/SEVEN DAYS
TODAY (FRIDAY 23) Music / Buckle & Boots Festival Set that Stetson hat squarely on your head as Manchester gears up for country music spectacular Buckle & Boots. Located in the picturesque setting of Whitebottom Farm, Stockport, the three-day event brings together a host of UK and international country acts including Morgan Evans, Sarah Darling, Dahlia, Jenn Bostic, Laura Oakes. Dylan Jakobsen, Jess and The Bandits, Kris Barras and more.
Whitebottom Farm, Stockport / Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25 / £55 weekend ticket, £20 to £30 day ticket, more info at - buckleandboots.co.uk. Music / 0161 Festival Manchester’s most politicallyconscious music gathering, the annual 0161 Festival unites a host of rock/punk/hardcore talent in aid of anti-fascism charities. Back for its fourth outing in a new location (St Kents Irish Club in Fallowfield), this year’s 50-strong band line-up includes the likes of Angelic Upstarts, Los Fastidios, Interrobang, The Deadtime Philharmonic, Faintest Idea, Revenge of the Psychotronic Man, Roughneck Riot and more.
St Kents Irish Club, Fallowfield / Friday, June 23 to Sunday, June 25 / £35 weekend ticket, £15 day ticket, more info at – 0161festival.com. Music / The Avalanches Sixteen years on from their muchrevered debut Since I Left You, the cryptic Australian beatmakers have finally returned to active duty. Ahead of their Glastonbury appearance this weekend, they’re dropping into Manchester to showcase their longawaited second LP, Wildflower, plus tracks from that era-defining debut.
Albert Hall / alberthallmanchester. com / 0161 817 3490 / Friday, June 23, 7pm / £18.50 Theatre / Mobile Devised by Leeds-based, all-female company Paper Birds, this immersive piece of theatre riffs on themes of social mobility and what it means for children to “succeed” in ways their parents never could. In a clever piece of staging, the whole performance takes place inside a disused caravan, with only eight audience members permitted entry at a time.
The Met, Bury / themet.biz / 0161 761 2216 / Friday, June 23 and Saturday, June 24 / £10. Theatre / The Scar Test Based upon real life testimony, playwright Hannah Khalil’s latest piece offers a powerful and disturbing account of life inside Yarl’s Wood IRC, the controversial centre that houses women refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom came to the UK fleeing torture and abuse. Scheduled to coincide with Refugee Week 2017, the production now begins its first UK tour, including a visit to Hulme’s Z-arts.
Z-arts, Hulme / z-arts.org / 0161 226 1912 / Friday, June 23, 7.30pm / £8/£5 concs Theatre / First Words Celebrating the power of the monologue, Bolton Octagon’s First Words season showcases the three exciting works which won their inaugural National Prize writing competition. The programme includes Charlotte Josephine’s Blue (performed by Jessica Baglow), Ian Townsend’s Being Amazing (with Michael Peavoy) and Shauna Mackay Nobody Can Never Get Us Back (starring Tupele Dorgu).
Octagon Theatre, Bolton / octagonbolton.co.uk / 01204 520 661 / Friday, June 23 to Saturday, July 8 / £12 Theatre / First Break Oldham Coliseum’s annual new writing festival, First Break, returns with another bumper crop of original work from artists and companies from across the North West. Highlights include Car Park King, a Monty Python-esque historical comedy from Every Egg a Bird Theatre Company (June