apologies, in this review, to residents of those closer to the home of this website). The Manchester crowd is a mass, grey-haired flashback creature in aging T-shirts largely held together by good vibes, and with the median age of a morgue. And that’s not to be pejorative… because I’m not helping that demographic. Psychedelic swirls of colour on the backdrop screen mimic the oil projections of early Floyd gigs at clubs like UFO. The band dig out an old beat track ‘Remember Me’, with Barrett’s vocals separated so that this band can play along with him once again as old childhood photos of Syd, donated by his nephew, are played on the screen. It’s a special moment … and whatever the Frankenstein nature of this band – you are just happy that someone flicked the switch and brought it into life, neck bolts and all.

And behind it is Mason, forging it all from his memories and his drums, double bass drums mic’d up so that beat is always robust and chunky, the ground underneath it all. One can only imagine what it is like for Mason to still be behind the drums, playing that first Floyd music now far into the 21^st century; remembering the band mates who have fallen, now only hinted at, behind the grass in English fields, in footage played out during the track ‘Scarecrow’. From the earth to the stars, Pink Floyd have, then, been through these many phases –as many phases, in fact, as the moon. And as we leave the Apollo and head to a nearby hostelry to debrief, we turn back to see, high above the venue, that there is indeed a bright moon, almost full, in a crepuscular sky.

Our moon, as we know, has a dark side. But that is for another time, another review, and another band, entirely.

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets was at O2 Apollo on 19 June 2024.

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Manchester weather is unusually kind as 50 or so of us gather in Sackville Gardens (other groups are gathering in Peel Park, Ordsall Park and Cathedral Gardens) for the first part of the event – a stroll through the city centre, headed for Aviva Studios (the location for part two).

Although a reasonably up-to-date smart phone is recommended (to download the “City of Floating Sounds” app – to hear music as we walk and have access to the map), you will be able to get by without it. Just turn up, follow Factory International’s patient, efficient and friendly guides, tag along with the group (you’ll be able to hear the digital music from their phones, as you walk). Do chat with strangers along the way. It’s part of the fun, and some of them you’ll no doubt bump into later.

Our route takes us through the Gay Village, towards the Central Library, around by Manchester Central, pausing for stragglers in St John’s Gardens, onwards, via Deansgate, to the concert hall (with ample time to grab a drink and reflect).

If the rebel lurks within you, there is no need to follow the route and stick with the gang. By all means find your own way (or, even skip part one and go straight to Aviva Studios). Similarly, if you don’t feel up to the 30 minute walk (entirely on the flat), use the digital map to choose a point along the way to meet up with the group. Your own way is the right way. That said, I strongly recommend sticking with the group, if you are able.

As we walk, digital music plays from each of our phones. Intrigued passers by stop and ask what’s happening. The guides do their best to keep us safe (this is Manchester at commuting time). Even so, a pleasant woman, hefty rucksack on her back, plays “Chicken” with a tram approaching St Peter’s Square. (She wins, though I think the kindly tram driver let her).

Besides trams, we pass buses, impatient commuting drivers honking, an ambulance or two with sirens sounding, a man pushing a rattling trolley loaded with water cooler refills, punters chatting and laughing in street-side bars – all those regular sounds of a vibrant, busy city. With the music rising and falling in our ears, it is as though we are walking through the opening-credit scene of some Hollywood movie set in this fine English city.

Having, questioningly but eagerly, followed our “leaders” and their music on this beautiful evening, just like the children of Hamelin, we disappear – not into a mountainside, but into the comparative gloom of Aviva Studios.

After pausing for a drink, and to reflect on what we’ve experienced, we are invited up into the auditorium. (There is an escalator and a lift, for any with mobility issues). The hall itself is stripped of seating (apart from relatively few, free-standing chairs, set out in twos and threes).

Notably hazed and lit only gently from the backdrops framing the space, the eye is immediately draw to musicians (real live human beings with instruments): an orchestra, raised on metal platforms, perhaps a metre and a half high. The various sections (string, woodwind, brass) are set apart as they would be in a conventional concert, only the groupings are smaller (duos, trios, the occasional quartet).

Standing alone, on her very own platform and, necessarily, more starkly lit, is conductor, Gemma New, who is about to lead her players (and ourselves) into a wondrous new species of musical theatre: musicians and audience moving together to create a unique theatrical performance.

This concert lasts 40-45 minutes. I sit for the first 25 minutes, listening, and watching my fellow audience members (some of them now not quite strangers) standing or strolling among the musicians on their platforms. Some are studious; some captivated, almost dazed; others, not quite getting it, chat and joke, as in some swish new bar where music is mere incidental background for their conversation. One man circulates, a tiny baby fastened in a sling on his chest. Next to me, a woman sips from a beaker, ice cubes rattling. And everywhere, the muffled sound of perambulating human feet.

All the while, Ruo’s score – minimalistic, caressing, eastern influences blending with western – soars above and around the “noise;” a broadly flowing river of crafted melody and harmony, running alongside the ceaselessly babbling stream of random human motion.

Time for me to take a stroll through the throng. People spy friends, unexpectedly. They hug and laugh, exchanging their enthusiasms. A few small children wander, quietly engrossed, as though exploring some sonic playground, built especially for them. One woman, eyes closed, sways and dances, just like this is Woodstock ’69. And there is my new friend, the tram-dodger, rucksack still in place, smiling and nodding approvingly. Smiles, warm or semi-beatific, are the currency of the evening.

Photographs (no flash, please) are permitted, not video. Take a few but, please just Be Here Now. Stand close by as many of the platforms as you can, to hear the contribution of each section (how few of us have had this opportunity!) Two platforms each are peopled by cellists and double bassists – from up close, their deep tones vibrate delectably. Brass and woodwind sing in ways you might never again get to hear.

After Saturday, “City of Floating Sounds” transfers to New York City’s Lincoln Center.

Go now, if you can.

Huang Ruo: City of Floating Sounds is at Aviva Studios from 6-8 June 2024.

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Hidden down a dark and dreary back alley, somewhere between Cheetham Hills vacant industrial estate and Manchester City Centre’s bustling night life, is the most characteristic concert venue one will ever have the opportunity to visit. The White Hotel, a converted garage no less, opened its shutters to host four of the most highly praised and innovative string performers this generation has to offer. 

The dimly lit, secretly hidden site surely houses no more than 40, with only a small handful of chairs lined up in front of the quaint stage. The closeness only heightens the intense feeling of intimacy. Paired with the hued orange glow radiating from neon signs positioned behind vacant chairs on stage, culminating in a sense of surreal mystery. 

The night opens with violinist Amy Tress talking about the structure of the night’s set list, which was separated into two polar opposite sections. The first, a 30-minute long rendition of Steve Reich’s ‘Different Trains’, and the second being a selection of hits from 80’s superstar Kate Bush. The audience simply smile and nod with sincere admiration, and it’s only when we’re told that the quartet will be joined by Alice for the latter, that the audience hail and applaud. 

The first half has the small audience silent with suspense, with the recorded audio blaring through stereo speakers either side of the stage. The quartet play alongside the recording, flawlessly mirroring, and imitating the distinctive noises of once recorded trains along with imitating the sound of recorded speech through unique and specialised strokes. Stephen Upshaw can be seen plucking at his violin pizzicato style part way through, causing the sounds to cut through high above the collective. 

More than 25 minutes of continuous playing go by and the troupe show no sign of stopping. It’s only as the final movement of Reich’s piece ends does the quartet softly come to a tender conclusion. The room pauses for a moment in complete silence before breaking out in applause. Tears can be seen falling from the faces of several, whilst others turn to one another to reflect on what they had just experienced. 

After a short break Amy returns to stage and announces their guest performer, soul and gospel inspired singer Alice Zawadzki. The vibrant deep red of Alice’s dress cuts through the smoke filled room and separates her perfectly from the other four performers wearing traditional black attire with accents of white. Alice doesn’t sit like the others on stage, but rather stands tall behind a pre-positioned music stand, placing her hands faintly upon the top. She softly speaks the words: “Our first song of the night is one Kate wrote at the age of 13…The Man with the Child in His Eyes”, and the quartet begin to play. 

As a complete contrast to the evening’s first half, which was heavily shaped by pre-recorded audio, Solem Quartet now lead with confidence and allure. Trills and harmonies sail through the air, complementing one another perfectly before landing the ears below. Cellist Stephanie Tress, nods and sways her head along to the melody, occasionally looking up at Alice for lyrical queues, all the while drawing her bow along the strings with grace. 

Various adaptations (courtesy of violinist William Newell) of Kate Bush tracks pass by, separated only by the intermittent converse from singer Alice. These brief talks give background detail to the upcoming song or simply highlight the significance of the song prior, until steadily, the night’s performance serenely comes to a calming end, leaving the musicians to stand one last time to massive applause. 

Solem Quartet + Alice Zawadzki were at The White Hotel, Salford on 27 March as part of Through the Noise 2024. 

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Playing the audience like a drum or a sampling pad, Cleveland directs the right and left sides to harmonise at different tempos and pitches with just the movement of his hand, like he is the conductor and we are his orchestra. Nervous mutters turn into a chorus of confidence as a wave of collective comfortability spreads throughout the space. It is a masterclass in audience engagement.

The space, Carole Nash Hall, provides the perfect setting for this performance, it is intimate, five rows of seats split down the middle creating a runway to where Cleveland has set up his trusted looping device on a table draped in black, flanked by two elevated speakers. The hall is almost church-like in its imitation and acoustics; sounds bounce around until they surrounded you. So, when Cleveland flexes his vocal range it is easy to get swept up in the moment. At times it feels like a thousand angels are singing but it is simply Cleveland’s talent and expert use of his musical equipment.

For an hour straight there is a pretty unrelenting cycle of high-level musical expression. At one stage Cleveland pauses to take aim at those who rely too heavily on sheet music, “You’ve got musicians today who can’t play music without a piece of paper, I just think that’s ridiculous myself,” he states to an audience almost stunned to silence. “The fact that if I take the paper away you can’t play it, you can’t sing, you can’t do anything, what is that? The music should be inside you. The music could never be on the paper.” There is no doubt that this is the most uncomfortable moment of the performance, but it is also one that offers an insight into Cleveland’s psyche and ultimately provides context for the VocalSuite performance we are there to see.

Cleveland finishes the performance with a repeat after me style rendition of an original reggae song he made about his old record box. He encourages the audience to sing in Jamaican patois as he has. This could’ve gone either way, the breaking down of the lines could’ve been perceived as patronising but the crowd is really engaged, and it makes for an enjoyable closing to the show.

Cleveland does not disappoint in his headline show, the highs are really high, his talent dictates that, but more importantly just seeing a great artist go through such a free-flowing creative process live is something unique and that alone should be appreciated.

Cleveland Watkiss was at Carole Nash Hall on 1 March as the headline performance of Manchester Song Festival 2024.

Read our interview with Cleveland Watkiss.

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Grant arrives on stage on a jacket garlanded in sequins while Hawley and the band arrange themselves around him, troubadour Hawley sitting silent throughout the set sending out baritone guitar chords.

The singer is charm itself, regaling the crowd with tales of his strict Methodist upbringing and how he was first introduced to Patsy Cline’s songs. His voice is perfectly suited to her songs of loss and heartache, by turns mournful and plaintive – it’s a wonder he can bring out the joy in regret and loss so evocative of country and western classics.

Cline’s catalogue is mined with perfection and a little hint of crowd-pleasing: Crazy, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Strange, and I Fall To Pieces are all included. As is Walkin’ After Midnight, which Grant declares to be his favourite cruising song.

The control in his voice is what sets Grant apart from his contemporaries and which has found a natural home in Cline’s songs full of yearning and remorse for a lover who has left for another.

He tells us the idea came to him after his manager asked if he he wanted to do anything different this year, adding that Hawley was a natural choice for a backing band.

The entire set is signed and although relatively short at just over an hour, Grant and Hawley return for a blazing encore.

As for the venue itself, there’s not an awful you can say about a building Charles Jencks would have probably described as a dumb box. And for an intimate set such as this consigning the majority of people to the stalls seems counter-intuitive.

Quibbles aside, Grant and Hawley – and Hawley’s accomplished band – bring a fresh sensitivity to the songs and perhaps a new audience for Cline herself.

John Grant Sings the Songs of Patsy Cline with Richard Hawley and Band was at The Hall, Aviva Studios on 11 July 2023 as part of Manchester International Festival.

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There’s an encouragingly mixed crowd gathered in the hall at the not quite finished Factory International venue on Water Street (a grimly prophetic location for a certain reviewer, who arrived having soaked up half a reservoir in a crazy Manchester downpour).

My sources tell me the company has been making real efforts to bring members of diverse Manchester communities to events like this MIF concert by renowned Sufi singer, Sanam Marvi. Let this be a core and continuing policy, and not just a brief nod to broadening arts access and participation in this region. The venue cost £186m (and rising), and the people of Greater Manchester have to be convinced that it genuinely was money spent with their benefit in mind.

The auditorium (though not officially opened until autumn of this year) is splendid: comfy seats with decent legroom, and an acoustic (on tonight’s evidence) fit for the 21st century.

A charming woman on the row in front of me presents me with a vegan chocolate mousse she brought down from the restaurant. She didn’t fancy it but was sure someone would. Very tasty.

Having been tempted here by the brief clip on the MIF website, I’m grateful to find myself chatting with a fan and (comparative) aficionado of Sufi music.

“The best way to experience this music,” she begins (I’m picturing a quiet, warm, candle-lit space, perhaps a little meditation), “sun, whisky and a big spliff, or a hookah.”

Momentarily, my mind misspells that final word – head totally messed with.

Manchester is home to a fair number of people who can trace their roots back to the Sufi community of Pakistan. This is one reason the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (who, with Peter Gabriel’s support, introduced modern western audiences to Sufi singing) made the city a regular tour date.

Sanam Marvi – small, dark, subtly stylish – glides serenely onto the stage. Warmly welcomed, she sits comfortably cross-legged, her three musicians to either side, and an hour and a half of sublime sound begins…

Her voice, controlled and assured, soars and swoops. The power and grace of her opening (often unaccompanied) phrases is supreme, while the driving rhythms that follow urge the devoted to lift their arms in appreciative recognition, or clap along, joyously.

Requests for favourite songs are called out from stalls and circle, and Marvi does her best to accommodate them. The performance never wavers and ends to a rousing ovation. No encore. None needed. It is enough.

As we filter out, some young men in the circle chant militantly about Pakistan.

“Oi! None of that!” my new friend rebukes them. “You’re not out for a kebab!”

I intend to employ her as my cultural advisor/bodyguard – she’s clearly more knowledgeable, tougher and braver than I am.

I make my way back onto Water Street, passing the ever kind and helpful MIF volunteers. I’m still damp and a little chilly from the deluge. But inside, I’m warmer. Music for the soul.

Sanam Marvi was at Aviva Studios on 8 July 2023 as part of Manchester International Festival.

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