Sunday Sunset Soiree

Just got back from London. I have blog posts to write about this. Museums and observatories mostly filled the 2 days. Took loads of pics and vids (including a photo with a celebrity). Not sure how I’m going to upload them as the Blogger platform isn’t letting me embed photos unless they’re through a social media platform, which is why I’ve been doing that a lot. I think it’s because of my Palaeolithic age PC. 

Anyway, I’ve booked off this week to sort it out. 

Thursday Evening: Northern Quarter bar Tariff & Dale host Margs X Margs, an after-work treat serving margarita cocktails and margarita pizza for £5 each, from 5-8pm. I have uploaded a meetup for this, but it’s exactly the time that most people can’t make it (which is probably why the bar ran it then, and why as of yet there are no RSVPs). 

Another early doors event: Menagerie hosts Sunset Soiree on Sunday evening from 6pm. The event promises an all black dresscode, a chance to enjoy great music, dress in style, games, live music and connect. Manchester Social Meetup Group have shared this, so there’s a group of people ready to join. 10 of us have signed up. I’m dusting off the tuxedo.

Hip Hop Club Night / Jeremy Corbyn in Oldham

Club night Saturday anyone? New club Continental opened some weeks ago on South King St, off Deansgate. Think hip hop, bottle shows and potentially a few celebs. Guestlist pending. UPDATE: Guestlist full. It's not happening.

Manchester Nightlife is NOT headed there Saturday.

This weekend Manchester goes Italian for Festa Italiana, a celebration of culture, food and heritage. I might take a look time allowing. Love a pizza. Hardly Viking, but intriguing. 

This week Oldham welcomes Jeremy Corbyn, leader of newly-fored Your Party. See Eventbrite for details. Thursday, Empire Suite, Chadderton, 5:30pm. 

On the blog I’ve got a piece on a journaling event and another on travel passes.

Try Dave's Hot Chicken with Us

This week: 

2 new meetup groups have opened up: Manchester Activity Group and Manchester Motivation Group. Both pretty self-explanatory. 

Journal Club Wednesday at Hinterland. The last one (the first one) was really interesting. There’s a meetup on Manc Mates. Discussion and practice on the art of journaling, on the theme of Freedom according to Eventbrite. That’s the same theme as last time. Dunno if that’s a mistake. 

Thursday night: Poetry night again at Hinterland. I have nothing to read out. I just can’t think of anything that would work. So I’ll probably miss it, but if anyone else likes a good poem... 

Saturday Night: Manchester Nightlife is out once again this time to new food outlet Dave’s Hot Chicken in the Printworks. There are a million fried chicken outlets. Will this be better? It’s certainly newer. Come find out. We might do a few drinks around there after.

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Later that night British UFC fighter Lerone Murphy takes on Aaron Pico in UFC 319. I’d like to watch it. It’s not easy to find places that do. 

Also, on the blog, a review of the last year and some goals for the next one.

Running out of ideas for Manchester Nightlife.

Most of what I wanted to do I’ve done. Bar crawls like Deansgate and Spinningfields. Peter St. Big food halls like Mackie Mayor and Diecast. I really want more house music nights but these are increasingly hard to come by. I managed a night in Off the Square and another in Exhibition, which were both great nights, but it’s finding them running that’s the difficulty. A lot are one-offs. Or they’re monthly things that die off after a few months. 

I do want to focus on 2 things: food and house music. Some attendees were keen for another Diecast meetup. Suits me. I really want to get to Eastern Bloc (running all year) or Warehouse Project (September to Christmas) for good house DJs. I just haven’t thought it through, and as a result I haven’t uploaded anything for this coming Saturday. 

There are, however, 2 events before then. Thursday night: Vegan alcohol-free bar Hinterland runs their monthly philosophy evening, offering 'a stimulating exploration of Wisdom and Imagination in Community.' I’m making a concerted effort to trying other people’s events, not just running my own, and this one intrigues me. I know nothing about philosophy, but the chances are people there will be able to hold a conversation and will grasp the concept of turning up on time and following instructions. 

Let's find out with Manchester Psychology Social Group. 

Friday night: a WeRoad – large, generic but generally friendly meetup – happens in Box on Deansgate, so I may make an appearance. You might. 

You might also take a look at the new Dave’s Hot Chicken, a food outlet opened this week in The Printworks. It’s only a stonethrow away from Box. Kinda.

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So yeah, if you have any ideas for meetups that suit Manchester Nightlife, hit me up.

43 this week.

Expect 2 blog posts about goals achieved, or not, or to be achieved.  

Viking project going well. Good food, workouts, and Netflix shows. 

Went to Diecast last Saturday, a food and drink hall with a nightclub vibe, in an old factory on the outskirts of Manchester. Think rusted metal, brickwork and vine leaves. House music in one room, live cover band in the other. Lots of small independent eateries scattered about. I figured it would be well worth running a meetup there, so if you want to join the 3 of us as it stands, get involved this coming Saturday. Manchester Nightlife will be there from 7pm. Come eat, drink, dance, talk. 

New Meetup Manchester Activity Group opened up this week, offering a range of fun stuff. Ice skating was already ran. Worth keeping an eye on. I’m certainly keen to try more things than just endless bars. 

Recharge and Reset also opens, ‘designed to help you slow down, recharge your mind and body, and discover simple tools to boost your everyday wellness.’ 

As some meetups open, others close. Manchester Clubbing has vanished. If that was your thing… there’s still Manchester Nightlife. 

Power is a State of Mind passed 1.4 million views last week. Whether you love me or hate me, thanks for reading.

Death Cafe This Week

Wednesday night in Hinterland Northern Quarter Manchester. Death Cafe.

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) July 21, 2025 at 7:32 AM

What is a Death Cafe? Ticket site Eventbrite says ‘Join us for a unique evening of open and honest conversations about death and dying.’ 

Very left field, but I’m looking for different things to do. Vegan alcohol free bar Hinterland has a varied events calendar, and their Death Cafe is a monthly inclusion to that. It’s running this Wednesday, but tickets are already sold out. I had put up a Meetup for this, on Manchester Psychology Social Group but there’s no point RSVPing if you can’t get a ticket. I managed to get mine. All of Hinterland’s events sell out fast.  

Comic Con Manchester runs this weekend too. I’m not there as the line-up didn’t have anything for me, but there are still some 12:30pm and weekend tickets available. 

Saturday night: Manchester Nightlife meetup is back out again, this time to new upmarket bar Kitten on Deansgate Square. First time there for me. Expect cocktails, tall ceilings and smart décor.

Apollo, Vinland, Poetry, Bingo

 

Steadily chugging through this Viking project. I’ve bought Netflix and am watching a lot of Vinland Saga – Japanese animated series about Leif Erikkson’s adventures - and trying to regain my chin-up strength. Eating twice a day is going well. Just got to remember to drink plenty of water. Taking some annual leave to do this. 

I actually have some creative writing to go up on Wednesday, plus a write-up of a poetry slam in Manchester, a piece on attention training and book review also. 

I might be at Bongo’s Bingo with a different group at the weekend, so there isn’t anything planned in terms of meetups. But if that falls though – I certainly haven’t paid – Oleksandr Usyk is putting his heavyweight belts on the line Saturday night. I can’t see Brit Daniel Dubois offering much of a challenge, though. I also have no idea who’s showing it. 

Also, adult star The Apollo Show answered Popbitch’s baboon vs badger question. He even put it on his own Insta!

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Hacienda Classica Afterparty This Weekend

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The last meetup I ran was a success with a good group of lads joining up for food and drinks in the sun. A good contrast to previous nights out. There’s honestly a part of me wondering how long I want to keep running these meetups, with the cost, the no-shows, the fallouts, the backstabbing, the difficult people using meetup as a crutch for a social life when they clearly can’t form those friendships any other way. Am I including myself here? I don’t know. 

I realise on the one hand these #prospectivemondays posts are an attempt to draw people in and encourage people to try events and meet new people themselves, and thus complaining about the flakiness and the unnecessary arguments kinda works against that, but I blog about my life, and disappointments are unfortunately part of it. It’s a lot of money to keep being let down. 

Well, I’ve got a handful of ideas left. Then I’ll make a decision. 

One of those ideas: taking other people’s events and running meetups to coincide with them, encouraging the meetup groups to take part in something that otherwise wouldn’t be listed there. I’ve ran a few meetups previously in Hinterland, the vegan cafe in The Northern Quarter. Hinterland run a lot of events themselves, and I’ve been quite tempted to get involved, but their events book up quickly as it’s a small venue. I’ve managed to get a free ticket to a journaling class that they’re running on Wednesday. The theme is ‘Freedom.’ How free are we, as people? 

I have put up a meetup for this on Manchester Psychology Social Group, but I’m the only attendee there. There are still tickets on Eventbrite. Wednesday night, 7pm. 

Saturday night: Manchester Nightlife is out again, this time to The Albert Hall for Hacienda Classical Afterparty. On the decks: Todd Terry, Felix Da Housecat and Greame Park. Also expect a live PA from Alison Limerick of Where Love Lives fame. I’ve missed several attempts to see her perform this over the years! 

In other news, I’ve managed to surpass 1 and a third million hits on the blog, partly after an immense and somewhat inexplicable spike in the last month. More hits have come in in the last month than in any other month since I’ve ran the blog.

Spinningfields Bar Crawl - Get Involved

On the blog: the last few Tenerife posts, that I’m sure are keeping you in suspense. Cough. Probably another recipe review. Plus I’ve got a few things that have happened since coming home. 

On socials: Actor William Forsythe reshared my birthday message to him over Instagram stories. Actor Richard Chaves liked my pic of us. Actor of a, uh, different kind Kat Kyle liked my pedantic grammar comment. I forgot to mention, last week Arabelle Raphael also liked this this joke in the comments of her reel. My comment got 10 thousand likes on a video. 

All is not well on the online social group scene. Not just my meetups, but it seems that there’s an issue with other groups on the site, plus groups on Discord too. Manchester Social has proven to be hugely unpopular with certain crowds, if this Reddit thread is anything to go by. 

Sadly, I got mentioned in this too. It seems in a meetup with Manchester Psychology Social group I briefly mentioned confidence building as a facet of psychology, and what I said was massively misinterpreted. Some weeks later, I got utterly lambasted for it. I apologised on the Reddit thread, although I’m still not sure what for. I can hardly even remember the conversation in question. It could, I guess, explain attendance dropping off. I did everything I could to bring people together just to share an interest, and it feels like it was thrown right back at me. Obviously, a bit of time has passed since this thread was active. I do want to run another Psychology meetup, but to where, and to do what exactly, I don’t know. 

The upshot is, you can’t please everyone. I took a break from running meetups as I had a ton of conventions to go to, plus a holiday, so I was too busy anyway, but I really just didn’t want the heat. 

But I did run a meetup to the Northern Quarter Friday for Happy Hour in Pen and Pencil, Before the start time, Get Social launched in Banyan in Spinningfields. This Meetup group is ran by the same guy who does the Manchester WeRoad meetups, and seeems to have a similar purpose: just bringing people together whether they’re travelling or local. I had a look. Pleasant enough evening, good people, still a bit of a sausage fest. 3 of us met in Pen and Pencil, which was utterly dead, so we tried a few other bars but called it early. 

The rumour on the night was that the heads at WeRoad cancelled the Manchester group because of an offensive comedy night that Manchester’s WeRoad branch apparently attended, hence the Manchester team launched GetSocial. 

Saturday night: There was supposed to be something happening in Freight Island, although I can’t find it on Meetup. Freight weren’t letting in anyway, so we tried 186 but I was in pumps so they weren’t having me. BLVD nearby hosted a hen do of mostly Irish girls from Crewe. The DJ got everyone into what he called a ‘Congo line’ (conga?) that threaded through the bar and out into the Spinningfields Avenue. Then my friend and I shot off to Ocasa, formerly Australasia (samba music) and Lawn Club, which was pumping out cheesy pop for another hen do. Mostly women. Can’t complain. 

So what’s happening this week? 

Friday night: looks like WeRoad meetup still exists in some form in Manchester, as they return to Box bar on Deansgate, booking the upper level out. I’ll be there to see which familiar faces I can spot, and also to try to badger a few people into my own meetups. 

Speaking of which, Saturday night: Spinningfields Bar Crawl with Manchester Nightlife. I’m aiming to get to a few new places this night, including Habbibi and Shiruku. If you fancy some cocktails, smart décor, possible celeb sightings and chilled house music, pencil this in for Saturday and come meet us. 

 

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Meetups are BACK

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After a few weeks away from the Meetup events scene, I’m uploading a few here and there. 

I’m starting with some simple Happy Hour drinks in The Northern Quarter’s Pen and Pencil, with the Manchester Nightlife group. Friday night from 9. Good deals on spirits, Prosecco and beers. Maybe we look around a few other bars too. 

I’m planning to run some meetups with Manchester Psychology Social Group too over the coming weeks, although when and where is still a struggle. I need somewhere open in the evenings, serving affordable healthy food, not too dear and not too loud, with no alcohol that can take a table of perhaps 6 people. Our previous venue Hinterland fit the bill perfectly, but they have a big events roster on and they no longer have the room. That said, a lot of those events are quite psychology – related, so I might run some meetups to those. 

On the blog: 7 Tenerife posts (1 for each day due to mass amounts of multimedia that I can’t be bothered choosing from, so you can have loads), more psychology posts – recipes and a dieting project - and several roundups.

Horrorcon This Week

Last week I got an Insta message off Richard Chaves, Poncho off Predator. He liked the Comic Con Liverpool blog. 

This week: Backpacking brand WeRoad returns to Box bar on Deansgate. I won’t be there as I’m laying low from the meetup scene for the moment. I’ll blog on this later. Too busy for one thing. 

Get ready for Horrorcon in Sheffield! On Saturday The Magna Science Adventure Centre holds host to a day of horror movie stars. I’ll be meeting Doug Bradley, Pinhead off Hellraiser. Ashley Laurence, who played Kirsty, is also in attendance as is Neil Maskell off the brutal Kill List. First time at this convention for me.

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Amazing Weekend

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Comic Con Liverpool was an astounding day yesterday, with some great movie star photo ops, panel discussions and inventive cosplays. I’m working on a blog post now. I’m actually off until Friday and blogging is all I plan to do for the foreseeable. 

Also on the blog, expect a piece on concessionary travel passes. 

Back in February I went to a Valentines dating night with Single Mingle, a dating events company, and won an afternoon tea for 2 via a dance-off. Well, I’ve repeatedly tried to redeem the voucher and get something booked in, but the hotel venue rarely picked up the phone and when they did, they didn’t know anything about it and passed me about between departments. So I gave up. 

Small break from running meetups at the moment. Really busy. I’ve another convention, a family holiday and a family birthday coming up. Expect blog posts on all of those too.

Upcoming Conventions - Tickets Selling Fast

Tickets booked for Comic Con Liverpool on the 4th. Saturday had sold out, so Sunday it will be. Also got a few photo tickets too, with some 80s action actors. It’s a Bank Holiday anyway, so who knows what’s going on in Liverpool afterwards. 

I’ve also managed to secure tickets for Horrorcon, a horror movie convention in Sheffield, taking place on 17th May. A photo op with Pinhead from 1987’s Hellraiser, Doug Bradley will make for a fine day. 

No meetup this week: too busy.

One and a Quarter Million

Comic Con Liverpool is the weekend after next. I still haven’t bought tickets. The cast of Aliens and the cast of Starship Troopers are on the roster. Incredible. The money I could spend doesn’t bear thinking about. I need to make a decision about who I’ll meet. Hopefully a lot will have sold out, ruling out the tempattion to splurge £400. 

I’m on TOIL Friday. Thursday night I’m planning to do… something social. I can’t just do chinups and watch DVDs. What is there on a Thursday to do? Reddit suggests Northern Quarter. I’m still planning this. But I have slammed up a Meetup in the hope that someone else will voice some ideas. Albert’s Schloss is looking likely. 

I’m also on TOIL on Monday 28th, but Sunday nights look suspiciously quiet too. More so this week as we’ve just had a bank holiday. Can I be arsed putting up another meetup? I dunno. 

I hit a million and a quarter hits on the blog this week. Good going considering the million mark only came in April ‘23, and I’ve been blogging on this platform since 2008. I must have done something right. Maybe the months of Teeline shorthand and touchtyping have paid off.

Easter Incoming

Grelhados restaurant opens tonight in Oldham, on Lees Rd. So the sign says. I can’t find any social media presence and they’ve delayed their opening night by 2 weeks already. Let’s see what happens. 

Wednesday: alcohol free bar Hinterland is hosting Death Cafe, a discussion night exploring the theme of death. See more on I Love Manchester. Reserve a free spot via Eventbrite.  

Friday night: WeRoad returns to Deansgate’s Box bar for more chat and mingling. I’ll probably go with the intention of poaching people to my own group. 

Speaking of… Saturday night: Manchester Nightlife heads to Flatiron steak house for wagyu tender steak, cocktails and nearby bars. The time needs to be established as of yet due to the restaurant’s availability, but we’ll settle a time eventually. It’ll be my first visit. 

No plans for Easter Sunday but it’d be great to get out then too.

Brain Injury Chat and Cocktails

2 meetups this week: 

Manchester Psychology Social Group returns, this time in the new venue of Blank St Coffee in Piccadilly Gardens, Thursday night. Theme: Acquired Brain Injury chat, with a bite to eat too. I’d love to hear your perspectives on this if it’s something you’re interested in. 

Saturday night: Cocktails in The Washhouse with Manchester Nightlife. It may look like a laundrette from the exterior, but it’s a haven of quirkily-named alcoholic drinks in a small, intimate setting. Last night drinking for me before I hammer myself into shape for a holiday next month.

Psychology, Pizza, House Music: this week on Meetup

On the blog this week: A piece on smartphones and memory, something about the government and a tattoo convention. 

Thursday night: I really wanted to run another Psychology Social meetup. I think the topic I’ve picked – a specific book about modern science and traditional eastern practices – hasn’t gone down well as I’ve tried to run it twice and got no RSVPs both times. But who knows. It might pick up over 4 days. I have other ideas. 

Friday night: who fancies free pizza? Meetup group WeRoad are providing at their Taphouse Social event in Circle Square. 

Saturday night: my mate Paul Smith is once again DJing in Ashton’s Nico Ditch for Connect, a night of house music. There’s a meetup too! 

 

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