Arts, Music & Events Preview July 2011 (Part One)

So, onwards to the latter half of the year. July, the delta of a month when MIF docks at Manchester’s shores, overflows into multifarious distributaries as fringe events seek to swim in its big fish slipstream.

Enough nautical nonsense, though. Tonight (Friday 1st) is a night split by a couple of worthy shouts from contrasting shades of the musical spectrum. Firstly, Cogidubnus is among the DJs for the Total Garage night; unfortunately not actually at a Total Garage fuel dispenser, instead at Joshua Brooks where you’ll hear future garage, dubstep, 2-step and associated genres. If you dig that scene then why not also shuffle down to the Dulcimer in Chorlton on Thursday 14th for the second of Now Then Manchester’s stint, a showcase of Cogidubnus’s label Broken Bubble.

On the topic of Dulcimer, the second option for tonight has to be Wooden Wand; lured across the pond by Golden Lab Recordings for a performance of alt-folky psychedelics.

Saturday 2nd beckons in more of the aforementioned fringe events. Lass O’Gowrie pub’s own Lass Fest hosts the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. There’s not a lot I can add to that, other than it sounds like something you won’t see very often – so check it out this time around! Elsewhere, there’s more from Not Part Of Fest that day, including the Manchester Art Crawl launch party at Islington Mill.

The annually anticipated Beech Road Festival is set for Sunday 3rd. The road renowned for its independent boutiques will welcome stalls and arty attractions aplenty.

If Lass Fest’s sock puppets sound like a niche market then ‘chap hop’ must be a genre whose purveyors can be counted on one hand. Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer Monday 4th performance will answer any inevitable questions about what to expect.

[More to follow after the weekend...]

Words: Ian Pennington