Live music, eh? Remember that? Well, you're about to. On the eve of the UK reopening its venues, stages and (some of its) festivals on a larger scale than we've seen for well over a year now, in this month's Dork, we're (cautiously and responsibly) celebrating the good stuff hopefully soon to come. In an issue full of all the bands we can't wait to see live, there was only one place we could head for our cover. Back in the summer of 2020, Dork's Readers Poll Band of the Year Sports Team dropped their debut album 'Deep Down Happy' and immediately shot into a chart battle with Lady Gaga. We can debate who really won the day forever more (is it really a victory if you have to resort to such thin excuses as 'the rules' to win the day, eh? - Ed), but that's not the point. For a band who thrive in the live arena, the fact they've yet to give the record the victory lap it so richly deserves is a travesty. One they're about to put right. We hit Soho with frontman Alex Rice to get misty-eyed about what we've been missing and to cast a cautious glance at what might be coming next. It's not just one band we're eager to experience respectfully-up-close-and-mask-wearingly-personal, though. We're running through 49 more of the acts we're eager to catch over the coming months. It probably could have been 500. Elsewhere this month, we're drowning in new music from the most exciting new acts 'about'. There's the brilliant Olivia Dean, the fizzy-banging Jawny, the always vibrant KAWALA and the gloriously dramatic Creeper, for a start. We talk going solo with former Spring King man Tarek Musa, as he embarks on his debut album under his Dead Nature banner, connect with mother nature with top bopster Aurora, check in on what's going on with Lorde and loads, loads more. Add to that all the fresh names in Hype - this month's bumper crop includes Frances Forever, Charli Adams, Police Car Collective, L'objectif and Lime Garden - plus all the latest reviews, news and nonsense, and it's one not to miss. We even call one pop star an "adorable sausage". You'd not get that anywhere else.
