The Milk, Wax & Beans. 29th November 2025

The first gig of the evening is a bit special, as I squeeze into the wonderful Wax & Beans record shop in Bury, with a bunch of lovely people, to watch The Milk deliver an intimate striped back set. I say stripped back, there’s an acoustic guitar, an electric one and the piano, no rhythm section, but those voices, wow! Rick sounds amazing on ‘Darling What’s Wrong?’. ‘Knock Me Our For 10’ is spine tingling. The guitars are clean, the vocal viscerally raw. The heat they’re generating, steaming the shop window behind them. ‘Favourite Worry’ is shorter without the solo, but honestly it’s still stunning. It all is, hearing songs like ‘Deliver Me’ like this is pretty incredible. The lights are up, I’m about 6ft from the trio on a small stage sat on chairs, belting out songs that I adore. As ‘Deliver Me’ closes, they glide into a coda of ‘Every Time We Fight’ and it sounds like the best thing I’ve ever heard. Guitars are swapped for the more mellow ‘Ooh Baby’ but it’s essentially just one guitar, a single maraca and the vocal. Wonderful. It’s all change again for ‘Never Come Down’, Rick taking the piano, as they squeeze to navigate the tiny space. It’s getting pretty warm in here as they rip into ‘Wanderlust’. All three punching the floor with their feet, triggering the tambourine that’s under the piano to join in the fun. ‘Borderlands’ is sort of why we’re here. The title track of the latest record that tonight is in support of. It’s a nice sound, easier than the earlier stuff, but still superb. The group next to me decide this is a good time for a selfie with the band playing behind them. I’m not sure if that’s an endorsement or not. ‘Colours’ and ‘Wanted Man’ aren’t my favourites, but honestly every song sounds magnificent tonight and that organ is like a reassuringly warm hug. They close with ‘Broke Up the Family’ and oh my god, slowed right down, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it so good. I’m still a little stunned as they sign my record when we’re done. I’ve got another gig to rush off too, but it won’t match this.