Inspiral Carpets

Albert Hall, Manchester

Dec 13th 2025

The 1600 capacity Albert Hall is one of Manchester’s best venues – a converted church with huge stain glass windows, it oozes atmosphere and is the perfect place to add a gravitas to a new band on the rise or an older band like tonight who have rediscovered their mojo.

This is arguably the best I’ve seen the Inspiral Carpets over the decades. They sound urgent and they sound powerful. Maybe its because they are at the end of a sold out UK tour and the band is tight, maybe it’s because their set is studded with much loved hits that go deep into the local DNA or maybe it’s deep cuts or even the two new songs which are as good as anything they have ever released including the upcoming bass driven catchy potential single Drag The Bag or There’s a Better Way which featured drummer Kev Clark on the singalong bah bah bah backing vocs. It could be the joy with which they deliver their songs or that they are getting the appreciation they deserve. There is just something different about the show that has the added magic dust that new manager Alan Mcgee seems to sprinkle on many of the veteran bands he manages – turning them around like a ‘big character’ football manager.

Tonight, in a triumphant evening, the Inspirals breathed a new fire into old songs like This Is How It Feels – their biggest hit and a lyrical kitchen sink drama that delivers poignancy and melancholy as well as any of the great British songwriters like Ray Davies. The same goes for Two Words Collide, which is a sophisticated, melancholy pop with another big chorus. She Comes In The Fall is a glorious romp whilst Sackville dusts down the garage shuffle of the early Doors and sieves it through the Lancashire West Coast psychedelia of a Teardrop Explodes or another local crew who are having their own big comeback, the Chameleons. The nifty use of the John Cooper Clarke sample on  Let You Down gives the song a poetic drawling edge whilst Mark Smith’s scurillous sneering voice cuts through on I Want You. 

As ever, the harmonies are on point on many songs like Dragging Me Down with its exquisite vocal interplay, whilst Saturn Five ends the set, blowing the roof off the venue with its huge chorus and yet more semi hidden lyrical prowess that often goes unnoticed because the band prefer to be cheeky scamps than bragging artists. 

Nights like this underline that the Inspiral Carpets were far more than the also rans in the great Madchester race of the late eighties. Anyone who was there in real time will remember them very much as equal partners in the Manc triumvirate or Roses/Mondays/Carpets – three bands linked by geography and an interest in psychedelia.

The three bands were also linked by Mani, whose beautiful cheeky face adorns the backdrop of a vintage selection of photos from the band’s near 40-year career flickered on the screens to the sides of the stage to a huge cheer. Mani was the link between all the groups and who knew them all and could have been in any of them, spreading his vibes and sinuous bass across those songs. His face elicits a massive cheer – everyone has a great story involving the bass hero and the Inspirals are no different. 

Despite the decades the current Inspirals are relatively intact despite losing their effervescent drummer Craig Gill in 2016 with the reconvened band having four of their very original line up with singer Stephen Holt giving the songs the garage grit of the early line up that he fronted (and we are not going to be dragged into an either/or debate on the vocalists – both Tom and Stephen brought their own special tones to the band). Kev Clarke’s drums honour the patterns of the late Craig whilst adding his own deft touch, Martyn Walsh’s muscular bass is at the front, giving the band an almost Stranglers power whilst band founder Graham Lambert’s guitar scratches around the melody and Clint Boon’s Farfisa remains the signature.

For a few years, the Inspiral Carpets seemed to be content to be a footnote in the Manchester music story playing a few festivals and low key tours but this year they have come back and claimed their rightful space. Everything has changed. Like their former ‘roadie’, the band now seem focused and urgent and at the top of their game and ready to live forever. 

This was a great show in front of a classic singalong northern crowd full of sweat, good times and emotion by a reenergised band delivering the musical manna from heaven one of those classic nights.

Moo!