Nernia Pallot was, by her own admission, ‘a little bit pissed’.  Not with life, the world, or Manchester.  No, it was a state induced by pre-gig drinks, and a steady influx of rose wine. Not that it affected a suitably engaging performance as she and her band ripped into the opening pairing of ‘If I Had A Girl’ and ‘Spirit Walks’ – powerful numbers that reminded of Amy Winehouse and PJ Harvey in equal measures and both lifted from her excellent current album The Sound And The Fury.

The electronica tinkering that infuses the album was left behind – Pallot didn’t want to bring that aspect of the record on tour – for a stage set split in equal measures between solo guitar or keyboard pieces, or with her tight three piece band of Mark Ferguson (bass), Lewis Wright (drums) and Samuel Taylor (guitar).  The latter also delivered an engaging acoustic support set – à la Ryan Adams – with Rebecca Van Cleeve providing harmony vocals.

Pallot’s set majored equally on The Sound Of Fury and Fires – without question, her two strongest albums, with her intervening pop dalliances of The Graduate and Year Of The Wolf being represented solely by the well-received ‘Hold Your Hands Up’.  There were also outings for an outstanding new number – the seductively soulful ‘Come Into My Room’. ‘Better Than Today’ – a song she wrote for Kylie, a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, and’ Daphne & Apollo’ from her 2001 debut.

Highlights?  The opening two numbers set an impossibly high standard, but from a band perspective, the reworking of ‘Heart Attack’ from Fires was quite inspired, as were the pairing – towards the end of the set – of ‘Rousseau’ and ‘Ain’t Got Anything Left’, again both lifted from the new album.

On stage alone, Pallot was equally mesmerising – you could hear a pin drop during the delicate acoustic version of ‘Mr King’, and her cover of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ was equally haunting.

Such was the quality of the songs and their delivery, it makes you wonder why Nerina Pallot hasn’t garnered wider acclaim.  But thankfully she has a sufficiently strong fan base to mean that she can continue to do what she wants – including swigging from a bottle of wine on stage.  Some may regard that as unprofessional, others that that’s rock ‘n’ roll (Liam Gallagher would no doubt have approved), but no one seemed to care.

‘Manchester, I love you’ she gushed more than once.  The feeling seemed mutual.

Set list: If I Had A Girl / Spirit Walks / Idaho / Damascus / Better Than Today / Mr King / Daphne & Apollo / Love Will Tear Us Apart / Come Into My Room / This Is Love / Geek Love / Heart Attack / There Is A Drum / Rousseau / Ain’t Got Anything Left / Put Your Hands Up / Sophia

Review by Pete Whalley

Album review (The Sound And The Fury)
Archive gig reviews:
January 2007
May 2006

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Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)

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