Eighties art-pop badass, Neneh Cherry enters stage right in Camden’s Electric Ballroom, dancing and spitting guttural, animal shrieks. She is poised and deliberate, but at the same time displaying the same wild abandon she displayed on her 1989 debut, Raw Like Sushi. Hair flying as she dances around to lead single from 2014’s Blank Project, ‘Out of the Blue’ or bouncing up and down to the one-two club beat of ‘Weightless’, Neneh Cherry is an unstoppable force. Performing (almost) exclusively material from 2014’s Kieran Hebden-produced new album, with her relentless optimism, honeyed voice and some pretty feral dance moves, Neneh Cherry is most definitely a woman to be reckoned with.

Far from a retro rehash of her brash heyday, Blank Project album is as current as you would expect with Hebden on production and Grammy winning, Britney Spears-enthusiast Robyn guesting on vocals, combined with electronic power bros rocketnumbernine on drums and keys. The album is propeller-beat jazz/dance bedrock underneath snap-crackle vocals and one-two couplets. But although the dubby dance of Blank Project sounds aeons away from the brat-sass of Cherry’s earlier work, the same undercurrent still runs through it. Whether it’s the sinister, slow drawl of ‘Spit Three Times’ or the references to her menstrual cycle on that album’s title track (‘On the twenty-eighth day/He is my victim’), Cherry’s lyrics carry a power and urgency that is unmistakably her. Blank Project is new Neneh, and just like 2012’s collaboration with Scandi-jazz trio, The Thing, it sounds like a continuation of a style as well as a clean slate. There is still a distinctive Neneh Cherry running through her work for all the decades she’s been making music (four by the way, thanks for asking).

In an era when pop stars are accepting more of a commitment to feminism is necessary to effect a change, it’s sometimes nice to be reminded that women in popular music kicked ass a fair amount of time before Beyoncé performed at the VMAs. And to be honest the person to remind us that, is probably the woman who performed on Top Of The Pops in her third trimester, won a BRIT award and then melted it down to make herself some jewellery.

Halfway through the gig, Cherry exclaims, ‘Ok we’re going to get a bit old school now’ before getting changed onstage into hi-tops and launching into her 1989 hit, ‘Manchild’. One is struck by the realisation that the passing of time seems to not have any meaning for Neneh Cherry, a woman who took some time off to hang out with her kids and then got unapologetically back into music a decade later, just because that’s what people do. As the night ends, Cherry and the brothers Page return to the stage for an encore, and with her declamation ‘I’m 51 this year… this song is 25 years old’, the force that is Neneh Cherry performs an electronic, arpeggiated version of ‘Buffalo Stance’ to a rapturous crowd. And she does not give a fuck. Here’s to Neneh Cherry.

Lichfield Cathedral, a sold out audience, and an established folk rock band of international standing were the main ingredients in a successful concert when Lichfield Arts presented Fairport Convention at the historic venue.

Support for the evening was provided by guitarist Kevin Dempsey and fiddle player Rosie Carson, who played a number of instrumental pieces and songs, with dexterous and muscular rhythms contrasting the delicate melodies, the highlight of which was 'The Last Train/Frank’s Tune'. For their final number 'All For You' they were joined by the five members of Fairport Convention, who powered the mid-paced ballad with some fine close harmony singing and rousing guitar,bass,drums and fiddles.

Since forming in 1967, Fairport Convention have blended folk music, songs and styles with a rock orientated sound and stage presentation, and have attracted some of the finest players and writers into their ranks. With alumni including such figures as Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings and Dave Swarbrick, they have led from the front, their sound, although based in tradition, adapting with technology and modern times to provide a show that is vibrant and relevant.

The current line-up of lead vocalist and guitarist Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg on bass, violinist Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie on lead vocals, fiddle, bouzouki, banjo, harmonica, whistle and mandolin and Gerry Conway on percussion and drums sell out venues throughout the country, and on an international level.

This tour was in support of their most recent release, Myths and Heroes and it is testament to the ensemble’s integrity that they continue to release new material that is of equal quality to their back-catalogue. Fairport Convention has always been a popular live draw, which was proven by the strong support that they managed to attract to this concert.

The concert started with 'Sir Patrick Spens', which was well received and an energetic starter to the set, but the next track, 'Myths and Heroes', the title track from their new release was full of almost punkish energy, and finely crafted, Beach Boy quality harmonies , whilst 'Clear Water' was an energetic, and tuneful ballad that featured some fine singing and instrumental interplay.

'Around the Wild Cape Horn' was a sea song, whilst the first set closer, the banjo powered and filigree 'Bring Me Back my Feathers' showed the band at their best.

The second half of the concert was equally packed, but the long song introductions at points diluted some of the energy, but from a purely musical viewpoint, the ease that Fairport Convention has with their loyal fans is plain to see.

The sonic adventure of  the band was shown to good effect during 'The Flyde Mountain Song', and 'The Wassail Song' was an upbeat song with a toe-tapping beat. However, the best audience reactions were saved for the group’s older material, with 'Matty Groves' in particular being well received.

The inevitable encore of 'Meet on the Ledge', where Fairport were joined by Kevin Dempsey and Rosie Carson was a song about the passage of time and friendship, and was a more than fitting end to the concert.

Catching the second of two shows in the evening, Londoners file into St. Pancras Old Church, not for midnight mass, but for an intimate slice of lo-fi Americana. In the church, dimly lit by candles and lavished with religious iconography, there are not enough pews for the fans of Waxahatchee, meaning the 100-strong congregation is forced to crowd at the back.

Surprise support comes from Radiator Hospital, AKA. Sam Cook-Parrott. His untraditionally arresting voice is phenomenal. Full of angst and fuelled by lost love, his performance knocks the crowd for six. The gig is marked as special as soon as he slinks on to the altar, ditches his microphone and proceeds with his set unamplified. As his wails echo off the rafters it’s clear that the microphone would only hold him back.  He’s joined briefly by Alison Crutchfield, twin-sister of Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and they harmonise beautifully when covering Lucinda Williams’ ‘Something About What Happens When We Talk.’ He and Alison leave the stage to thunderous applause.

Katie Crutchfield exercises her voice in Waxahatchee, playing without-backing band and erring towards her early material off American Weekend, she performs sleepy songs that typify sitting on porches; perching on windowsills and watching the world go by. The gentle tone of her guitar bumbles past while her distinctive voice cuts deeply. She’s a storyteller and with a lack of porches to sit her audience on, I guess a creaky old church will have to do. One particular highlight is ‘Bathtub’ which is delivered so delicately you could hear a pin drop.

Alison, who has remained close-by, returns to lend her voice in the second part of the show, helping to beef out new material from upcoming album Ivy Tripp (released in March). The sisterly bond is crystal clear and the harmonies are flawless because of it.

The church is the perfect backdrop for Waxahatchee, who plays London’s Electric Ballroom in June; it will be interesting to see how she fares in a larger venue. Her pristine vocals reverberate from wall to wall, decorative Jesus to decorative Jesus, but you wonder whether their charm could be slightly diminished with an active bar and more expansive space.

But tonight the crowd is silent, phones are left aside and in the candle-lit church the melancholy masterclasses of Waxahatchee and Radiator Hospital are chillingly intimate.

The venue is rammed this evening, even before support band Moon King have taken to the stage. Also Canadian, Moon King are currently tearing up stages and tonight is no different. It’s a fairly sedate start; however this doesn’t last long as lead singer Daniel hits the lights quite literally.

As the stage lights up so do the band, as Daniel feeds on the crowd’s energy he bounds around the stage. As Maddie and the rest of the band keep time in their own flamboyant style, they indulge us with many tracks from their new LP. However, tracks like ‘Roswell’ stand out.

To say we really enjoyed these guys is something of an understatement, their energy and playful excitement lights up the room this evening. With our expectations heightened Alvvays take to the stage, last time we encountered these Canadian popsters was when they blew Real Estate off the stage.

They burst out of the blocks and despite the darkened stage they light up the room with their positivity and whimsical indie pop music. The room is bursting at the seams, as Alvvays regale us with all of the tracks from their brilliant debut album.

A song which featured in many top 10s of 2014, and rightly so, ‘Archie, Marry Me’ rings out throughout the venue invoking a mass crowd singalong. The only thing, which is disappointing, is the level of disrespect shown by this evening’s crowd who can’t keep their conversations to themselves.

Not wanting this to mar our experience of the evening we persevere. However, the band seem to be distinctly quieter than Moon King, it’s a shame as on record they’re an excellent band, but live they seem to fall short of the mark when compared to their support band.

This could be attributed to a number of things; there were technical difficulties prior to their set. The rooms heaving but there are also a lot of people who have wholeheartedly entered into the Friday night spirit. Moon King on the other hand embraced the Friday night party spirit and used it to their advantage.

Overall Alvvays set was enjoyable if not a bit too quiet for our liking, but we did get the opportunity to discover a band that really have impressed us and we cannot wait for their second record. This evening just seemed like an unfortunate set of circumstances, last time Alvvays blew Real Estate off the stage and this time it seems like the shoe was on the other foot.