After three years of silence it’s only apt that Beirut return to the UK in an old worn out chapel hidden in the centre of Manchester.

Walking through the peeling plastered walls and in to the huge cavern like hall, the band have clearly chosen a hidden gem for their warm up gig. Stood in the crowd it feels like we’ve been transported to a secret bunker before the band’s huge unveiling – a headlining slot at Green Man Festival.

As the band open with the light notes of ‘Nantes’ it’s impossible not to smile as the song builds into a magnificent brass arrangement. Echoing around the impressive hall, the full force of the band’s volume is overwhelming as Zac Condon’s vocals carry both a melancholy and celebratory tone.

Mixing and matching across albums, EPs and live favourites ‘Santa Fe’, ‘East Harlem’ and ‘Vagabond’ come and go with ease but it’s ‘Postcards From Italy’ and ‘Elephant Gun’ that transforms the room into a feast of Eastern-European celebrations. The brass filled chorus’ leave audiences members bopping with a spontaneous glee, whooping one horn solo to the next. Condon’s voice never falters as he effortlessly switches instruments before conducting his ensemble into another rousing sing-a-long. Only a fit of giggles during ‘Forks & Knives (Le Fete)’ temporarily shatters the bands’ near perfect performance.

A certain energy is also noticeably absent. As the group launch into another brass-led hook, there’s a lack of excitement seen in previous live performances. New songs are interspersed with the old but it’s not until ‘No No No’ that there’s a sense of progression from the traditional brass arrangements.

As the march of ‘The Gulag Orkestar’ closes with a huge procession it feels only natural for Beirut’s music to be heard in such grand surroundings, but three years after The Rip Tide we can’t help but yearn for something new.

We arrive early on the proviso that this evening’s support band Happyness are tipped for big things, and who have just taken to the stage as we walk in. Though they're from London, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were from America, as they quite clearly have a variety of American influences, all worn firmly on their sleeves.

With an appearance and attitude to match, these guys exude the slacker image. However, their music is completely on point having been described as a British Wilco. They can do very little wrong in our eyes, and with tracks like ‘Great Minds Think Alike, All Brains Taste The Same’ there’s a distinct element of humour attached which really shows through.

Happyness have truly made us happy this evening, and with their job complete tonight’s headliners take to the stage. Opening up with ‘American Horror’, perhaps our favourite track from the Real Hair EP, with its huge riffs and catchy chorus, is a great way to get things under way. If you listen too closely however, you can really hear the angst in the lyrics.

Sadie Dupuis belts her way through the opener; she has an excellent stage presence, snarling out the lyrics, which again, is a fantastic way to kick things off. The set moves at pace, the band is tight and there’s a great atmosphere in the Cluny tonight. ‘Everything’s Bigger’ is exactly that and it sounds huge, which is the one thing that takes us by surprise with this evenings set.

On record the band pull no punches but live they step the whole thing up a level. It’s a full on aural assault but paradoxically, not without a real delicacy to the lyrics, but that’s what we’d expect from a lady with a masters in Poetry. Similarly tracks like ‘Hexxy’ possess intricate lyrics coupled with the tendency to erupt in to those aforementioned huge riffs.

Speedy Ortiz close out the main set with the awesome ‘Taylor Swift’, a typically heavy track which chugs along with some real depth to the bass. The lyrics are filled with wit and cynicism. To all those guys who brag about having X amount of girlfriends, here’s Speedy Ortiz’s take on it with a quite frankly awesome sarcastic title.They come back to treat us to a couple more heavy tracks, before bidding us adieu for the evening. Having had our ears assaulted, we make our way out into the dark, Newcastle night and all we can talk about is how truly great this evenings set was. Speedy Ortiz are fast becoming a firm favourite for us.  

Beacons, annual arts and music festival cushioned in hills, sheep and more hills, this year proved its greatness with festival goers enduring the remains of a hurricane and still managing to make it a huge success.

Nestled in the Yorkshire Dales just like Emmerdale, the site is a quick taxi ride from Skipton station and surrounded by postcard views. Everyone is smiling and despite the looming grey clouds there are overwhelming feelings of excitement, involvement and fun. Walking past ‘Campling Plus’ I cast an envious gaze over the luxurious ‘glamping’ style tipis, particularly as it starts to spit, but as I get closer to the general camping the buzz starts to reach me and I pitch up next to some rowdy guys playing unknown but alluring beats through some dodgy speakers and head out to see my first act of the weekend, Sheffield two piece Nai Harvest.

Welcomed with the warmth of bodies to the well packed Noisey tent, they play through a stream of their best songs including ‘Buttercups’, ‘Rush’ and ‘Hold Open My Head’, kicking the festival off with their bouncy and melodic guitar. For the last song a topless happy man joins the duo onstage to sing a line and have a quick, well received dance before he is ushered away by security and Nai Harvest leave the stage to enjoy the rest of the festival. 

I spotted the Churros Van a mile off and despite the fantastic range of food vendors which included the amazing Bundobust, Red’s True BBQ and Dough Boys Pizza, my first stop is at Senor Churros for a fix of piped donut goodness. Despite better judgement regarding the waist line, I head to another food stall, this time, I go for Haloumi Bites and I am punished with a Wasp sting that burns as much as the molten, freshly fried cheese. Itchy and painful leg, there is only one thing I can think of to cure it before I head off to catch DZ Deathrays…A milkshake, and guess what, Beacons can provide.

The Australian thrash pop power duo bash out an impressive set of rain inducing, thunderous riffs including those of catchy favourite, ’Gina works at Hearts’ to an upbeat crowd of hardy Beaconers as the showers turn into downpours. I dash back to the campsite to grab a jumper and my tent is home to a puddle, a big tent sized puddle. Everything is soaked, and I am now ‘that person’ who's pretty, pop-up tent is not up to scratch. Sadly this was the end of my Weekend at Beacons as I had to retreat home to sleep, left my purse somewhere along the way and was inflicted with a terrible cold, but the rest of the festival went on, powering through the storms with barely a hiccup.

Congratulations to all those who survived the mighty Beacons, as sadly I did not and will have to try again next year just like a sorry X-factor contestant.

Owl John stuns a packed crowd of devoted fans with a career-spanning show at Oslo in Hackney.

Following a busy schedule which included a tour of California and the release of debut self-titled album, Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit is relaxed as he enters the stage. It’s immediately clear that this isn’t a usual gig, but instead Hutchison is at ease and happy to be playing solo. In a jovial mood, he chats his way through an unplanned but hit-laden set which delights the crowd from start to finish.

After kicking off with debut Owl John single ‘Hate Music’, Hutchison announces that the plan for the evening is to take joint responsibility in deciding what is played. Suggestions of songs are encouraged, and given special attention if they come with a drink. He giggles, “Of course I’ll play ‘The Wrestle’ for a whiskey.”

What follows is a run through much-loved tracks such as 'State Hospital', 'The Woodpile', 'Modern Leper' and 'Poke'.

Suddenly the queue at the bar is bigger than ever because we’re told that the price would be greater for ‘Snake’, the tongue in cheek fan favourite from Frightened Rabbit’s debut album. Notoriously hating the track, Hutchison says he’s going to have to be drunk to play it. It’s not long until his first Jägerbomb arrives from the crowd. An hour and many drinks later ‘Snake’ is played. Mission accomplished.

Playing for nearly two hours without a setlist, it’s hard to not feel stirred as the crowd shout their favourite Frightened Rabbit songs in hope. This is what musicians of Hutchison’s ilk should aspire to. The fact that his distinctively troubled voice and delicate use of a single electric guitar sound magnificent is essentially a bonus of what is a brilliantly entertaining show anyway.

The only drawback is when the familiarities between performer and audience leads to over-excitement, with some in the crowd incessantly shouting during songs. Hutchison, as cool as you like, reacts perfectly. Turning to them, he says that he originally sought to start a band for “depressed beardy guys, but then having been in the charts, it’s unavoidable that the lads come out.” He concludes, “Basically I’m telling you to shut up.” The crowd cheers then falls deadly silent as he fulfils the wish of an early Frightened Rabbit fan in playing ‘Square 9’.

Hutchison cherry-picks some Owl John tracks such as ‘A Good Reason To Grow Old’ and ‘Los Angeles Be Kind’, underlining the strength of his debut release as they fit seamlessly with his more established back catalogue.

As a venue Oslo is massively welcoming; with acoustics perfectly complimenting Hutchison’s distinct voice. The highlight of the performance is ‘Old Old Fashioned’ which is a textbook sing-along for the animated crowd, who, having acted as backing singers throughout the set, could finally take their turn in sharing lead vocals.

As Hutchison staggers off the stage (he had been convinced to play Snake after all), and the crowd disperses, there is not a person leaving who’d not felt a pang of sentiment at one of Hutchison’s beautifully morose tracks. The performance was an absolute delight, and other artists should take heed. It’s a brave move to break down that barrier at the end of the stage, especially with an album to flog, but Scott Hutchison is Owl John because he needed to go back to his roots and clear his head away from Frightened Rabbit. If he has to endure several free drinks along the way then so be it.