If you can manage to avoid Bono and his stupid little face and glasses, then there’s all of this to enjoy instead…
Manchester Science Festival 2018
From Friday 19th October
The Science Festival officially started on Thursday the 18th but apart from pissing around with a few Bunsen burners and melting some rulers – it doesn’t really kick off until this weekend. The festival is on until the 28th October and there’s a massive list of events going on around the city. There’s sensory displays on Distortions in Space time, the chance to get ‘Upgraded’ into a sort of half Robocop, half Terminator creature as well as a proper full 27-page brochure full of happenings. I’ll stop going on about it now – just check the brochure out below and get all science-y…
Toots & The Maytals at Manchester Academy
Friday 19th October
Reggae legends Toots & The Maytals are going to be in town on Friday night – bashing out harmonies and beats at Manchester Academy in front of a crowd who will probably mostly be wearing stonewash jeans, Doc Martens and those Harrington jackets with the chequered lining. In case you don’t know who Toots & The Maytals are – just watch ‘This Is England’ and you’ll become very acquainted with them. I must admit to enjoying their stuff a lot, it’s perfect for a warm summer day in the garden, and although this week is at the tail end of a cold October – the tunes can still be enjoyed by all. Here’s a playlist of their stuff just to get your ears warmed up…
DM18 x Lost in Vagueness: Film Screening and DM18 Closing Party
Saturday 20th October
I’ve never been to Glastonbury and with the way things are – I never will. It’s not because of the frankly rather rubbish line ups these last few years – it’s because you need to have your head screwed on too early nowadays for my liking. Sitting at home on a cold October evening, refreshing Netscape Navigator every 3 seconds in the vain hope that I’ll get a ticket for something that is 9 months away – no thanks. I’d rather just not know what I’ll be doing next year, keeps it fresh. I do know what I’ll be doing on Saturday though, and that is attending the DM18 Closing Party complete with screening of the film Lost in Vagueness (which is about Glastonbury in case you’re wondering why I’m talking about that).
Gypsies, Tramps & Swedes: A Cher & ABBA Disco at The Ruby Lounge
Saturday 20th October
The combination of ABBA and Cher in the recent Mamma Mia! sequel created a unique cosmic event that shifted the Earth’s rotational axis by approximately 2.3 degrees – causing mass hysteria in Sweden and an increased likelihood of El Nino in Paraguay. Adding Cher to anything instantly makes it 10x better and so this night on Friday at The Ruby Lounge is sure to be an absolute corker. Not only will they be pulling out all the Cher hits, they’ll be blasting out a load of ABBA too – sort of like the best wedding disco ever but without Uncle Nobhead getting on your tits. I’ll see you on the dancefloor – mine’s a pint of Lambrini please.
John Carpenter @ Albert Hall
Sunday 21st October
If there’s anyone in the world that I’d like to have a pint with and chew the fat over a couple of frosty Strongbows and a Grab Bag of Quavers it would be Kurt Russell. Not only is he the coolest motherfucker that ever lived, he’s been married to Goldie Hawn for about 30 years so he will have some great tips on how to keep a lady happy. Although being Kurt Russell is probably enough. So I’m seriously thinking of attending this John Carpenter concert on Sunday just in the vain hope that we become best friends and I can worm my way into Kurt’s life. Even if all of that doesn’t work out at least I’d have had a good time at the concert as the sci-fi/horror legend plays all of his synth hits live on stage.
Beer Festival @ Tap7
Saturday 20th October
The gang over at the Seven Brothers Brewery (I refuse to use a 7 as a ‘t’) over in Salford are having a bit of a shindig this weekend to celebrate their 4th Birthday. To get the party up and running they’ve teamed up with Pomona Island Brewing to bring you a selection of beers, a bit of street food and some top tunes to get tucked into. This seems like the kind of event where you will find a lot of beards, a fair few cyclists and some serious discussions about the different types of hops that go into making an IPA. I have a beard. I also ride a bike. But IPA? No thanks – I’ll stick with a cold, fizzy commercial lager like a bloody bloke. Should still be fun though.
Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Afternoon at The Lowry
Saturday 20th October
Jon Ronson wrote a book about psychopaths called the Psychopath Test and when I was reading it on holiday a couple of years back I was adamant that at the end of the book he was going to publish the test so I could see whether I was a psycho, or indeed my girlfriend was one too. Unfortunately, he didn’t actually include the test, he just talked about it for ages. So I just took one online (http://vistriai.com/psychopathtest/) and I got a score of 15 saying I’m not a psychopath. Phew! Anyway, Jon himself will be at The Lowry this Saturday with a talk on all things psycho – and how he came about writing his bestseller.
For the Love of Horror
Saturday 20th – Sunday 21st October
In case you’ve been living in the sinewy sack of an old kangaroo for the last few months, you’ll have realised that Halloween is on the horizon and people are (typically) going ape shit over it. You can hardly move for pumpkins or Harley Quinn outfits and so now the big boys have got involved and organised ‘For the Love of Horror’ down at Bowlers near the Trafford Centre. It’s basically a horror convention where you’ll have the chance to meet that bloke who played Zombie #44 in 28 Days Later and the woman who was eaten by Freddy Kruger’s dick in Nightmare on Elm Street 6: Freddy in Space. Actually, the guy who plays Machete – Danny Trejo is going to be there – that’s worth the ticket price alone.
OverDrawn of the Dead
Thursday 25th October
A brilliant bit of pun action here from the OverDrawn gang – they’ve done a good job with their Halloween/zombie themed art event over at Joshua Brooks this Thursday. If you’ve never been to an OverDrawn event, then I’ll tell you a little about them right here. Right now. Ready? Okay, so they usually have a bit of a big Live Art thing where you watch a load of artists compete at drawing and painting and stuff, alongside loads of art for sale, portraits and they even put a load of paper down on the tables so you can doodle and scribble away like when your mam and dad took you to a Brewers Fayre when you were a kid. The Halloween theme probably means there will be a lot of zombies and vampires flying around.
