We were still recovering from our night out when we embarked on a second night out in a row. New Century Hall was the venue, a new one for us. Rather than drive into the city centre, we thought we’d go by tram. It’s only a five minute walk from Victoria Station, what could possibly go wrong? Well, the same old thing, setting off from the station in totally the wrong direction to start with. Still, we found the place, parked ourselves and prepared for a couple of hours of superb entertainment.
First up, Frankie Archer, the electro folk artist from Northumberland, whom we saw earlier in the year. Her songs are haunting and she makes good use of tech in her performance.
Her first EP Never So Red comes out next week so place your orders now!
By coincidence, she appeared on TV later in the evening, on the prestigious Later With Jools Holland, available on the iPlayer if you would like to see Frankie in action.
Let me blow my own trumpet by saying that I was the host for her first radio interview a little while ago!
She was supporting The Breath, a folk duo comprising Stuart McCallum (former guitarist of The Cinematic Orchestra) and Irish singer Ríoghnach Connolly who is now based in Manchester. We’ve been wanting to see her perform live since we saw her online a couple of times during the lockdowns. Great voice, very expressive and she’s dead funny too. Their new album Land Of My Other is terrific, and while you’re online, you might as well order that too.
The only thing we didn’t like about the venue was, the seats were hard plastic and everyone’s bum went numb. But the music was lovely.
Back in Victoria Station, we saw another Manchester Bee to add to our collection. I think that’s four so far, no idea how many there are in total.
Liesel’s appointments with the physio have now moved to Mondays. As she walked home after today’s session, she sent a text asking me to meet her at The Mess Café, so that made me leave the house and go for a quick walk. And the coffee there is really good. On the way, I found evidence of more crap driving in Northenden. Somebody must have hit this tree with a 10-ton truck at 100mph if it was knocked over so far, that it needed cutting down. What a shame.
The occupants of those houses must be relieved that the tree didn’t topple over completely.
Earlier in the year, Frankie Archer ran a little contest on Twitter and I was the lucky winner. The prize was, she would write a song for me. Well, it’s arrived. Liesel’s Tune, for that is its name, is very catchy. We both love it. It’s a bit of an earworm. Thank you very much, Frankie!
We walked the usual walks in Northenden and Wythenshawe. But a surprise treat was looking after the children one morning. Martha made granola, and took a lot of it home. William completed a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle with a little help, but he was proud of his accomplishment.
Martha was playing with my phone and found the Shaun the Sheep film Farmageddon on BBC iPlayer. She wanted to watch it, so we did, not on the phone but on TV. That’s the second time I’ve seen it recently, and it is great fun, taking the mick out of so many iconic science fiction films.
The day could have been ruined by a visit to the dentist, but it was alright, the hygienist did her stuff, an unpleasant experience and I realised that what I need is jaws like snakes have, with stretchable tendons so that I can open my mouth as wide as I think the hygienist wants me to!
I saw Liesel with Sue on Northenden Bridge. They were off to join a walk in Fletcher Moss Gardens. I didn’t know how I’d feel after the dentist, so I didn’t commit ahead of time, but I now knew I could catch them up.
Storm Babet brought lots of rain to us, and the evidence is still all around us. Lots of puddles and the river is flowing high and fast. There is debris on the island, so if you need a new project, there’s a bicycle there that probably needs a bit of TLC…
But the path by the river was (duh!) wet and muddy and slippery so I couldn’t really walk fast enough to catch up. It wasn’t until we were turning on to the path to Fletcher Moss that they realised I was right behind them. This was a Walkaday Walk and its route? From Fletcher Moss to Northenden and back again.
It was quite a large group that walked to Northenden at which point I ducked out. Liesel and Sue walked back to Fletcher Moss and back again to Northenden. That was a long day for them!
Another show in Manchester beckoned. Free Your Mind runs for one more week and is selling out fast, so be quick!
Again we travelled into the city by tram. The show takes its inspiration from the film The Matrix so it was fun to see the platforms at Deansgate station newly decorated in this way.
We enjoyed a pleasant walk to the venue, Aviva Studios. I’m glad we were early enough to see the white rabbits in the foyer. And people walking on batteries.
Walking on batteries? Yes, cylinders resembling large Duracell batteries, rolling on the floor while someone walks on top. A circus skill that I never really tried.
Our seats were at the back of the Circle, so we had to climb about 3,000 stairs to get there. Vertiginous I think is the word. But we had a good view of the stage which is all that matters, really.
The perfomance began with Alan Turing talking about the potential of computers. Followed by lots of music and dance and light sabres and a strange Maypole dance. At the interval, things were still going on. Neo appeared in various guises. More photo opps, although Liesel wasn’t too keen on posing.
The second half of the show was in a different space, with a very wide stage, and a very wide TV screen above. More dancing, special effects and drama that we watched while standing up, unfortunately: not enough seating for everyone. No photos allowed, but I grabbed the curtain call, don’t tell anybody.
We now want to see the film again, because I’m sure some of the music and dance and effects and features come from The Matrix, but we don’t know how!
An unexpected bonus was getting seats on the tram home.Well, as close to home as the tram network goes, Sale Water Park, where our car was one of the last half dozen parked in the Park and Ride car park.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 