Cheshire’s boutique Hide and Seek festival has announced its lineup for 2022 and there are some big names on the bill this year.
This September, the festival will return to the beautiful grounds of Capesthorne Hall with a new ‘ethereal’ theme and an expanded line-up of emerging talents and enduring legends, split across five stages.
Organisers announced this morning that this year’s event will feature performances from Todd Terje, Priku, Zip, Apollonia, Sonja Moonear, Fumiya, Tanaka, Raresh and loads more.
This year marks the third edition of the festival, which has already made a huge impact on the underground festival circuit – quickly becoming synonymous with authentic electronic sounds from the worlds of house, techno, disco and minimal.
Image: Hannah Metcalfe
A host of Manchester brands like You&Me, Animal Crossing, Surco, Arcadia, Tranquil and God Made Me Funky are all set to appear, as well as a host of tastemakers from further afield.
ADVERTISEMENT
This include Paris’s Automatic Writing, Liverpool’s MODU:LAR and Zuku, London’s Bizarre Trax and Beeyou, SetOneTwenty and Magnetic from Leeds and Real Gang from Ibiza.
Last year’s show was so widely loved that organisers were left with no other choice than to expand the offer to a two-day format and to create space for extended set times and a growing list of talent.
ADVERTISEMENT
Importantly, the focus remains firmly on careful curation and coherent programming to maintain Hide&Seek’s well-deserved reputation as a festival by and for serious music lovers.
Image: Hannah Metcalfe
Just announced debutants includeTraumer, Gene on Earth b2b The Ghost, Binh b2b DJ Masda, Chris Stussy, Dungeon Meat and Jamie 3:26.
They will join a host of returning favourites including Josh Baker, Spokenn, Sugar Free, Sweely, Voigtmann and many more.
ADVERTISEMENT
This year’s festival concept is Electric Dreams, promising revellers a sure-fire trip to the ethereal.
The grounds of Capesthorne Hall will once again be transformed into an adult wonderland with crystal clear sound and immersive production, with luscious woodland, lakes and landscaped gardens all open to explore.
Festival co-founder Josh Baker said: “As we enter year 3, we couldn’t be more excited to showcase what’s in store. We are taking huge steps to continue to both entertain and educate the dance floor.
Image: Supplied
“We have spent endless hours considering the programme to offer an optimal experience over two days which allows ravers to discover new names whilst being blown away by legends of the scene. For 2022, our mission is to offer an experience you never knew you needed. Electric Dreams.”
Fellow co-founder Kurt Hurst added: “The development from our first edition in 2019 to the 2021 festival was clearly a huge step up, and as per our marketing and messaging this was always part of the vision.
“However there is still further room for growth and this will be evident on arrival to Capesthorne Hall on September 3rd/4th.
ADVERTISEMENT
“After 2021 we received such incredibly overwhelming feedback in regards to stage concepts, entertainment, audio & production, but we can assure that all of these elements will continue to evolve and allow us to deliver an even better ‘dreamlike’ experience.”
Tickets are on sale now via the Hide and Seek website, with payment plans starting from just £15.
Feature image – Supplied
News
Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently
Danny Jones
We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.
If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.
As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.
“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”
Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.
Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.
Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.
Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”
“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”
“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!
“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”
They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.
As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.
Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.
AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.
It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.
In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.
Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.
The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.
Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.
More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.
The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.
Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.
This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.
This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.
It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.
AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.
Georgina Pellant -
1st March 2022 
