Tag: Stereolab

Manchester Venues 130 to 132

Levenshulme is a suburb south of Manchester, residing on the A6 equidistant between there and Stockport. If you drive out of the city centre past Manchester Apollo, you will then pass through this area. It is historically badged under Lancashire before falling under the Manchester borders in 1909. Levenshulme is situated next to the suburb of Longsight where the fabulous venues of Manchester Internationals 1 and 2 were located in the mid to late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

It has its own small train station, which is on the London Euston route. A quirky fact is that the 77-yard stretch of road the station is located on has never been christened. Thus, via lottery funding in 2007 an unofficial road sign was erected with the informal locally used moniker of ‘The Street With No Name’. Sadly, though I don’t think Clint Eastwood’s character ‘The Man With No Name’ from Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars Trilogy’ westerns has ever visited the road!

The Street With No Name. Image Credit flickriver.com

Close to the station is where the weekly local markets were held from 2013, but due to rising costs were closed in 2023. The old ‘dandy’ highwayman Dick Turpin used to frequent the old Blue Bell Inn, a pub which still stands to this day, now owned by Samuel Smiths brewery and an Italian restaurant named Cibus on the A6 has just been awarded the Good Food Guide of best local restaurant in the North West.

Nearby to there your nostrils are assailed by the fine aromas emanating from the McVities biscuit factory. Liam and Noel Gallagher’s mum Peggy used to be employed by them and bring home the rejects and broken biscuits to the two lads which Noel then used to increase his popularity to taking them into school earning him the nickname of ‘Gallagher the Biscuit’.  I became very animated when I discovered they had a shop on site, but then instantly distressed when I subsequently uncovered that it is only open to employees! I think I may need to raise this ultra important anomaly with my local MP!

McVities Factory. Image Credit themanc.com

Levenshulme alumni include actors Arthur Lowe who played Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army, and Gwyneth Powell who was headmistress Bridget ‘The Midget’ McClusky in Grange Hill. From the musical spectrum you have Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll and Wayne Fontana who fronted the Mindbenders.  

When it became apparent this year that my accumulation of gigs could feasibly result in attending 200 singular venues in Manchester, I have begun to make a concerted effort to achieve this aspiration by invoking Project 200. In this regard I took advantage of the fact that Levenshulme is the key Irish enclave in the city, therefore they had events on and around St Patricks Day that I could advantage of.

In July 2023 Aunty Ji’s restaurant closed and was taken over by an Irish and Scottish establishment called Manchester Bia Café Bar. They apparently excel with their fried breakfasts and also commendably provide ‘free porridge breakfasts’ every morning for school children where the need arises. They are also licensed and have periodic live music acts.  On the Sunday afternoon of my visit there was an Irish duo called Grace Kelly & Debbie Garvey playing in front of a packed venue.

The Manchester Union Inn is a traditional sports and music pub where on the same Sunday I saw a Manchester University student violinist Coleen Langan perform. As of today’s date, I am now sat on 192 Manchester venues, so a remaining 8 required for my double century!  

The East Levenshulme district was original known as the Talleyrand, allegedly named after the French statesman of that name who was in exile there during the French Revolution. Respecting that tradition there is now an establishment on the A6 called Manchester Talleyrand.

It is a very homely establishment as you initially enter into a dimly lit continental style beer café, and then encounter the in-house STOCK art gallery. They also utilise the small back room as a multi-functional arts space which includes live gigs in its schedule. The establishment is owned by pals Tom Hughes and Dean Brocklehurst, who met when they were working together at HOME.  

The Talleyrand. Image Credit creativetourist.com

I became aware that they were hosting some interesting eclectic sounding bands, and previous acts who have performed are John Otway, TV Smith and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab. In April 22 we decided to make our debut visit with my pals Paul Catterall and Mark Barry in tow. The latter named is a fine fellow, highly knowledgeable muso and a serial gig goer back in the day but alas now only a very sporadic attendee, so I had to coax him out of semi-retirement!     

The band playing was the Flatmates who were formed in 1985 and part of the C86 scene. The guitarist and songwriter Martin Whitehead formed his own record label The Subway Organisation and were based in Bristol. They are best remembered for their No 2 indie chart single ‘Shimmer’. They disbanded in 1989 but subsequently reformed in 2013 and provided an enjoyable set on the night. They were supported by a fuzzy guitar band from Leeds called Nervous Twitch.

Manchester Venues 87 to 88 Albert Hall – Part 3

Now I could be wrong here, but my impression is that the early shows immediately post- pandemic appeared to have less tickets on sale as for a spell there was more room to breathe, even at sold out shows. Then, the sold-out events seemed to become much busier and for me this is one of the flaws in Manchester Albert Hall’s arsenal as at some of their gigs there you literally cannot move. A case in point was a Mogwai date this year where I was pinned in a spot by the bar (though there are worse places to be!) which didn’t allow you to adjust your position or viewpoint even if you wanted to.   

My next gig at the venue was to see Car Seat Headrest in November 2018. I have always been a huge fan of this band ever since I first heard the track ‘Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales’, the song is derived from the 2016 ‘Teens of Denial’ album. That album ticks so many musical boxes from me and I would rate is as highly as being one of my Top 10 albums.  

Car Seat Headrest. Image Credit Billboard.

The driving force behind the band is Will Toledo who as a solo member self-released an astonishing 12 records between 2010 and 2014 before becoming a fully-fledged band the following year. In my view their music is so thoughtful and heartfelt but beautifully wrapped up in a crunchy garage rock sound which I have an inherent weakness for. The lo-fi lyrics talk specifically and empathise with the waifs and strays, lonely and dispossessed bedroom warriors of the world and the audience that night reflected that cross-section of the population, and I thoroughly enjoyed their show and the resulting exultant sing along!

As part of the Dot-to-Dot festival in 2018, I saw Dream Wife, a three-piece pop punk band from Brighton. I saw so many bands that day, and I cannot recall a note of whatever portion of their set I witnessed, but they do appear to have received a fair degree of critical acclaim since then.

July 19 resulted in seeing two reforming 90’s bands but neither hit the heights for me. The first being the Anglo-French combo Stereolab, who came across as a tad self-indulgent. The second was the Glaswegian lo-fi popsters Belle and Sebastian whose ongoing driving force has been Stuart Murdoch. They formed in 1996 and have produced twelve studio albums. Their previous members have included Isobel Campbell who collaborated on a couple of excellent albums with the late great Mark Lanegan.    

Their jaunty single ‘The Boy with the Arab Strap’ was featured on the soundtrack of the ‘Juno’ movie and the C4 series ‘Teachers’ featuring a young Andrew Lincoln. In my opinion though, Andrew’s defining role remains the character Egg in the fantastic ground-breaking BBC 2 series ‘This Life’. Despite a couple of decent moments, the band were too twee for me.

In February 2020 I saw the Texan post-rock band Explosions in the Sky where it was patently clear when we were out and about that the dark clouds of Covid where beginning to form. In November 21 the old troubadours Jesus and Mary Chain were back on tour, and I was seeing them for the eighth time in total and for the first time in seven years. They played their excellent second album ‘Darklands’ in full and following an intermission played some further tunes. They sounded in very fine form and Jamie looked well though William looked a little weather worn and was seated throughout the performance.      

Jesus and Mary Chain. Image Credit exclaim!

In April 2022, I saw Sea Power (now without the British in their name) for the sixth time and later that year witnessed Mountain Goats. The latter band being from California and their constant member is John Darnielle, and for many years he operated as the solo member. Their name was derived from a line in a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song, and they were firmly in the folk-rock vein and there were some die-hard fans in attendance.

My most current gig there was a couple of months ago to watch Eels who provided a soothing performance led by the distinctive vocals and quirky presence of Mark Oliver Everett (stage name E). They were supported on the night by the French soul rock band Inspector Cluzo.    

One postscript before I go, when leaving the hall during Dot-to-Dot festival in 2018 there was a Manchester Albert Hall Beer Van situated right outside the venue. There was an impromptu gig taking place in the open van by some accomplished musicians called the Road Crew, it was an enjoyable interlude before walking on to the next venue!