Salford’s Sounds From The Other City (SFTOC) festival has revealed its full 2022 line-up ahead of the event’s return this spring.
Taking place this year on Sunday 1 May, 2022 at a host of small Salford venues, the underground music festival has built a reputation for bringing huge artists to the city whilst they are still at early points in their careers.
A firm favourite with local music lovers since it launched in 2005, this year’s line-up will continue to champion local promoters and small independent venues.
Image: Supplied
Spreading across a host of exciting indie venues, the 2022 event will continue to celebrate intimate gigs in small spaces – taking over the likes of Bexley Square, Seven Bro7hers Beerhouse, fivefourstudios, Hot Bed Press, Old Pint Pot, YES, Partisan, Porta, Regent Trading Estate, Saint Philip’s Church and The New Oxford.
Newly announced acts include favourites of the late Virgil Abloh, Manchester neo-soul and RnB band Lovescene, Salford-formed trippy, rhythm, drone and psychedelic noise collective GNOD and Edinburgh born singer-songwriter, Hamish Hawk.
Also lighting up SFTOC’s spiritual home of Chapel Street will be fresh female DJ collective Queer Latifah, Amsterdam’s beamy-grinned, indie-pop powerhouse Pip Blom, and RnB / pop artist TYSON.
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Image: Supplied
Acts already announced include LayFullstop, LYR (Land Yacht Regatta) DJs from the Daytimers stable, Chandé and Gracie T, celebrated British electronic music producer Holy Other, and the proudly black and queer Bristol-based producer, vocalist and DJ, Grove.
Afterparties are also on the cards, with the long-awaited return of underground electronic night Bohemian Grove confirmed for this year’s event.
New kids on the bloc Piano in the City, meanwhil, will celebrate the Amapiano music coming from South Africa via Manchester, and elsewhere the tour de force of Freak Queer Rave is collaborating with Creatures to celebrate ‘the other’ well into the early hours.
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Image: Supplied
Speaking on the upcoming festival, which returns after a two-year hiatus, Riv Burns, Creative Director for Sounds from the Other City, siad: “This year’s festival is really shaping up to have one of the most eclectic, exciting and enticing SFTOC line ups to date, with over 125 acts announced, plus a handful more in the pipeline
“It feels incredibly representative of the times we are living in and I couldn’t be prouder of the vision and talent of this city. We are really excited to be working with a whole array of visual artists who will be creating special happenings and strange goings on to the site throughout the day as well. The audience journey of this year’s festival will truly be like no other.”
Tier 2 tickets for the festival are now on sale, priced at just £32 plus booking fees, and are available until the end of March (subject to demand). The festival is a regular sell-out so those eager to attend are advised to move quickly.
To buy tickets visit soundsfromtheothercity.com.
Full Line-up:
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6a6y 6 b2b Adrian Steele (DJ) – Agent J (DJ) – Akemi Fox – Alex – Alex Ross (DJ) – Amelia Wallace – Another; Country $$$$ – Aria Scere (Vogueing Workshop) – Atiké & Obeka – audiobooks – Ayy Den – Bob Cojones – Call it a Truce – Carriage Return – Chandé B2B G33 – Charlotte Newman – China Lilly – Chips with Everything – Contours – Dirty Freud – Dirty K (DJ) – Dogs with Jobs – Do you Remember the First Time? (DJ) – Edane NG – Fatty Acid Cabaret – Fehdah – For Breakfast – Fran Lobo – Francesca – Frazer (DJ) – Freya Beer – glue70 – GNOD – Good Afternoon presents: Return To The Disco Womb – Gracie T B2B Vindya – Grove – Gut Level (DJ) – Hamish Hawk – HighSchool – Holy Other – Isaiah Hull – Jasmine Rowland (DJ) – Jenna G (DJ) – John Myrtle – Juke Joint (DJ) – Julia (Wonderhaus) – July 7 – Katbrownsugar (DJ) – Katy J Pearson (stripped back set) – Kid Katharsis – Kiss Me Again Residents – Ku’umba – La Presidenta (DJ) – Lara Jones – Late night Karaoke hosted by Teegs – Lavender Rodriguez – LayFullstop – Léna C (DJ) – Linnkü (DJ) – Lovescene – Lowell (DJ) – Lurid Ultra Hybrid – LYR – M a t e k o i – M3 Industries – Madi Saskia – Mali Hayes – Mandy, Indiana – Mewn – Mia La Mette – Modern Nature – Motto Estate – Murder He Wrote – Musumba – Natalian (All Hands on Deck DJ Workshop), Natalie and the Monarchy – Nayana Iz – NIVETHA – NoSpace Mcr – Obeka (LIVE) – OneDa – P-Ro Jones (DJ) – Bitez – Pip Blom – Psychederek – Queer Latifah – RSP – Ruby Swallow – Sandy Freckle – Sarah Bates – Sens Sagna and the Kajamor Family – Short Supply – SIBZ – Son of Bingo – Sonny Bliss – Splint – Szajna – Test Card Girl – Thank – The Bug Club – The KTNA – The Rebel – Threads – Trayner – TV Babies – TYSON – Victoria Jane – Wesley Gonzalez – What Do I Tell My Friends? – Yossari Baby – Zeyla – Plus a few more TBA
Selected by:
Alphaville – Band on the Wall – Beauty Witch – Big People Music – Daytimers – Fat Out – Good Afternoon – Grey Lantern – Heavenly Recordings – Hey! Manchester – Kiss me Again – Ladies Music Pub – Love Rain – Me Gusta – NIAMOS – Now Wave – OneFiveEight – Partisan collective – Reform Radio – Regal Disco – Strange Days – Sweet Vibrations Radio – Tales From Other Worlds – The Factory – Tru Luv – VAM
News
30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story
Georgina Pellant
Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.
Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.
Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.
It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.
The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.
Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.
Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.
However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.
Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.
The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.
It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
Credit: Manchester Libraries
Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.
The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.
It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.
Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space
Danny Jones
The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.
Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.
But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.
You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.
With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.
Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.
Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.
As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”
The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.
As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.
With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.
Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.
You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.
Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.
Georgina Pellant -
14th March 2022 
