/SEVEN DAYS
TODAY (FRIDAY 11) Music / Classic album – Rumours The Whiskey Jar plays host to another classic album showcase – and this time, it’s Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 masterpiece Rumours. Tonight’s line-up (who’ll be covering songs from that classic album, plus playing a few of their own tracks) includes Family Ranks, The Awful Truth, The Jodrellaires and Lucy & Virginia.
The Whiskey Jar / thewhiskeyjar. com / 0161 237 5686 / Friday, May 11, 8pm / £5 Comedy / MARVELus Love comedy? Love superhero movies? Then make sure you catch this excellent new show in which the ‘Just Us League’ (aka super nerds Javier Jarquin and Gary Tro) attempt to squeeze a decade’s worth of comic book movies into an actionpacked hour of riotous comedy.
Waterside Arts Centre, Sale / watersidearts.org / 0161 912 5616 / Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12 / £12/£8 concs Literature / Neil Campbell The second part of his ‘Manchester trilogy’, local author Neil Campbell’s latest book, Zero Hours, tells the story of a desperate young man trying to navigate post-Brexit Britain. Join him at Waterstones as he discusses the book alongside fellow novelist and Man Met creative writing lecturer Nicholas Royle.
Waterstones Deansgate / waterstones.com / 0161 837 3000 / Friday, May 11, 6.30pm / Free Clubbing / Live Wire Fully recovered from their epic party at South back in March, the Live Wire crew are now heading to the Stage & Radio basement for this stellar showcase of house and techno talent. The line-up includes Joseph Edmund, Kam, Carmello, Nathan Chandler and Live Wire residents.
Stage & Radio / stageandradiomcr. co.uk / 0161 236 9270 / Friday, May 11, 10pm-4am / Free with a ticket before 11pm (book via skiddle.com), £7 after TOMORROW (SATURDAY 12) Music / Big Whistle Festival 2018 Back for a tenth outing, the annual Big Whistle Festival sees a host of top folk and roots talent descend upon Bury’s The Met to celebrate the beauty of the humble tin whistle. Headline acts this year include Lancashire folksters Don’t Feed The Peacocks, Manc instrumental quintet Aizle, traditional Irish outfit Drop The Floor and Michael McGoldrick’s Big Band.
The Met, Bury / themet.org.uk / 0161 761 2216 / Saturday, May 12 / Full line-up and ticket info at themet.org.uk/whats-on/big-whistle Clubbing / Mas O Menos Label Launch Founded by international DJ/producer Levi Love, the excellent new Mas O Menos record label is being launched with not one, but two massive parties in the Northern Quarter. The action begins at Eastern Bloc (7pm1am), then moves to Soup Kitchen (11pm-3am), with music provided by SNO, MAKO MCR, Metrodome, Darryl Marsden, Heavy Lemo and, of course, Mr Levi Love himself.
Eastern Bloc and Soup Kitchen / Saturday May 12, 7pm-3am / Free Clubbing / Hit & Run x Love For The Streets The Hit & Run crew have teamed up with Love for the Streets for this all-day festival of music, food stalls and live art. Showcasing some of the city’s finest DJ talent (DRS, Chimpo, BioMe and Skittles), the event also doubles up as a fundraiser for the Trussell Trust, Manchester’s biggest food bank – anyone who brings along four food items (non-perishable) will be allowed free entry.
256 Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield / 256fallowfield.co.uk / 0161 225 6932 / Saturday, May 12, 2pm-2.30am / £4 SUNDAY 13 Music / Ray LaMontagne Seven albums into his career, you know what to expect from a Ray LaMontagne concert: weary and lovelorn folk blues, all delivered in a husky, sandpapery voice that sounds a bit like Van Morrison. Although usually accompanied by a backing band, his current UK tour – in support of new album Part of the Light – will see the American troubadour perform solo acoustic.
O2 Apollo / academymusicgroup. com/o2apollomanchester / 0844 477 7677 / Sunday, May 13, 7pm / £27.50 Comedy / Count Arthur Strong His BBC TV series may have been cancelled, but Doncaster legend Count Arthur Strong - the genius character creation of Steve Delaney – is still going, ahem, strong on the live stage. Expect his trademark blend of showbiz stories, garbled logic and brilliant malapropisms as he brings his latest tour, Alive and Unplugged, to Salford Quays this weekend.