A couple of weeks ago I shared my road trip diary from the London leg of a mini holiday I took with my girlfriends. From there we travelled to Manchester with a wee stop off at my house in Leeds to grab the car which we used from then on. It’s so good to get some ‘home time’ in between, however brief.
We arrived in Manchester in pretty good time, but completely got lost in the loop system trying to get into the Arndale Centre car park. You have to approach the shopping centre with it on your left to enter, but trying to get your car in the correct position on the correct road is an art in itself. We dined in Bella Italia which was tasty enough and then headed out to find somewhere to have a nice pre-gig drink.
On the way to the Norther Quarter (recommended by my lovely friend MaMagasin!) we ran into Brendan and the guys and he noticed the necklace that my friend Sarah was wearing. It’s a bit of a secret project at the moment, but I have designed a small range of jewellery pieces with a ‘Brendan Benson’ theme (I’d love to know if anyone would be interested in purchasing these when they’re ready). I had brought them along to show him, but didn’t expect to have the meeting in the street in the middle of Manchester, haha. Brendan immediately stole one of the pin badges and I attached it to his jacket before they went off to grab dinner. I put that one down as a win ;)
We had a drink in the Night & Day Cafe which is probably my favourite Manchester gig venue, despite being so teeny – tiny (the sound is awesome!) and then we headed to a bar called Walrus. It’s got a bit of a diner style feel inside, but much more upmarket and kooky. The bar man was super friendly and we ordered some great cocktails which were two for £10 as we’d hit just before the end of Happy Hour.
The gig was at The Ruby Lounge which is always a disappointment for me; The bar area is nice but the ceiling is so low in the venue area making the sound not great, especially the more grunge-y the band. Plus there are huge pillars – always a no-no in a venue!
It was even worse this time around when I got to the ticket desk and I hadn’t been put on the guest list. Granted, that wasn’t the door staff’s fault, but they were rude and unhelpful and made me go outside and contact my friend to sort it out. If you’re ever in that situation the door staff should actually have the promoter’s phone number on the list and they should call for you. Thankfully I have great friends and we got sorted eventually, but sadly missing Future Monarchs’ set due to the mix up :( This is why you go to more than one show!!
The gig was a strange one… There were a couple of ‘Raconteurs’ fans shouting out the wrong song requests and wittering to each other about Jack White. People even thought it was acceptable to climb onto the stage. As a Northern girl I always find it odd that I never enjoy a gig as much in Manchester as I do in London, but I really wish bands would come to Leeds more. In the end, Brendan and the guys put on a great show and you just have to try and focus on that. It took me three Death Cab For Cutie gigs before I could really enjoy the actual show; Gig goers can be really inconsiderate so I recommend you get there early and be as close to the front as possible as that’s where the big fans hang out who are actually there to enjoy the music and not talk over it ;)
Loves x xx
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