CITYLIFE /SEVEN DAYS
TODAY (Friday) Clubbing / The Rock + Roll Bar Reunion Indulge in some serious clubbing nostalgia as Rock + Roll Bar - the nineties session much beloved of Liam Gallagher, Mani and all manner of Manc miscreants - makes a one-off return two decades after its last run out. All the old crew will be out in force (DJs Phil Beckett, Nev Cottee and Jeff Percy), whilst all proceeds from the night will go towards the Stroke Foundation.
South / southnightclub.com / 0161 831 7756 / Friday, April 28, 10pm to late / £8 adv, £15 on the door Clubbing / Chow Down x Coyote Grime/garage faves Chow Down and Coyote Records are teaming up for a Bank Holiday weekend special with guests Last Japan, Chemist and Thomas Fraser, plus residents Anz, Fallow, Grizzle and Marcx.
Soup Kitchen / soup-kitchen.co.uk / 0161 236 5100 / Friday, April 28, 11pm to 4am / Free before 11.30pm, £5 after Music / The Big Session A perfect marriage of genre and geography, the annual Big Session sees a host of worldclass folk and roots talent head to the Buxton hills. Curated by English folk stalwarts Oysterband, the four-day programme includes performances from the likes of Eliza Carthy, The Levellers, Honey Ryder and Nancy Kerr, plus workshops, rambling walks and – always a massive highlight – the awesome folk train from Manchester to Buxton.
Buxton Opera House / 01298 72190 / Friday, April 28 to Monday, May 1 / £96 weekend ticket, more info at - buxtonoperahouse.org. uk/the-big-session Dance / Turn 2017 One of the key events in Manchester’s dance calendar, micro-festival Turn presented by Word of Warning, Contact and Dance Manchester – returns to showcase a range of new work and works-in-progress from north west dance makers and artists.
Contact / contactmcr.com / 0161 274 0600 / Friday, April 28, 7.30pm / £9/£5 concs Comedy / Myra Dubois A huge favourite on the fringe circuit, Rotherham cabaret artist Myra Dubois now brings her signature brand of acid-tongued wit to the Dancehouse stage. Her raucous rendition of I Know Him So Well should be worth the entrance fee alone.
The Dancehouse / thedancehouse. co.uk / 0161 237 9753 / Friday, April 28, 7.15pm / £12/£10 concs Visual arts / Wanderlust Curated by University of Salford alumna Amy Stevenson, The International 3’s latest show explores the practice of three artists – Simon Faithfull, Mishka Henner and Ma Qiusha - whose work is bound up with ideas of voyeurism, ambiguous journeys and seeing the world from an altered perspective.
The International 3 / international3.com / 07960 038 063 / Starts Friday, April 28, runs until June 2 / Free SATURDAY Film / Spike is 60 As part of the Spike is 60 Festival - a programme of events marking the 60th birthday of celebrated film director Spike Lee - HOME is hosting a special screening of Bamboozled, Lee’s 2001 satire on the creation of a modern day minstrel show. After the screening, there will be a chance to dig deeper into the film with a panel discussion hosted by Akua Gyamfi, founder of The British Blacklist.
HOME / homemcr.org / 0161 200 1500 / Saturday, April 29, 3.20pm / £5 Music / The Membranes and Friends And the award for the most headbangin’, moshpit-friendly gig of the week surely belongs to this: an epic line-up of rock talent headlined by John Robb’s veteran punkers The Membranes, joined by a 25-piece BIMM choir. Support comes from Brix and the Extricated, The Blinders, Dub Sex, The Nightingales, Evil Blizzard As any hardened festival goer will testify, it’s often the more random, unpredictable stuff that makes for a great festival experience. Forget the big headline acts; the most exciting stuff really happens when you ditch the timetable and go exploring with an open mind. When it comes to the Manchester festival calendar, no festival has captured this sense of adventure better than Salford’s Sounds From The Other City Festival. For the past 12 years, every May Bank Holiday, the festival has taken over an eclectic variety of venues on Salford’s Chapel Street strip – forgotten pubs, churches, old mills, galleries – to showcase the best new and avant-garde music, arts and performance. Clearly much more than a glorified gig crawl, Sounds From The Other City is always laden with unexpected pleasures – be it pop-up poetry performances from Manc collective Young Identity, a musical theatre show at the The King’s Arms, or a ‘karaoke, spoken word and pizza party’ at new Italian eaterie Vero Moderno. And with many of the city’s most exciting independent promoters involved – including Bad Uncle, Now Wave, Fat Out and Grey Lantern – expect a line-up packed full of music’s freshest, most eclectic names. Acts to watch for this year include Liverpool-based Iranian and The Empty Page.
O2 Ritz / academymusicgroup. com/o2ritzmanchester / 0161 714 4140 / Saturday, April 29, 4pm / £12.10 Music / Skeleton Key Records Tour Liverpool-based Skeleton Key Records – the independent label set up by The Coral’s James Skelly – is going on the road to showcase three of its wonderful acts. The line-up includes Brummie upstarts Cut Glass Kings, Wirral retro rockers Sundowners and Scouse indie legend Edgar Jones.
Jimmy’s / jimmysnq.com / 0161 923 6964 / Saturday, April 29, 7pm / £7 SUNDAY Theatre / HOAX – Our Right to Hope Inspired by the suicide of a young poet rapper Farhood, Halifax dream-pop trio The Orielles
experimental sound project OTOMO X (comprising Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan of Savages with Martin Dubka), Americana legend Simon Joyner, and hotly-tipped Manc lo-fi indie duo Luxury Death. Elsewhere, new commissions include a collaboration between Liverpool-based neo-classical outfit Ex-Easter Island Head with members of the BBC Philharmonic and folk musician Laura Cannell, who will present a site-specific composition in Salford Cathedral.
Various venues, Chapel Street, Salford / Sunday, April 30, 3pm to 4am / £23, more info at soundsfromtheothercity.com