Kempy started 2009 on good from by playing ‘A Rush and A Push’ during his DJ set at the BUSK New Year’s special. It might have been at midnight – no-one really knew, ‘coz our watches were all giving different times, so Kempy just started a countdown to break the silence. Ah well, no-one there knew that…....
.. ..
Twas a good night all round – great sets as ever by Rob+Steve (I think that’s their stage name) and George Borowski, and a really good response to the Optionals’ set, before Kempy hit the decks. (Maybe he literally hit the decks, because they packed in soon after, and he had to zoom forward about 60 years and carry on from an Ipod – think he secretly liked it). An experiment of sorts, due to it falling on the right date, BUSK will be a regular NYE fixture from now on.....
.. ..
We did The Roadhouse for the first time in far too long in January. Miss that place. Great sound as ever. Special mention to Lionsex and the-fella-from-Hardy’s new band as well.....
.. ..
By coincidence, Lionsex have also been championing Hip Parade through the Orange Unsigned ch4 show. I went down to the semi-finals to join the rest of the clan, complete with ‘I heart Hip Parade’ t-shirt (cheers, Sis). The 4am megabus seemed like a good idea, but post-night out, not much sleep, a few more beers and the coldest coach I’ve endured, probably wasn’t. Neither was taking exception to being told what I can and can’t wear at the tv studio. Answering my reasonable question with ‘Because it’s a TV show’ still does not make any sense, no matter how many times you say it. So I was asked to leave. Then allowed back in, but warned I was being ‘watched’ as I was ‘a threat’… The day took a turn for the better tho, as Hip Parade made it through to the Final. Natt spotted two soap ‘stars’ in a matter of minutes at Euston.....
.. ..
Hip Parade closed off the month with a rousing headline set at BUSK. It’s been too long since their last one (over two years!) so was really good to have them back both as a band and as late-night drinking acquaintances in Retro. Matt suggested we do a quick set before them (Code of Silence, Generation, What Goes Around and the ‘new one’), which was another good ‘un, in front of a really good BUSK crowd. The Hips were great (details on the BUSK pages), as were all the other acts that played one of the busiest BUSKs in ages. Layla and my double act made its first appearance outside of Smile, complete with the now standard ‘f*ck it, just dance!’ end to one or more songs. Crowd seemed to like it tho…....
.. ..
Optional Wallace were invited to play the Friends of Manchester Festival which was both good and bad. Good because it was a nice to be part of such a great line-up of acts. Bad because I hardly got to see any of said great acts. Was a really good day tho, hats off to Sam, Pierre and Graham for such an audacious event. I’ve just checked back at the line-up and am really p*ssed off again that so many top acts were all in one building and I missed most of ‘em… Our set was late (so we don’t know if anyone knew who we were…) but was good. Moviestar and the other new one are really fitting into the set now. Review at the end of this post.... Of who I did see, Jo Rose was in fine form, as were The Witches (best in ages) and The Casinos (so much energy) but I missed pretty much everyone else due to a mix-up with the stage backline, having to transport equipment around, and then the Smile open mic. Still, there’s plans for a similar event in the summer (or so I’ve heard) so bring it on, I say!
Finally - DJd at The Garratt with Dave for Disco (un)obscure. It was a really good night, loads of good reactions to what we played and good requests. Banner looked good (cheers Soph), good laugh all round, really. Set list on the disco (un)obscure facebook discussion board...
.. ..
Send us your thoughts+photos, and let us know if you saw anyone at FOM that I missed.
Neil xx
Hip Parade at BUSK
www.myspace.com/buskmanchester....
Review from Second City magazine - issue 3, Mar/Apr 2009:
Friends of Manchester Festival - Jabez Clegg
"I nip upstairs for 15 minutes at half-time to catch Optional Wallace on the Main Stage. An unfortunate slot to have been delayed for a band with a fewfellow reds in, but nevertheless they crack on with their dark post-punk indie-rock. My first viewing of the band in full, and having a copy of last year's EP, it's safe to say that they back up the quality shown on there in their live performance. The songs are as big as expected, with The Ladder sounding especially rambunctious. I said it when i reviewed their two-track, but fans of everything from Interpol to The Fall should embrace this."
Daniel Alston
www.secondcityuk.com