Sunday 02/05/2010
3pm – 3am
SFTOC started out six years ago now and I’m ashamed to say that this year will see me attending for the first time. I think I have a good enough excuse for last years absence, as I was living out a life long dream of seeing The Specials play live, for the previous years I’ll hold my hands up to not having as good excuses. What makes it even more of travesty is that I live literally in the middle of all the chosen venues for this day long event. So this year I am going and that’s a fact.
If you are not au-fait with the area SFTOC will be encompassing then I’ll give you a brief overview. The Chapel Street region of Salford has long been left to demise from its former glory. Half demolished and boarded up buildings have for a long time been the norm unfortunately. Most people would be forgiven for thinking that the posh Lowry Hotel is actually in Manchester, but this is wrong and just goes to show how close to the city centre this part of Salford is.
Hotly tipped acts this year include Radio 2′s favourite flavour and Elbow collaborator, Jesca Hoop, NME’s next big things, Egyptian Hip Hop, Mancunian folk dominatrix, Liz Green, sublime chill out sounds from Brighton’s Fujiya and Miyagi, cult-alt-noise-artist/hero Alexander Tucker, and a host of local talents, including May 68, Hotpants Romance and more.
As well as the ‘Cheap Affair’ original/vintage market, food, live screen printed wares, real ale, spoken word from Dead Man’s Shoes star Neil Bell and novelist Chris Killen, other highlights include access to virgin music venues such as the Salvation Army on James Street, complete with retro sprung dance floor and the atmospheric innards of St Philips Church.
All in all, it’s an unrivalled party, an astonishing twelve hours of aural bliss, for just £15. Tickets are available now from http://www.quaytickets.com and Piccadilly Records. Wristband exchange will be located in the communal space at Islington Mill.
So for me to have this nine staged event take place here is truly fantastic and I’d like to thank the organisers for breathing new life into this much forgotten part of my home city.
Below you will find all the info you need about this years Sounds From The Other City.
VENUES (click on any of these to find who’s playing)
Islington Mill –The Engine House
Islington Mill –Communal Space
See you there?
