Tag: I Am Kloot

Manchester Venue 93 – Rose and Monkey

Nearby to Shudehill Bus Station, you will find two fine old-fashioned boozers, The Angel and the Marble Arch, the naming of the latter indicating its linkage to the Marble brewery and the pub also has the added bonus of a sloping floor, evident even before you have imbibed a drop of ale! If you then headed from there over towards Ancoats you would locate the Wing Yip Chinese supermarket where Gill and I used to visit in the 90’s to obtain ingredients for us to be wannabe chefs during the time Gill was undertaking her nurse training further across the city.

Marble Arch pub. Image Credit timeout.com

Back on Swan Street is the food hall Mackie Mayor where you can take your pick from a choice of cuisines and a plethora of craft beers, and I have sampled a couple of wares there, including some tasty pizzas. Mackie seems to have set a trend by inciting other similar establishments to spring up in other suburbs of the city and also at Stockport Market.

Just around the corner is Manchester Rose and Monkey. The building that now houses the pub was built in 1783, the reason for the creation was a reaction to the boom in population resulting from Richard Arkwright building the world’s first ever steam powered mill right outside the front door. Sixty years later it was first recognised as a pub, in fact two, as there was an additional one in the basement! There were many names across the years, The Glasgow Tavern, The Grapes, John O’Groats, Tam O Shanter and then latterly the Burton Arms.  

In the late 19th century, the two local gangs of ‘Angel Meadows’ and ‘Bengal Tigers’ regularly clashed. Around that time the Smithfield Market was built directly behind the pub and the olde world charm of the nearby Smithfield Arms still remains. Music also abounded on the streets with the production via the residents in ‘Little Italy’ of barrel organs and hurdy gurdies and the proximity of the market turned the Burton into a renowned yet somewhat dubious musical establishment.

Manchester Rose and Monkey beer garden. Image Credit mancunianmatters.co.uk

It was a brash Man United football supporters haven in the 90’s before rebadging itself into a real ale pub and a subsequent name change to the Rose and Monkey. It is now a homely establishment, and the small stage is just inside the front door and has hosted events by The Blinders, Goa Express and John Bramwell of I Am Kloot fame who performed in the large beer garden at the rear which contains a fully functioning vegan bar in the summer. There is also a bonny resident pub dog called Django who has somewhat bizarrely been credited on a recent Mysterines album.  

My one musical visit there was during the 2019 Dot to Dot festival. It was the most geographical stretching version of that event I had attended, and we had walked up from somewhere in the Ritz area so were craving a quick sit down. They had closed the front door due to the proximity to the stage, so we gained access via the beer garden.

Upon entering we were met by the sound of a lass who was performing on a piano on the little stage, she had a beautiful voice and was a compelling soothing watch. The artist in question was Megan Dixon Hood from Macclesfield and she has been referenced in the ‘forest pop’ genre and perhaps could be likened to Florence and the Machine and she has recently released her debut album ‘East of the Sun’.   

Megan Dixon Hood. Image Credit bandsintown.com

Wickerman Festival 14

A degree of sadness pervades as I draft this week’s blog as it details the fourteenth and last ever Wickerman Festival to be held which took place on 24/25 July 2015. There were rumours for over a year around the future of the event, eventually resulting in the confirmation later in 2015 that Wickerman would be no more leaving a huge chasm in my annual gig calendar!

On the bill were the Waterboys, who I recall I first become aware of when they played the Tube on a Friday teatime on Channel 4, also playing were Squeeze whose set I enjoyed. Glasgow post punks Catholic Action and electronic synth band Ubre Blanca, bizarrely named after Fidel Castro’s favourite cow were also in residence, alongside Errors, Belle and the Beast, Beth Fourage, Be Charlotte, Wayne Devre Set, Sister Fox, Vaselines and the grungy Tuff Love.  

The punk contingent was covered by Amphetameanies and stalwarts Eddie and the Hot Rods with their timeless Top 10 hit ‘Do Anything You Wanna Do’, their only constant member being singer Barrie Masters, prior to his death in 2019. 

Cellist Calum Ingram headlined the Acoustic Tent and the reggae/ska corner had Jimmy Cliff with his ‘Many Rivers to Cross’. There was hip-hop from Hector Bizerk and main stage performances from Lulu, Stereo MC’s, the ever-impressive Neneh Cherry and Pere Ubu who I did once own one album by, namely ‘The Tenement Year’ however the only song I can recall is ‘George Had a Hat’.  

Neneh Cherry. Image Credit djdmac.com

Folk tones were ensured by Glasgow five-piece Washington Irving, John Bramwell, frontman from I Am Kloot, Chichester’s Tom Odell, Novantae! from Galloway and Rick Redbeard which was the solo performer stage name for Rick Anthony, lead singer for the Phantom Band.   

My notes also inform me that I saw SLUG who were promoting their debut album ‘Ripe’ though I cannot recall their performance. In the last two or three years they have received a lot more attention and received considerable radio airplay from the likes of Mark Reilly.

Aiden Moffett (of Arab Strap fame) and Bill Wells were also on the roster. We also headed over to the third stage to see the excellent Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who I was watching for the fifth and final time before their subsequent break up.

Many of my favourite Scottish bands had played this festival over the years including Teenage Fanclub, The View, The Proclaimers, Idlewild, Aerogramme and The Rezillos to name a few, however the cream of the crop Mogwai had never graced the festival.

This was partially rectified by Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai main singer appearing for a solo set on the Acoustic stage which we obviously attended. I managed to have a brief photo shoot and chat with him and who knows if there had have been a following year perhaps Mogwai might have played, we shall never know! 

John Dewhurst, Uncle George, Stuart Braithwaite and me replete with dubious festival hat in the Acoustic Tent. Image Credit Mrs Braithwaite.

So, before we depart the South West Scotland amphitheatre permit me, if I may to take you on a final tour of the site. From the initial taxi/bus drop off point you would traverse through the tents to the wristband collection point then onto the main entrance which in reality was a hole in the wall.

Opposite the entrance you could purchase a stage times list before turning left past the funfair, circus or cinema, dependant on what they chosen to incorporate that particular year. Onwards past the Acoustic Tent, behind which in later years there was a craft beer and Mojito tent.

At the apex of the hill was the shop, Third Stage and Solus and Scooter Tents, of which the latter in the early years resembled a Mash Tent where they had stellar DJ’s playing. From here, you had a superb vantage to watch the Wickerman burning at midnight on the Saturday night. I seem to recall one year they had a little mini golf course next to the statue.  

Traversing down the hill rolled you past the VIP area and main beer tent, where occasionally bash em up bands would play. In the natural bowl was the main stage followed by the Dance and Silent Disco Tent. Just in advance of fully circling back to the main entrance you would find the fabulous Reggae Tent which was always erected on an incline. This tent was a regular final stopping point of the evening where you could purchase a hot mug of tea and a flapjack whilst being dually soothed by the Bob Marley inspired soundtrack and stoned by the pungent aroma permeating all around.     

A couple of years later, when in attendance at another Scottish festival, one of the gig brethren said the festival was good, but it is not Wickerman and we all murmured in assent, I can think of no more fitting epitaph than that!