Quippodrome @ Gullivers, 09.5.16

One doesn't really know what to expect from a night labelled Quippodrome. The website, scarce and intriguing, offers little explanation. A video plays in the centre of the website of past Quippodrome evenings and I'm immediately thinking of early Mighty Boosh. Homemade costumes, silly looking characters, exaggerated acting.

From the offset, the evening was welcoming. Compares Jack Evans, and Edy Hurst invite the audience to feel relaxed, and assure us that the evening is probably going to fail. But when it fails, it also works. The performers, clearly well versed in comedy, quickly manage to pick themselves up, find a response, and even on this occasion, lecture about Kangaroos killing Dingoes; all to bemused laughter. It's a journey for both the audience and the performers and not your regular comedy night. 

The evening continues with Chris Cantrill who has established himself around the UK as a comedian with a penchant to see the funny side in life's (sur)real stories. His set changes the pace a little, but the laughs keep coming.

After a short interval, we're welcomed back for the main event, The Quippodrome. The four players, Jack, Edy, Jayne and Jon perform a variety of characters and vignettes, worthy of early Channel Four (or when Channel Four was good|). It even kicks off with a very Adam & Joe-esque title card and Evans’ Detective Inspector Horse-hand, who wouldn't look out of place on Vic Reeves Big Night Out. D.I. Horse-hand (a Holyrood experiment if you were wondering) spins his surreal yarn about a whole menagerie of weird equine-hybrid Scots people, and the audience loves it.

The melee of other characters who appear on stage in unique, original acts continue. Dr. Love (yes, we've all heard of him, but we've never actually met him!) gives us some tips on the best sex positions, all with brilliantly graphic drawings.

"It's ok, the perspective may be skewed, but she has breasts, so…"

The segue between the Crane Position and the Fraser Crane Position drew the biggest laughs. We're literally taken on a rollercoaster in the next act with a great use of a web-cam, a stick, and a couple of straws. This part of the show seemed like a metaphor for the whole evening, with its twists and turns, the ups, and the downs, and, of course, the failures (I'd suggest gaffer taping the extension lead!).

The evening is drawn to a close with a wonderful character from the comedic brain of Jayne Edwards. After all the high testosterone, it's a welcoming relief to see Jayne, and her ‘pube art’ will stick in my mind like... well, like a pube sticks in your teeth. Confidently Jayne’s character informs us of how to make it in the porn industry when she was directing. A surreal little story that wonderfully re-introduces the rest of the characters back on stage.

Overall, I've not seen anything like this before. These guys have worked the circuit, and got bored with the scene. They may be doing this for the love of comedy, and I hope they are, because that rawness and passion, and the laughs they gave the whole audience was worth way more than the door price. So much so, I'm going back next month.

Words: Colm Feeley

22nd Carefully Planned All-Dayer @ Gullivers, 17.05.14

“Punching your door through / Smashing windows”. Well it was the hottest day of the year so far, so add to the mixture more flammable components of a Saturday afternoon, plus alcohol, and it doesn’t seem an unusual news report from most town centres.

On this occasion it’s Emma Kupa (aka Cooper) who is reciting the lyric from one of her songs. Accompanied by a drummer, the low-key acoustic set is a series of tales whose music may be light and summery, but with lyrics containing dark, threatening and at times humorous tones. The Lemonheads/Evan Dando came to mind while listening to the duo. When you discover her collaboration with Darren Hayman, formerly of Hefner, the connection seems obvious.

A performer can put so much effort into creating an atmosphere to match the mood of the songs, yet the trill of a mobile phone’s ring tone can easily break that mood. Congratulations to Tekla for not allowing said tone to disturb her concentration. She is the first artist to appear on this Carefully Planned event bill. Sat on a stool, she gently picks the guitar strings, softly relaying stories about storms and the pitter patter of raindrops, whilst sun cracks the flagstones outside.

The running order of the bands is planned carefully so that the pace of the music increases steadily throughout the day, with the joyfully delivered thrash of Bad Grammar being eagerly received. Ben (guitar) and Lucy (drums) look like they are enjoying the music as much as the audience. Almost.

Beware of the quiet ones the saying goes. The four who make up Axes just seem too, well, polite to deliver the crashing noise that their set conjures up. A math rock fury engrossed the steadily increasing crowd. Think 65daysofstatic flecked with touches of Rolo Tomassi (two Sheffield-based bands) smelted together with their own individuality and you will end up with Axes.

There were other bands performing during the day, so people could nip out for the FA Cup final knowing that the event went on till after 11. With this taster for the annual two-day festival spread over several venues, which was recently announced for October, the future looks bright.

Words & photos: Ged Camera

Not A Summer Festival @ Gullivers and The Castle Hotel, 08.02.14

It sounds like one. It appears like one, so surely it must be one. Well, it is a festival but, as the headline states, it's not a summer festival which is technically true as we are being deluged with water in February. That does compare well with Glastonbury in June or July though.

The positive part is that the music, spread over the Castle Hotel and Gullivers, will go ahead regardless of how wet it is outside. With a diversely engrossing line-up of styles and attitude available, it’s good to see that the Castle is three quarters full at 3.30, with more people queuing to purchase wristbands.

Crywank. It's one thing to have a name that will stand out, court controversy and attention, but is the talent there to support it? On this performance, James Clayton, subtlety supported by Dan Watson, who has the packed crowd entranced, does have the magnetism to draw people around him. He might just be able to reach the escape velocity beyond merely being potential.

Meanwhile, a snippet of the closing number from The Ferals’ set is inviting enough to try to catch them from the start next time. A more precise, considered musical range is displayed by MyLyricalMind.

The simplicity in structure provides a useful counterpoint to the more upfront urgings of Waltz.

A lot to encounter for the first event but hopefully the promoters will be around again, passing out the cakes along the way.

Words & photos: Ged Camera.

Galoshins @ Gulliver's, 13.04.13

Tonight we embark on a twisted voyage through the warped psyche of Scottish peculiarists Galoshins.

It’s jazz, but not as we know it. No laboriously self-absorbed solos or needlessly fidgety fretboard twiddlery, but a wonderfully involving and upbeat rampage across the realms of funk, rock and electro, with a delightful and disorientating dash of glitch to melt what remains of your fleeting sanity.



Backstage the befuddlingly talented drummer can be seen giving lessons to supporting acts - dressed appropriately as an African priest - whilst onstage their chemistry burbles with the madness of a shamanic vision quest, the wide-eyed keyboard/vocalist egging on an enraptured and boisterous audience.

It ought be mentioned that never before have I been hit with such simultaneous bouts of dancing and laughter, as the comic undertones of the three-piece’s performance lift them leagues above most of their jazz contemporaries.

Gasping and perspiring, they finally succumb to the rambunctious demand for an encore, and we’re plunged into yet another wormhole of majestic sonic turbulence; the cacophonic clamour of keys, strings and drumskins bombinating the skeletons of all within range.

It’s a mind-bending ruckus, sometimes soaring, sometimes bewildering, but always fun. And that’s what we came here for, right?

Words: Tom Richardson.

Monkey Poet: spoken word, Spoke'n'Heard and Dulcimer all dayer

Matt Panesh, aka Monkey Poet, is a poet with a plan. He is seeking to refresh old-fashioned preconceptions about spoken word as a dull and forgotten art form by curating a series of monthly nights at Gulliver’s in the Northern Quarter.

They are events organised in his own image, showcasing an infusion of comedy, poetry recital and dramatic performance all hinged around rhythmic complexities and linguistic delights. Even the title, Spoke'n'Heard, is an indicator of his penchant for puns.

The next opportunity to experience this will be on 18th April, where Kate Fox and Tony Walsh – of Radio 4’s Saturday Live and Glastonbury Poet Laureate fame, respectively – will take on the task of entertaining the upstairs room at Gulliver’s, armed with only a microphone and their arsenal of articulation.

His own show can be seen at an all day event on Easter Sunday at Dulcimer bar in Chorlton, as compere at a showcase of live acoustic, folk and spoken word co-promoted by Now Then Manchester and Imploding Inevitable.


Known for his raucous performances and rhythmic wordplay, Matt will recite some of his own work between curating a line-up of other local poets and introducing open mic slots scattered across the billing. Any poets keen to be involved should contact ian [at] nowthenmagazine [dot] com.

Elsewhere on the day, there’ll be an array of live musicians, including David A Jaycock who will headline as part of his current North West mini-tour. His second album of a few years back, The Coleopterous Cuckoos Collude, was released via Manchester label Red Deer Club Records and is an all-encompassing crossover between darkly delivered instrumental stories and finger-picked folk, à la Rick Tomlinson of Voice of the Seven Woods and Voice of the Seven Thunders. Its darkly psychedelic edge caught the attention of Sheffield’s Blackest Rainbow record label – home to Manchester’s Gnod amongst other acid-folk and psyche-rock talents – who have subsequently aired his latest two records.

As compere for the day, Panesh will have a busy Bank Holiday Sunday with nine more musical acts to introduce in addition to extended spoken word slots.

Words: Ian Pennington
Now Then poster art: Hattie Lockwood
Spoke’n’Heard posters: courtesy of Monkey Poet

The Now Then Imploding Inevitable All Dayer will take place at Dulcimer in Chorlton on Sunday 8th April from 1pm until 11.30pm. Tickets are available here or from the venue.

Spoke’n’Heard continues every month on the third Wednesday at Gulliver’s. Click here for more information.

Section 25 & As Able As Kane (AAAK) @ Gulliver's, Saturday 28th January 2012

When two fast flowing rivers meet, an area of turbulence is created as the waters interact and mix. A similar type of confluence is taking place at Gulliver's, only with two separate, distinct crowds getting swept up in the mix. Downstairs a woman is celebrating her 30th birthday with a set of friends whose age appears to be around the 30 year watermark. None of them would be old enough to have seen Section 25 in their first incarnation, unlike the group of more ‘mature’ people upstairs who perhaps, proudly, would like to say they did.

As Able As Kane precede them and set upon the task of removing the mortar from between the brickwork with their slamming beats. Initially lining up as a four-piece, for the third number a female singer emerges from the crowd and is just about able to fit into the small space left alongside the male vocalist. The contribution to the higher end of the frequency mix provides a touch of subtlety to the pounding.

Carefully thought out and organised to match the emotions of the songs, a set of visual images cast the band in shadows. Images of buildings being blown up are overlaid with selected lyrics whilst a few individuals are literally bouncing up and down to the beats, broadly grinning from ear to ear as they let the momentum wrap itself around them.

A name that is often referenced but seldom at the fore front of the Factory Records tale is Section 25, yet when you hear them you understand why the association fits so well. They even have music out on the Haçienda record label. After the ill fortune that the band have suffered it’s surprising that they have survived this long, but it’s a tribute to their love of music and ability to find a way to record music as and when it suits them. Vocalist Bethany Cassidy briefly refers to her “mum and dad,” but the reason she is onstage is that Jennifer (her mother), Larry (her dad) and a founding member of this group, died at far too early an age; not via any self inflicted situation. Yet interest in their warm fusion of steady rhythms, guitars and samples has proved enduring enough to generate a mini tour of Europe.

For the first two numbers, ‘Beating Heart’ and ‘Garage Land’, Beth struggles to be heard as the mic lead cuts in and out in a Norman Collier-like manner. With a new cable in place she’s happy, her uncle Vinny on drums is happy and so is the crowd as the lush melodies flow out. It may be more of a Balearic beat than the Blackpool (or Poulton-le-Fylde) sands but it’s still flowing soundly.

Words & Photographs: Ged Camera

Stroke Club Presents: The Pigs & Onions @ Gulliver’s, Thursday 15th December 2011

In the manner that a fishmonger might chalk up the best deals of the day on a board outside a shop, at about 9.30pm the list of bands appears inside Gulliver’s, the scribbled white chalk just about visible above the remnants of the last Stroke event. Initially it states only two bands, but after Onions have played their set, a brief addendum is added, just about fitting into the residual space, almost as an afterthought. This late addition is listed as The Pigs, although they appear to also go under the moniker Rapid Pig. To add to the ad hoc nature of things, their front man also appears as a solo artist under the guise of SpaceGhost.

This may be very confusing, but the performance is one that will stick in the memory bank. Before they have started, attention is diverted to the stack of A3 sized sheets of paper that contain the hand written – or scrawled – lyrics to the set. Kneeling over these, staring at them intensely is Eoin O’Connor, aka SpaceGhost.

Before the band is halfway through the first number, O’Connor is crawling off the front of the stage, his legs flailing in the air as if he is trying to swim across the floor. Even in this twisted position, the microphone is still held to his mouth, the vocals flowing. The band looks on this with a knowing amusement, even flicking out the odd playful kick to O’Connor’s torso.

The control exerted by the other four band members as they lay down the musical background for O’Connor’s nasal chants is more restrained and suitably dense – and loud. A keyboardist produces psychedelic sounds whilst the overall experience resembles the results of too much inbreeding between Fraser King and Jim Morrison.

It’s a magnetic performance from O’Connor that does tail off towards the end as he dips into the all too easy refrain of “F*** you,” but, for a band that has not played a live set in a considerable amount of time, still impressive.

Pop permeates the set by Onions. Within 10 minutes of the trio approaching the stage with their equipment they are starting their first number. With an equally impressive speed, the seemingly empty venue now has a decent sized crowd.

Whether or not their content takes a nod to the infectious nature of songs such as Norman Gimbel’s theme tune to Happy Days, there is a contagious vibrancy to their set. So much so that a fair proportion of the crowd are now twisting in a positive way. It’s not quite approaching dancing but it’s a move in the right direction.

They have enough time changes in each song to create the illusion that three are segued together and the pace is unrelenting, ideal for a cold winter’s night.

Their tongue is not so much planted in the side of their collective cheek; it’s more like it’s against the wall of the bar. “I’ll keep taking my vitamins / So I can live with you,” they jest and at one point I’m sure they refer to one of the lesser know areas of Manchester called Belle Vue with the refrain of, “Nobody ever comes here.” Well, not unless you are a speedway enthusiast.

Taking place on the first and third Thursdays of the month, the free entry event that is the Stroke Club still throws up a fascinating array of entertainment.

Words & Photography: Ged Camera