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GEOFF BOTTOMS relishes a profoundly human portrait of a family as it evolves across 55 years in Sheffield
A worthy walk down a distinguished musical memory lane
A bout of nostalgia warms Tony Burke’s heart and soul
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an excellently crafted new musical that explores the life and death of Ruth Ellis
PAUL DONOVAN is tickled by the excruciating take-downs of one of the funniest, wittiest, political writers around.
RON JACOBS points out, via a transcription of Kissinger’s secret recordings, that Trump could never have existed without Nixon and Kissinger
ELLIS RAE is persuaded that the advantages of the ‘talking cure’ are superior to the treatment of mental illness with drugs
JOHN GREEN, MICHAL BONCZA and BELLA KATZ review The Good Boy, Broken English, and Don't Be Prey
Were You There - Popular Music At Manchester’s Free Trade Hall 1951 – 1996
By Richard Lysons
Empire Publications £20
Manchester’s Free Trade Hall was built on the site of the 1819 Peterloo massacre as a public hall celebrating the repeal of the Corn Laws. It took three years to construct between 1853 and 1856 and in 1858 it became the home of the Halle Orchestra.
Bought by the Manchester Corporation in 1920, and bombed in 1940 it was rebuilt as a concert hall in 1950 and 1951, eventually hosting countless jazz, folk, blues and rock concerts including a number of legendary gigs — not least the famous 1966 Bob Dylan “Judas” concert.
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