Matt Tuckey is a writer from Oldham, England. He covers celebrities, night life, Manchester, fitness, creative writing, social media, psychology and events. Some of this may, in some way, help others. Or maybe it'll just entertain you for a while.
TV and movie convention For the Love of Retro takes place this weekend in Telford, which is a little too far for me. An incredible line-up though. I could easily have spent £400 if I could be arsed with a long drive and more money on a hotel room, which I can’t.
New bar and restaurant Sticks ‘n’ Sushi opened in Spinningfields, a Japanese / Scandinavian chain. Manchester Nightlife are headed there on Saturday for cocktails and mocktails, plus to look around a few other bars. Glamorous decor, chilled background beats, possibly the odd celeb knocking about. Come join the Meetup group. See the newest parts of the city. 4 of us so far. Will be more by the weekend.
This blog passed the 3 million hit mark yesterday. I’ve been running it since 2008. I hit 1 million in April ‘23 and 2 million in April this year. Either people are suddenly interested in my random nights out and amateur psychological musings, or there’s a whole lot of bot traffic out there. I suspect the latter.
Peter Cullen died, yet another person I could have met at one convention or another, but didn’t. I'm sure he was booked to attend at something local. He voiced the titular Predator, Eeyore the donkey from Whinnie the Pooh and Optimus Prime in the 1984 animated Transformers: The Movie.
It’s a bank holiday tomorrow and I predictably have put up a last minute meetup for tonight: drinks on Deansgate, if that floats your boat. I always forget when it’s a bank holiday, and no other organiser on Meetup seems to put much up either. There’s a women’s cinema trip, a live music acoustic set in a pub, a bouldering session and a 70s disco night – great if that’s your thing – but not much else. I guess it’s down to me. 9pm, Slug and Lettuce Deansgate, 9pm.
I was at a family gathering yesterday where a family member was raving about Dishoom’s breakfasts. Dishoom serves up great Indian delicacies and lassi milkshakes. I’ve been for lunch a year ago, but I kept meaning to try their other menus. Here’s their breakfast menu.
Hence, I’ve set up a meetup with Manc Mates for food, 10am, Sunday morning. Come join.
I predictably have no plans for Sunday night, when we have a Bank Holiday on the Monday. I’m all ears...
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.
Discussed Magic Eye pictures with Aisha Katya. I’d swear that is a chicken.
Bill Duke – Mac in Predator - liked my photo of us.
Saw the solar eclipse on Wednesday, from Hartshead Pike. If you missed it, there’s another in 12 months.
Went out for a few birthday drinks in Freemount Northern Quarter last night. Behind Closed Doors turned me away because I was in shorts. You’d think a bar with S&M befitted mannequins wouldn’t have that strict a dress code in 2026, but here we are. Moved to Voyuer, a new edgy bar with risque-sounding cocktails (mine was called ‘Delusions of Grandeur,’ so make of that what you will), where a trans waiter served us Baby Godfather shots, a caramel liqueur. Turned out BCD and Voyuer are part of the same company. We finished the night off in Guilty By Association. I managed to get the bus back. Good night in all.
I mentioned on Friday that one of my Meetup attendees came out to Joshua Brooks then sacked us off to White Hotel, some competitor house music club. I’ve met up with him again last night, along with many other Meetup folk. I wanted to do some birthday drinks, and Meetup people are literally the ONLY people available to come out. So I put up an event with Manchester Nightlife (which, by the way, has now passed 1000 members. Only taken 2 years).
8 people RSVPd. Most of them showed up in meeting spot Flok, including White Castle Guy. (Turns out he’d left JB’s last week because he’d had a run-in with a member of staff.) Some other people I knew from previous events attended, and some new folk.
From Flok we moved to Lost in Tokyo, Japanese themed cocktail bar, then to Soup. For some reason I was absurdly overdressed for a warm summer’s night in hipstery Northern Quarter, wearing the blue 3-piece suit I got for a recent wedding. Soup’s doormen said they had a ‘no suit policy,’ that it wasn’t that vibe, but when they found out it was my birthday they made an exception. Fair play.
People dropped off as the night went on, until it was just myself, White Castle Guy and a Chinese Guy who’s English was so rudimentary he was getting by with Google Translate on his phone. It was before midnight when the 3 of us were stood on the street and White Castle Guy started ranting about COVID conspiracies, vaccines and Fauci (who doesn’t even have any authority in this country).
One thing you should know about me. I worked in social care during the pandemic as an essential worker. Loads of my clients died. I have clinically vulnerable relatives who were fortunate to make it through those years. I have no patience for anti-vaxx bullshit.
Furthermore, at the end of the night, I had no energy to argue. I just went home. This morning I blocked White Castle Guy. Hmm. Of course he’s got a bible verse on his Insta.
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.
Hella behind with blogging at the moment. Expect part 2 of the Comic
Con writeup. There’s also a pharmapsychological experiment that I
conducted during the Manchester Day Parade last Sunday. I haven’t
even written that yet. I won a competition – more details to come.
I went to see a music producer / DJ in a house music club Friday.
Great night. Then The Commonwealth Games closed last night, and with
it this absurd fitness project. Again,
there’s a write-up of that to come.
I recently turned
44. Going to try to round a few people up and have a few scoops this
Saturday night, starting in favourite Flok and trying a few bars around
Stevenson Square. I’ve told a few friends, and I’ve put up a
meetup with Manchester Nightlife too. Sign up, come along.
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.
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.
Sat outside in the sun with the Meetup group. I say great, but in actuality, someone turned up without having actually RSVPd on the page. He ordered a drink, drank it, then left the bar without paying.
I shouldn’t have done this, but I made a split decision to pay for him just to keep the peace with the bar.
Found Track, a brewery come serving bar, on an estate just off Oldham Road. I’m not a beer drinker so there wasn’t much for me to slake my thirst, but their pizzas were great. 2 left to Wetherspoons to my crushing disappointment. Remember COVID and Tim Martin, people. He was a twat.
The rest of us walked to Freight Island behind Piccadilly approach. PBR Streetgang were on the decks, which is a name I recognise from somewhere. I thought it might be Radio 1… Turns out it’s the 1979 ‘Nam movie Apocalypse Now.
Didn’t stay out late.
Today I visited FIX in the Northern Quarter. I got in on a friend’s membership as a +1. Very serene, calming venue with a sauna room, much larger than Oldham Sports Centre’s (which I was in Saturday). Not as hot, but much more organised. 90 minutes allocated instead of 50. Staff applied different oils with orange and other scents. FIX also have 2 on-site plunge baths of cold and very cold. I tried them both for a few seconds. Very quiet venue. No talking allowed. Good to have a sauna experience that doesn't include yonners arguing about Hamas and vaccines, and telling dull stories of their younger glory days. A calming and cleansing experience, physically and mentally.
Then we got lunch in My Thai, eastern restaurant I’ve had my eye on for ages. Good spicy food.
Sister’s wedding this weekend just gone. A magical time in the woodlands of Swillington Leeds. Great fun. I prefer to leave my family out of this blog as much as is possible, but I have mentioned it was going to happen: this Wedding Fit project is done. More on Saturday.
Passed 2.8 million hits on the blog. Thanks, readers and bots!
Also on Saturday: an early doors meetup with Manchester Nightlife. Come join me and (at present) 3 others in sunny Ancoats Marina for a few afternoon drinks, starting in the new Finders Keepers bar. I’ve not been yet but Ancoats seems to be the new up and coming area. Let’s find out at 4pm.
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.
2 weeks away from my sister’s wedding and the weight is just not coming off, no matter how much bland soup I make and begrudgingly eat. So I’m hammering through this remaining veg, and then fasting. The suit fits me as it is, so that’s a start. If I succeed, it’ll be a bit big. Hugely failing this Wedding Fit challenge.
Fittingly, the next meetup is in a venue with no alcohol and healthy vegan food. Hinterland bar hosts the Summer Solstice Rave, featuring ‘matcha, coffee and vibes.’ Come join Manchester Nightlife for some daytime partying. The only downside: it starts at 9am on a Sunday. So no Saturday night out.
Last night I went to new Irish bar Katie O’Brien’s on Peter St with the Manchester Nightlife Meetup group. Some new, some regulars.
Went for food first with a mate. Were queues everywhere except Rudy’s Pizza on Peter St.
I booked today off to write up a Comic Con that I actually ended up not going to. The guests were interesting but not really my thing this time.
But this has meant I can get on with other things. Including this one, I have 3 blog posts to write. Also, expect a recipe review on the blog this Saturday.
But what’s happening in the city? Saturday night: new bar Katie O’Brien’s has opened and is already hugely popular. Manchester Nightlife are headed there Saturday night, first starting on the corner of Peter St in Dirty Martini.
New Meetup group Manchester Whisky Tasting Events opens with a tasting event on the 13th. I’m dieting for an upcoming wedding, but I’ll be all over some whisky tasting after that, depending on their events. I’m a big single malt fan. I went to a couple of tastings in Oldham about 15 years ago, then again in ‘12 and ‘23 in Scotland.
My friend Fay has set up Manchester Woman and Guys Having Fun meetup group (sic). It’s got a bit of everything: coffee meets, fitness, food, drink, movies. Keep an eye on it.
A heads-up for anyone visiting rooftop bar 20 Stories this summer: there’s a £10 door charge which ‘will apply from Saturday 23rd May until Monday 31st August (Bank Holiday) from 5pm onwards.’ I guess if you were the manager and it’s busy season, you may as well make the money.
