Love a good house music stomp. Thankfully promoters Up! Supplied an afternoon on the terrace of Six Trees in Trafford yesterday afternoon. Great music from Grace Sands and others including my friend Paul Smith.
I set up a meetup with Manchester Nightlife and got a group together - some regulars, some new people - we met in Impossible then got a taxi down there. Great music and atmos. Weather held up too, thankfully, as the sun went down.
Afternoon sessions are rising in popularity rapidly, and with good reason: no late night taxis, no disrupted sleep, more daylight and people are more likely to be available. That’s probably why a few DJs – including a friend of mine – have put together Up, an afternoon of house music in Six Trees out in Trafford. There’s a meetup with Manchester Nightlife that you should join. At the time of writing we’re planning where to meet – probably Impossible in the city centre first.
Last Friday, Manchester welcomed house music producer Miguel Campbell for a set in Joshua Brooks club on Princess St. His track Something Special was, as I understand it, a huge hit in Ibiza on its 2011 release. It’s still a favourite of deep house DJs today. JB’s brings us occasional Full Circle events, celebrating 2010s deep house music. I set up a Meetup with Manchester Nightlife and a handful of us got free tickets (It was a free party.) Here’s what the 31st looked like last month:
Great music. Heavy tech heading into melodic as the night went on.
Somewhat of an odd night, it must be said. I had 2 attendees. One turned up on time in the meeting place, came with me to the club, then left to go to a competitor house music night before the headlining DJ even came on. The other, looking like some emaciated European tennis player with crazy, long, dark hair in a bedraggled pony tail, turned up late at the club wearing a full-on Duke-of-Edinburgh-sized HUMONGOUS backpack. I had to come out to verify that he had friends inside. He managed to blag the bar staff into looking after his belongings. He then proceeded to chew my ear off for the majority of the night, telling me all about his life, and women that he was definitely interested in (that he didn’t approach). He then badgered several other people (guys) who were just trying to enjoy the music.
We stayed to the end so I could get a photo with Miguel Campbell.
Superb return of Comic Con Manchester on Saturday. Blog post coming.
Commonwealth Games are in full swing. We get to see parts on Channel 5, and a little more on BBC Alba. England are in 2nd place on the medals table behind Australia. I’m working through this Commonwealth Games Fit project I set for myself.
Manchester Day Parade took place yesterday, a celebration of the city by a consortium of different local social groups. More on each of these soon.
Greater Manchester elects a new mayor on Thursday. Looks like I’ll be going for Greens, with Geraldine Goggins on the ballot. I’m disgusted in Labour’s Zionism, their refusal to accept the ICC’s ruling that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza, and their apparent lack of understanding of their own rules on Personal Independence Payment. It’s not an out-of-work benefit. Labour seem unaware of this. Greens, on the other hand, want to properly tax the billionaires, fund the NHS and social care system, build more affordable homes, fund proper mental health support, increase the minimum wage, stop the gig economy and stop corporations from dumping literal shit in our rivers, to name a few reforms. So they’ve got my vote.
Friday night: Manchester club Joshua Brooks welcomes house music producer Miguel Campbell for Full Circle, a night of deep house. His 2011 hit Something Special is still a banger.
Manchester Nightlife are headed there. 3 of us have signed up so far. Be 4th!
New Batman spinoff Clayface has finally released their trailer.
Clayface was partly filmed in Castlefield Manchester, and also Stockport Centre. Look carefully and you’ll notice Stockport Plaza. Back in September last year, the production of the movie used Castlefield Manchester as a filming location. I took a look.
Sunday night: The Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony takes place, around 6pm (the exact details aren’t readily available). I’m working through this absurd Commonwealth Games Fit project, with an unrealistic goal of losing nearly 13 kilos. I wouldn’t count on it happening at present.
That’s this week. Quiet week next week.
Up early on a Sunday for a rave. What in the world. Hinterland ran their first prober club event, as I understand it, with their Summer Solstice Morning Rave. This morning welcomed the longest day of the year, so the vegan alcohol free bar welcomed DJ Taurud for some chilled beats and matchas.
The 9am start was no problem for the dedicated, who included flower-in-hair hippies, barefoot ravers and of course meetup members – some new, some not, all Manchester Nightlife attendees.
Great music, friendly crowd. I’d do it again. Hinterland keep offering up surprising, diverse events. They’re worth keeping an eye on.
Stay tuned for a psychology book review on the blog.
Saturday Afternoon: join Manchester Nightlife in Castlefield for some hopefully outdoor drinks in the sun. Dukes 92 from 3pm. The sun should just about be coming out, as are 6 people at the time of writing. It’s the perfect time of year for that area.
Sunday Afternoon: Manchester Nightlife are out again, this time to new club venue IDRA on store St. Veteran house music DJ John Digweed, from the Kiss 102 days if you’re in your 40s and 50s, shares the set with headliner Sasha. Second release tickets are £37. They will increase! I haven’t bought yet. At the time of writing I’m still waiting for attendees.
There isn’t a great deal else happening on Meetup this weekend, particularly not on the bank holiday Sunday. I’ve noticed this a lot on Meetup, that when it comes to those Mondays off, nobody seems to want to do anything on the Sunday night. Either I put something up (I ran a Northern Quarter bar crawl on a bank holiday Sunday a few months ago) or nobody does.
Daytime Disco returned to Joshua Brooks Saturday 18th. Disco house, headlining DJs, a packed room and no taxi necessary at the end. This time, Michael Gray headlined, whose track ‘The Weekend’ was a top 10 hit in 2004.
I put up a Meetup with Manchester Nightlife, got a couple of attendees, I bought a ticket because they claimed to have done… then they reversed their RSVPs. Did they buy a ticket? I don’t know. Upshot: I went on my own.
Oh well.
The upstairs bar already had a party with a DJ at 5:30pm, but the main event was in the basement. The moment I got in a girl dropped her glasses right in front of me and I inadvertently stepped on them. Awks. She told me not to worry about it. Clientele mostly 30s and 40s, as you’d expect from an event featuring a DJ whose fame was at his height 22 years ago. Michael Gray himself didn’t come on until 6:30pm but warm-up DJs still offered great disco house. Friendly crowd too. I spoke to someone who, it turned out, knew a couple of friends of mine. By the time Gray was playing, the club was heaving, and stayed that way ‘til 10pm. Superb music.
He was patient and chatted with people at the end, including myself. What a dude.
What a week in store. Brace yourself.
Wednesdays: food hall Diecast, out near Piccadilly train station, offers a 40% discount on their delectable range of pizzas. I’ve had at least one a few months ago. The Diecast meetup I ran last summer with Manchester Nightlife was probably the most attended meetup I’ve ever organised. I’ve been meaning to run it again. But their midweek deal looks so good that I’m first going to gather a group for food this Wednesday night, if poss. Here’s the meetup for that.
This ridiculous Excess Month project comes to a close the next day as we tick over into May. Last push now.
Saturday: I’m going to give someone else’s meetup a shot. Making Friends in Manchester is hosting Drinks and Pizza in Yes bar near Circle Square. I’ve had their pizza. It’s good. 3 of us at the time of writing.
It’s a Bank Holiday, so the Sunday is open too: Joshua Brooks’ Daytime Disco returns, this time with another headlining DJ. Remember the Horny song from 1999? Of course you do. Producer Mousse T takes over the decks for an afternoon of disco house. Manchester Nightlife will be there. Get involved! Tickets are £14 now but will go up.
Manchester’s bi-annual horror convention For the Love of Horror takes over Bowlers Exhibition Centre this weekend for 2 days of horror movie stars, panels, photo ops, stalls and sets. I’ve got a ticket to meet T-Bird himself, The Crow’s David Patrick Kelly. FIRE IT UP! FIRE IT UP! Tickets for each day are still available. I’m there Saturday. There’s a meetup with Manc Mates if you fancy joining us and chatting movies. Look at this for a panel lineup!
Later that afternoon there’s the Daytime Disco event featuring Michael Gray, of 2004 hit The Weekend. Joshua Brooks always puts on good house music events with some impressive DJs from yesteryear. I’ve just got my ticket. 3 of us so far.
More steady progress on this Bodybuilding project. New PBs all the time. Feeling strong.
Discussed VPNs with The Apollo Show.
Got chips in a house music club. Ran a meetup to Trippy Chippy in Yes. Great music and food. No fish, sadly, but I guess that would seriously ramp up the overheads.
Well worth a look if you fancy a quirky, different night with obligatory Gene Takovic lookalikes. Seriously, loads of people have the cap-and-tache combo. A lot of ex-cartel-lawyers in Manchester, I guess.
Quite a range going on this week: Wednesday night, alcohol-free vegan bar Hinterland hosts Create and Play, an adult play session involving Lego and art materials. Lose your inhibitions and join in the creativity. Follow writing prompts. Build. Draw. I’ve not been to this yet. Will I? Maybe. Wednesday, 7-9pm.
Thursday night: I’ve revived the Manchester Psychology Social Group after a break. I’ve found a venue that I believe to be alcohol-free, quiet enough, healthy enough and central to the city on Mosley St off Piccadilly Gardens. Soup Co seems just the right match. We need a topic though! Thursday, 6:30pm.
Saturday night: balls to Valentines. Let’s have a house music club night instead. La Discotheque travel the country bringing their brand of disco house to cities across the UK. Think stiltwalkers, confetti, singers, DJs, familiar names from house music and dancers with… shiny disco balls for heads. I’m looking forward to it. I still need to buy a ticket. But there is a meetup with Manchester Nightlife and one other attendee has signed up. Make it 3 of us! I’m really looking forward to Miguel Campbell and Horse Meat Disco gracing the decks. It’s a nice early event from 3pm too, so no need for taxis or coming home in the wee hours.
Amidst everything that there is to look forward to, the Manchester nightlife scene is still taking a battering. Revolution on both Oxford Rd and Deansgate Locks have closed for good. Revolution de Cuba on Peter St has also closed down. I always knew it as insanely popular with huge queues to get in, but regardless, I couldn’t stand the place. There was just something about it that seemed incredibly generic. 80s-inspired Simmons on Deansgate has also bit the dust. A story that I will probably tell for the rest of my life is that I kissed a Playboy model there once. At the risk of burning a bridge…
Menagerie has also closed, months after moving from Spinningfields to Manchester Hall on Bridge St. Such a shame. A favourite bar in both locations. According to The M.E.N, they’ll reopen in a THIRD location. We’ll see.
On the blog: a writeup of Sheffield Comic Con, a journaling writeup and a Jamaican recipe. Also a new project that might get me in a spot of hot water. Again, to be seen.
It’s taken 43 years of me being alive, and much longer, but eventually someone has come up with the bright idea of daytime clubbing: running a nightclub event early enough to get the bus home after. Sure, other people have tried it, but Manchester institution Joshua Brooks seem to be the only local outfit successfully pulling it off.
Last week they brought in 2000s house music producer The Shapeshifters, who’s hit Lola’s Theme reached no.1 in 2004, for their Daytime Disco event. The only people I know who remember The Shapeshifters rarely go out any more to the point where I stopped asking, so I threw it on Meetup. One new Manchester Nightlife attendee RSVP’d, a woman a little older than me. We both bought tickets early on, so we both committed.
We had a good chat at Yes bar at around 4pm, then jumped over to Joshua’s. Before long, she went to put her coat in the cloakroom and didn’t come back, then left the Meetup group.
I get it. If you were hoping it would be a group thing and it turns out not to be, I see that the situation would be uncomfortable. Whatever, I just soaked up the music and atmos. Incredible.
Who remembers Lola’s Theme from 2004? The classic house music track was a number 1 hit for The Shapeshifters, a London-based house music duo. They’re headlining on Saturday at Joshua Brooks in Manchester for Daytime Disco, on an early slot starting at 3 pm.
Manchester Nightlife meetup group are headed down there. Just think: a good stomp with incredible house music, a great DJ and no massive taxi fare at the end of it. Absolute winner. Meeting in Yes bar next door at 3.
Last week of Veganuary. Can’t wait for it to be over tbh.
This week music producer Klaas – of Infinity 2008 fame – liked an Instagram story of mine criticising a spelling mistake in Netflix’s Joshua v Paul boxing match. One of the title cards had ‘Exihibition’ written on the screen. How he found this particular upload I have no idea.
Great Christmas so far. Family gatherings going well.
Finally visited new club Renae last night. A Love From Outer Space after party featured chilled electronica and welcoming environment. The sold out main event took place in the afternoon in The Yard, but later on the DJs gathered again in the new, homely venue on Thomas St. Lookalikes on the night included Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Harvey Keitel in Taxi Driver (long hair and wide brimmed hat).
Well, here it is. Christmas week. I need to wrap, but ready otherwise.
This week, house music fans have a prime opportunity to to be welcomed into one of the most exclusive venues in Manchester for a free but limited entry night with A Love from Outer Space. The curation of DJs and the music event itself starts in the middle of the day in an outdoor venue, but that has long sold out. The after party, held in the luxurious Renae club in the Northern Quarter, promises more great music from skilled house music DJs, including my friend Toni Key.
Meetup group Manchester Nightlife are already poised to go. It’s free entry, first come first serve, and they’ll turn away once they hit capacity, so let’s get there early. Meeting at 10 in Foundry Project nearby, we’ll set off not long after that.
