Macclesfield musician Ben Gorb has played a packed and jubilant live show in the heart of Manchester.

The recent raucous show followed the release of his second album Burning Light.

Ben honoured his followers by rescheduling his Burning Light album launch at the Night and Day Café in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

The Oldham Street venue opened in 1991, and has played host to a long-lineage of Macclesfield musicians over the years.

The venue which plays host to many of the underground artists emerging back into the music scene, welcomed Ben and two support acts last Thursday.

Having to cancel the original November date due the uncertainty of COVID-19 at the end of last year, Ben's headline show was rescheduled for Thursday February 10 2022.

The album has been available to stream on all services since having to postpone the launch evening, however it was a chance to purchase his second studio album in the physical form on CD.

It is hard to beat the experience and of the draw of live music and the night proved that it was certainly being welcomed back with open arms.

The gig opened with Chris Tavener, a satirical singer/songwriter from Northwich, Cheshire.

Armed with his guitar he delivered an amazing performance of his own original satirical songs with jaunty guitar rock, featuring some of his songs from his current album Is He Joking?.

You can listen Chris' music here.

Next to grace the stage was Yopo, a four-piece post grunge band with influences from hip hop, jazz, progressive rock with a modern metal flare.

Led by Macclesfield creative Euan Coupland, Yopo delivered a raucous set that featured songs from their EP Ancient Animal Forms.

You can listen to Yopo's music here.

Finally coming to stage was Ben and his four-piece band.

Unfortunately Ben was unable to be joined this evening by his regular guitarist Jake Priestly. Who although missed, was expertly replaced by Jack Hayward.

On drums was Josh Savage, and on bass was Joseph Shaw.

The atmosphere exploded as they launched into the opening number, the venue buzzed and bounced as the audience seemed to be absorbing every note played here tonight, live music this has so been missed.

Not only was Ben supported on the night by his friends and family from the Macclesfield or beyond, a large

selection of fellow underground music artists also attended. Other professionals who work in the music industry were also in attendance, to give him the support he deserved and of course his loyal fans. Ben being the gentleman he is acknowledged every professional in the room he could see from stage and thanked them, adding the personal touch only Ben can deliver. Ben delivered a fast-paced performance, slowing it down slightly in the middle to play acoustically and solo on stage. Before firing up with the band again to deliver more of his classic rock style with a modern twist. The best quote heard on the night was 'He plays Hendrix better than Hendrix', from a sound engineer in the audience. The evening ended as the crowd called for one more Ben picked up his acoustic guitar and closed with poignant moving track, Talking. Which is also the closing track on the Burning Light album. To say everyone had a great night would be an understatement if live music ever needed an opening act to bring out of the dark cloak of COVID you could not go wrong with getting Ben and his band to do it. Speaking after the gig, Ben said "I can safely say this was the best Thursday night ever." "Without doubt one of the best gigs of my life. Thank you so much to everyone who came and made the launch so special." Macclesfield: You can listen to Ben's latest album here. You can also follow him on Facebook. A keen supporter of Nub News, Macclesfield Nub News will post a Q&A with Ben in the coming days. See Also: Macclesfield Musical Expats: Five performers from our town currently working elsewhere. Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our FREE Friday weekly newsletter? It contains each week's top 10 Macclesfield news stories, and one EXCLUSIVE article? 1200 of you have signed up already. Simply enter your email address in the shaded box below or on this link. Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 30-40 stories a week for our town. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.