Play review: New Dawn Fades, Perth Theatre, Tuesday 1st September 2026

 It seemed more than apt to be going to see a play about Joy Division on the first day of meteorological autumn, and the sense of pathetic fallacy was only heightened as I waited in the drizzle on a windswept hillside for my lift (delayed by traffic jams caused by a motorway accident) to Perth, to the extent that I even looked around in vain for a punctured bicycle to complete the tableau of Mancunian miserabilism.

But New Dawn Fades, a play premiered thirteen years ago and now beginning another UK tour is far from being a non-stop gloomfest however, leavened as it is by frequent flashes of humour in the accurate portrayals of the likes of Peter Hook, Rob Gretton and above all our genial host, legendary Factory boss and local TV personality Tony Wilson, our narrator for the evening, played mannerism-perfect by the play’s author, Brian Gorham.

The first half of the play successfully contextualises the growth of the Manchester punk scene in the wider history of the city itself, from its Roman founders through the Peterloo massacre and the writings of Friedrich Engels, with Wilson successfully navigating the audience through fast-paced scenes with a dazzlingly array of characters from Julius Agricola to Paul Morley, although those unfamiliar with the topography of the contemporary Manchester city centre may have missed some of the references.

Interspersed with the city’s social and political history is the development of the band itself, through the early succession of drummers, the change of band name from Warsaw to Joy Division and the earliest gigs and recordings. The play doesn’t shy away from the accusations of Nazi obsession to which the choice of band name and record sleeve art rightly gave rise, but the band narrative increasingly shares centre stage with the development of the relationship between Ian Curtis and his young bride Deborah (played sympathetically by the play’s Director Lauren Greenwood) as Joy Division experience their first breakthroughs, culminating in a reconstruction of the band’s TV appearance on Granada Reports playing Shadowplay. 

In a mesmerising performance which closes the play’s first half, Josh Lonsdale as Curtis provides an impressively accurate live vocal and physical performance, dancing jerkily with flailing arms over the taped musical backing mimed by the actors portraying the rest of the band.

Overhearing snatches of conversation during the interval from those amongst the capacity audience who saw the band live in the late 197O’s or who had travelled hundreds of miles just to see the play was a stark reminder of the unique and enduring appeal of a band who sold a relatively paltry amount of records during their career, and whose tragic ending has undoubtedly played a part in galvanising all those their music touched.

The second half of the play begins with the portentous riff of the track which gives the play its name and whose title hints at the troubles ahead, as the play understandably focuses on the factors that increasingly closed in on Curtis, from the physical pressures of epilepsy through the emotional angst of attempting to reconcile his role as husband and father with his relationship with (the unseen) Annik Honoré to the mental stresses of being the frontman of a band increasingly in the spotlight.

As the play nears its inevitable denouement, it veers perilously close to jukebox musical territory at times (notably with the focus on the middle section of Isolation during the recording of Closer and in a touching scene where Ian and Deborah quote lines from Love Will Tear Us Apart at each other as their relationship disintegrates further), yet the writing and direction are never clunky, and the lyrics give an indication of Curtis’ state of mind to a modern audience hopefully more aware of the importance of men openly discussing their mental health than was generally the case at the turn of the eighties.

Gorman as writer handles the suicide scene sensitively, drawing heavily on Deborah Curtis’ memoir Touching From A Distance, with the effective use of a discordant section of Funtime from Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. After a final scene in which the rest of the band, Wilson and Gretton try to come to terms with what has happened and move on as New Order, as an encore Lonsdale leads the band through an emotional rendition of Love Will Tear Us Apart, with authentic instruments which will have been noted by the clearly knowledgeable and appreciative audience.

With a superb ensemble cast and a pace that never flags, this production of New Dawn Fades was over all too soon, and is highly recommended as it continues its tour around the UK throughout September and October.

For full details, see the play’s own website.

The Cure, Mogwai and Slowdive, Edinburgh Royal Highland Showground, Sunday 23rd August 2026

 The Cure’s undisputed status as the kings of the alternative music scene over the last four decades was confirmed when tickets for this thirty thousand plus capacity gig sold out within hours of going on sale last autumn. This was one of two large outdoor shows the band played this week on the UK mainland as part of their summer festival tour.

By the time we made our way into the already busy venue Slowdive were already beginning their late afternoon set to an understandably enthusiastic reception, as their classic shoegaze sound, which seems more popular today than in their early 90’s heyday, shares the same melancholic yet comforting and uplifting mood as Robert Smith’s own ensemble. Indeed, their reverb-drenched complex musical soundscapes share such a similar vibe to The Cure’s slow-burning, mid-tempo songs that they are in many ways the perfect warm-up act for Crawley’s finest, with Star Roving (from their eponymous 2017 comeback album) and signature song Catch The Breeze from their stunning 1991 début Just For A Day) setting the tone for a set rich in shimmering blissed-out melody from alternating vocalists Rachel and Neil.

The lengthy pauses between bands at single stage outdoor gigs not only gives the opportunity for refreshment and comfort breaks but also for extended people-watching. One of The Cure’s great strengths has always been their ability to appeal to a more mainstream audience than any of their goth-adjacent contemporaries, including a much broader age range, with many multi-generational family groups in attendance on this occasion (parenting done well). Although perhaps ten per cent of those present are ‘gothed-up’ to a greater or lesser extent, the vast majority look as if they could be attending any outdoor show: of the roughly 25% of attendees sporting a band t-shirt, the overwhelming majority feature the evening’s headliners, although there was a small smattering of the expected ‘goth legends’ (Sisters, Siouxsie, JD, Bauhaus), a handful of more modern acts (Traitrs, Whispering Sons, Drab Majesty) and some truly random outliers (Madness, Dead Kennedys and All Saints for example).

Only one solitary t-shirt was spotted bearing the name of the main support act, native Scottish band Mogwai, an indication of the niche position their primarily instrumental compositions hold in the musical landscape. If Slowdive are the archetypal shoegaze group, then Mogwai can be considered the ultimate post-rock act, their carefully constructed cinematic noisescapes making them the muso’s go-to musos. Those in the audience who had been attracted to the gig by The Cure’s more playful numbers (The Love Cats, Friday I’m In Love et al) seemed somewhat bemused by the succession of dynamic-contrast-filled musical pieces drenched in guitar-FX floating over the Royal Highland Showground, a unique mix of experimental neo-psychedelia, prog-tinged space rock and groove-based krautrock, underpinned by Martin Bulloch’s metronomic drumming. Their genuinely career-spanning set began with two tracks from last year’s The Bad Fire and ended with the legendary and lengthy Mogwai Fear Satan from 1997 début Mogwai Young Team, but the highlight was Ritchie Sacramento, the closest Mogwai come to a traditional song structure with its plaintive “All gone“ chorus , a moving paen to musicians who lost their lives too young, such as fellow Scottish artist Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit.

The Glaswegian act’s smouldering epics set the scene perfectly for The Cure’s own main set, bookended as it was with intense masterpieces (Plainsong and the title track) from 1989’s seminal goth blueprint Disintegration, which provided a further five songs in a dark set replete with deep album cuts from the first fifteen years of the band’s career. That the band played not a single track from a further trio of seminal gothic albums - Faith, Pornography and 2024’s Songs Of A Lost World - and still produced a mesmering set of darkly dramatic music speaks volumes for Smith’s talent as a musician, whether as singer, guitarist or songwriter, a fact often overlooked due to his cartoonish trademark appearance, a blur of smudged make-up, oversized jumpers and spiderish hairstyles. Now 67, his passion for the music remains as strong as ever, and his vocals show no sign of decline, unlike many of his peers. His subtle and stunning musical interplay with eternally cool bassist Simon Gallup is as much a joy to behold on stage as it is to hear on record, with the rest of the band also on top form: former Bowie acolyte Reeves Gabrels on guitar (with occasional support from Simon’s son Eden Gallup), drummer Jason Cooper (whose energetic tub-thumping made Burn an early set highlight), Roger O’Donnell on keyboards, with Jason’s son Gabriel Cooper providing a sax solo on A Night Like This.

Whilst the inspired pairing of indie hits In Between Days and Just Like Heaven midway through the main set had the whole crowd dancing, the rest of the show was more introspective in tone, with Smith admitting when the band returned for the encore that performing such songs take a lot more out of the band then the “light set” which formed an impressive eight-song encore which was effectively a mini ‘greatest hits’ set ending in a joyous Boys Don’t Cry to send the assembled multitude home sated but exhausted, whilst maintaining the band’s longstanding reputation for marathon gigs of exceptional quality. Not even a bizarre false start to Charlotte Sometimes, which Smith attributed to there being two different setlists amongst the band members (despite admitting that he was personally responsible for the selection of songs) could detract from a memorable evening which once again confirmed that The Cure remain peerless leaders of the alternative pack.

Live Review: VAZUM and Gateway at the Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh, 24th June 2026

 Innovative Detroit-based duo VAZUM are bringing their unique deathgaze sound to the UK for an impressive third consecutive year,starting as usual with a show in the historic underground vaults in the Old Town of Scotland’s capital.

As in 2025, the gig took place at the Banshee Labyrinth, the nation’s self-styled “most haunted venue”, with its suitably subterranean maze-like layout and spooky decor making it a natural home for both the Edinburgh Horror Festival and gigs like this, so it came as no surprise to hear VAZUM’s Emily say that the venue “feels like home”.

Gothic objet d’art in an alcove leading to the gig room

As on previous tours, VAZUM have arranged quality local support for each show of their UK stay,  with post-punk three-piece Gateway opening the Edinburgh show. In a genre dominated in Britain by those whose careers started in the 1980’s - only one of the thirteen acts billed to appear at the sadly-now-cancelled Deadinburgh Festival this year had no members over fifty years of age - it is encouraging to see younger bands taking on the mantle, with Gateway being less than half the age of many audience members and indeed so young that they don’t use Facebook (relying solely on TikTok and Instagram, apparently), but their sound has a timeless quality based around solid song structures, rooted in the interplay between some interesting bass motifs and singer Cameron’s nifty guitar work. Recent single Stiff Bodies ironically fails to get the assembling crowd dancing, but the band’s grunge-tinged and alternative 80’s influenced sound elicits an appreciative audience reaction, especially for punkier songs from the forthcoming EP Truth and Voices, which like the aforementioned teaser track will be available on Spotify.

Gateway

As at their Edinburgh début two years ago at Bannermans, at which the band’s relentless drum machine Jimmy was christened, VAZUM’s set is liberally sprinkled with new songs from their as yet unfinished album, beginning with No Mercy, a short clip of which was revealed online at the start of the year. With Zach and Emily alternating in the lead vocal role, the duo blast through a set which picks up pace with a bone-shaking rendition of lead single Breach from most recent album Western Violence, followed by its counterpart Blush, with Emily’s strong vocal, notably in the upper range, showcased perfectly. The dark riffing of Exile provides an apposite backdrop for Zach’s own deep echoey delivery, whilst his stunning arpeggio modulations allow Emily to shine once more on another track from that album, Alien, which follows. 

The band’s genre-inventing originality is celebrated in another new song, Death Gazers, which unsurprisingly does what it says on the tin, combining unsettlingly oblique guitar chord changes with more ethereal elements, creating an atmosphere of creepy familiarity not unlike the best horror movies, but never in an obvious or clunky manner.

The intro to the new song Death Gazers 

With the wonderful Thief the only survivor from V+ days, the set ends with further tracks from the Western Violence, including a joyous finale rendition of the title track, which has the reasonably sized audience (especially considering the clash with the Scotland v Brazil World Cup match) grooving along enthusiastically. The show ends not with an encore, but with a raffle in which one lucky punter wins a t-shirt, before the affable duo return to the merch table where hopefully their costs for the evening were covered.

VAZUM’s biggest-ever and highly-recommended UK tour continues tonight with a near sell-out show in Newcastle supported by both Black Rain and Social Youth Cult, with further shows in Leicester, London, Oxford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds and Manchester.

Dave Formula and Noko play the music of Magazine, Edinburgh, 7th May 2026

Mancunian legends Magazine were one of the first true post-punk acts of the late 1970’s, as bands began to deviate from the seemingly strict Year Zero three-chord ‘destroy’ template towards a broader musical and spiritual palette, with Dave Formula’s subtle and inventive work a key element in their unique aesthetic. Reforming briefly after a near thirty year absence in the late noughties, guitarist Noko (who had previously collaborated with singer Howard Devoto on the Luxuria project in the mid 1980’s) took on the McGeoch role which he reprises with aplomb on Formula’s current tour, Songs From Under The Floorboards, essentially playing a ‘fan favourite’ set culled from the band’s first three albums. With Devoto and other original band members not interested in a further reformation project, Formula turned to his own son Max to play drums, with another father and son pairing, bassist Tim and vocalist Peter Petersen of French post-punk act Affection Place (who had supported Magazine back in 1980 and collaborated with Formula on their own recent comeback album) completing the line-up.

Before the band took to the stage at Edinburgh’ La Belle Angèle club for the second night of their UK tour, the growing audience was treated to support act Scant Regard, a solo project by ‘guitar for hire’ Will Crewdson, regular touring member of acts as diverse as Bow Wow Wow, Gaye Bykers on Acid, The Selecter and Adam Ant, but best-known amongst goth audiences for his time touring with Flesh For Lulu when the late Nick Marsh briefly resurrected the project a decade ago. Scant Regard therefore gives Crewdson the rare opportunity to play his own songs, which are primarily high tempo rock’n’roll with a strong twang element over a drum machined backing, with the end result a curious mix of Carter USM and Duane Eddy, delivered with an energetic Billy Idol pop punk swagger. Recent single Unrequited Hate got proceedings off to a suitably high octane start, with the repetitive Paranormal Paranoia and the funkier Fistbumps amongst others eliciting applause from the early arrivals.

Formula and Co took to the stage for their ninety minute set with a brave attempt at The Thin Air, the instrumental track which begins the second side of Magazine’s seminal prog-influenced 1979 album Secondhand Daylight, the LP on which the genial keyboardist’s talent is most perfectly showcased. Tracks from this album were largely absent from the reunion tour of nearly two decades ago, and indeed The Thin Air is being played for the first time on this tour, with other tracks such as Back To Nature which (succeeded it at this gig as it does on the album) being played for the first time in forty-five years. The rapturous applause which greeted it set the tone for the evening, with an appreciative and knowledgeable audience showing a real gratitude for songs which had accompanied their lives for nearly half a century.

By the fourth song in, a very tight rendition of Sweetheart Contract from third album The Correct Use of Soap, any lingering sound mix problems had been fully rectified, leading on to the first of many highlights of the evening, a wondrous version of Motorcade (music ironically written by Formula’s predecessor Bob Dickenson), with Peter Petersen fully owning both the stage and the song and removing any lingering doubts as to whether he was worthy of performing songs so synonymous with the dramatic and over-enunciated delivery of original singer Howard Devoto.

As Formula would correctly later state when doing band introductions during the encore, Petersen’s performance is true to the spirit of Magazine whilst injecting some of his own magnetic personality into proceedings. Dressed in a brim hat and a lounge suit with his tie undone, Petersen prowls around the stage using his rubbery and expressive features to convey a song’s meaning like a Gallic post-punk George Melly, never more effectively than on the Weill-esque tracks Parade and The Great Beautician in the Sky, where the jazz be-hatted and pink-jacketed Formula’s own deftness of touch and originality are also at their peak (Parade being the only track on début album which Formula co-wrote with Devoto).

As the gig progresses, Noko effortlessly switches guitars and genres to fully replicate the power and skill of McGeoch’s style on crowd-pleasers like the controversially lyriced Permafrost, Feed the Enemy(played once again at its original speed) and the fairground whirl of Model Worker, after which the guitarist points out to the audience that because of the words and actions of the contemporary incumbent, the band has decided not to follow the tradition of updating the song’s lyric to reference the current President of the USA.

By now, the band is in full stride and feeding off the wholehearted crowd reaction, and despite having earlier promised “je ne vais pas trop raconter”, Petersen produces  a book of Sartrean French philosophical prose and proceeds to read some extracts to add to the bohemian, cabaret-sequel feel of the performance, including an extended passage where the narrator feels that he is an insect, a prelude to the two popular Magazine songs on that theme which end the main set, Song From Under The Floorboards and The Light Pours Out Of Me, with the singer again slipping into his native tongue for a few choruses of “La lumière s’échappe de moi”.

The band swiftly returned for a three song encore which included Definitive Gaze, with a spritely Formula again defying his 79 years with an agile and energetic performance around his various keyboards, before Noko took centre stage for the finale, the legendary riff around which Shot By Both Sides (and The Buzzcocks’ Lipstick) is built.

The highly recommended Songs From Under The Floorboards tour continues around the UK this month, and the band will also be appearing at Rebellion Festival and other events this summer.

IST IST Live at The Caves, Edinburgh Monday February 9th 2026

 One of the perennial topics over the past couple of decades has been the difficulty that hugely talented acts now face in breaking out of the goth/post-punk ghetto, so kudos to Manchester post-punk act for taking on the mainstream at their own game and copying the marketing ploy of mounting an album launch tour with attractively-priced vinyl or cd + ticket deals to maximise sales and therefore chart position in that crucial first week of release. Attracting a crowd numbering into three figures for a post-punk gig in Edinburgh is never easy on a Monday night in February, and the band’s word of mouth success over a career already spanning a dozen years is testament to their ability, hard work and willingness to do things differently.

Like its immediate predecessor Light A Bigger Fire, fifth album Dagger is worthy of the accolade of an album playthrough show on the evidence of this confident and polished performance at The Caves, an atmospheric venue dating back to the eighteenth century in the bowels of the South Bridge. Opening salvo I Am The Fear sets the tone, a stunning amalgam of 80’s influenced post-punk and electronica, with Andy Keating’s pulsating bass and Adam Houghton’s intense baritone vocal the immediate focal points.

The melodic guitar and swirling synths of Mat Peters underpin the catchy choruses of the next two songs, Makes No Difference and Warning Signs, an early indication that like on the previous album, almost every track is a potential single with crossover potential.

The faithful rendition of the new album, released just three days previously, continues unabated, with Burning appealing to those attracted to the darker side of post-punk, and The Echo’s memorably melancholic refrain appropriately soaring high into the vaulted stone roof, reverberating timelessly around the venue.

The pace drops momentarily during the more experimental opening segment of Encouragement, and the equally subdued I Remember Everything’s sparser arrangement allows Houghton to demonstrate how his signature vocal has improved over recent years. Obligations’ huge chorus, with Houghton (as is often the case echoing the synth motif), is just as powerful as on record, making the contrast with the more muted and subtle Song For Someone even more effective.

Barely half an hour since they took to the stage, the band launch into album closer Ambition, arguably the weakest track on the release, but any sense of anti-climax is immediately dissipated by the two bonus tracked (which are different each night of the tour) selected for this gig, Lost My Shadow and The Kiss, the opening two tracks from the preceding album, which are particularly well-received by an appreciative crowd.

Before ending the show with a “meet and greet” signing session, the band proudly announce that, somewhat incredibly, the new album features at number three in the midweek UK albums chart update, no mean feat for a band who cherish their independence and continue to release their music on their own Kind Violence label. The band will return to Scotland in April as part of a more traditional UK and European tour.