Anthony Loman

Another year draws to a close and I was about to say that little has changed in the post Oasis world of the Brothers Gallagher but that is certainly not the case in 2017. Since the very public implosion of their band in 2009 when Noel simply decided he'd had enough of working with his kid brother Liam, the two of them have been in a pretty much constant war of words, invariably instigated by Liam but with the fire frequently stoked by Noel and nothing has changed much on that front to this day.

IFNeil Diamond's current 50th Anniversary Tour does indeed turn out to be the singer's swansong concert performances then, on the evidence of the man's recent show at the Manchester Arena which kicked off the UK leg of his trek around the world, he really is bowing out right at the top of his game.

TV presenters, radio DJs and music fans are all too guilty these days of casually referring to many artists as legends, when in truth, most have hardly earned the label. It is a tag that is bandied about with little thought given to what it actually takes to warrant such a title but with respect to soul diva Gladys Knight, her status as a music legend is fully deserved and has been justifiably earned during her career that now spans over fifty years of performing.

Liam Gallagher has, on more than a few occasions, been painted as the villain of the piece but last week it was a definite case of hats off to the man for being the first celebrity to offer to do his bit in the wake of the terrorist atrocity at the Manchester Arena.

There's something really quite special about seeing a superstar artist performing in a small, intimate theatre when the normal default position is for the biggest names to play concerts in huge, soulless arenas. Such was the privilege afforded to the lucky few thousand packed into the Manchester Apollo recently when Sting brought his 57th & 9th World Tour to town. And there is little doubting that, with his near forty year career and his illustrious back catalogue, The Police former frontman would still have no difficulty in selling out much larger venues.

Difficult as it might be to believe, it is now just over twenty years since Placebo first burst onto the scene with their intense, spiky, alternative and always engaging brand of rock music. Since their self-titled debut album was released in 1996, they have built up a back catalogue of a further six studio albums and racked up record sales in excess of 11 million.

With all the pre-show publicity and the concert ticket itself promising Lionel Richie's latest UK tour to deliver 'All The Hits', the 16,000 fans who went along to the singer's two gigs at the Manchester Arena last week knew exactly what to expect and got it all and much more in spades during a thrilling, two hour performance from a genuine music legend.

If anyone thought that a particularly wet and soggy evening at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester would result in Bruce Springsteen giving a shortened and perhaps more subdued performance than normal then they could not have been more wrong and I would further hazard  that it would suggest they clearly know nothing of the man and his legendary concert reputation.

There can scarcely have been a more eagerly anticipated return to performance and touring than that of Jeff Lynne's modern day incarnation of his hugely popular group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), whose golden period was during the mid to late 1970's.

NO-ONE stays at the top of their profession for over thirty-two years without being the very best at what they do and getting it right 99 per cent of the time.