Manchester v Cancer, Jan 2006 @ M.E.N.

As a 13 year old I was obsessed with New Order. As a 16 old the obsession moved to the Smiths, and, just when I thought musical obsessions were a thing of the past, I became obsessed with Doves and Elbow. I never thought for one moment that one day I would see all of them, along with the likes of Badly Drawn Boy and 808 State on one stage, but this night, all my wildest fantasies came true. Suffice to say the evening surpassed all of my expectations and made my face ache from smiling so hard, my throat sore from singing so loud and my hands sting from clapping for so long. Johnny Marr was a genius and New Order's pure Joy Division set was inspired. But,the moments that will live with me forever were those of Doves in collaboration with BDB, Bernard Sumner, Johnny Marr and Guy Garvey - surely a once in a lifetime experience. Photos are thanks to Sam again - I was nowhere near enough to get such good shots.