On 23rd September 2009 myself, Steve and James had the pleasure of being present at the unveiling of UK Heritage Blue Plaques outside 2 buildings in Heywood and Rochdale. The 2 sites were former studios that produced many classic recordings over the years from acts such as Joy Division, New Order, Inspiral Carpets, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Chameleons, The Charlatans, The Fall, The Mock Turtles, The Teardrop Explodes and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
Monaco's double bass ensemble
Back in the summer of 2000 I played guitars (4 and 6 string) on tour with Peter Hook’s post New Order band Monaco (you may have heard ‘What Do You Want From Me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwk5oKU4Dr4). We did gigs in Amsterdam, Manchester and London to promote their 2nd and last album.
So it was great to catch up with Hooky at this event… even better that he actually remembered who I was!
Have a look at Hooky’s and John Robb’s speeches outside the old Suite 16 / Cargo studios in Rochdale.
Last weekend I went to the Edge. Having never been to Alderly Edge in Manchester before it was a shock to find out that Alderly Edge does infact have an edge!
In a bizarre occurrence for an English summer’s day, 2nd August ’09 saw no rain. Even shockingly-er, it happened to coincide with a massive outdoor event in Manchester’s Skyride – in which 1000s of cyclists hit the streets of Manchester to raise awareness of just how cool cyclists are, despite the helmets, florescent jackets and those trouser clip things.
A signed photo.
The event saw a few miles of Manchester’s city centre roads being closed down to allow the cyclists free and safe passage in their route from the Town Hall up to the Velodrome and back again. Cyclists of all ages and abilities joined in. Including a couple of guys on Penny Farthings, strangely.
As this year I decided to scrap my car in favour of a much more environmentally friendly and road-tax dodging option of cycle-power, my girlfriend and I decided to join in.
Our first lap was marred with children on stabilisers causing periods of extreme slowness, but the 2nd lap gave me the opportunity to unleash the power that laid dormant within my thighs and travel at my (admittedly-not-all-that-fast) top speed… until my back tyre inexplicably exploded (just as I was overtaking someone on a bike much more expensive than my own).
Luckily, the gel within my tyres seemed to fix any cracks and after a quick pump-up, I was off again… just in time to see crazy bmx stunt-riders at the Velodrome jumping off Land Rovers with only their back-wheel attached… which kind of put me in my place with regards to my ability.
You can visit the Skyride website by clicking here, and as a special treat for all the females out there, you can have a signed photo of myself in all my bicycle glory.
I’m sure many people have seen one or two obvious space invaders around Manchester… but there’s a total of 47 hidden around the streets of Manchester. Check out the link for a map of where to spot them.
http://www.space-invaders.com/map_manchester.html
The space invader street art is an idea from artist Invader. He started his project in 1998 in Paris, where there are a total of 704 space invaders. The majority of the little critters are in the 1st and 2nd Arrondissements… which brings me on to the next part…
My Manchester Space Invader hunt is going to extend to Paris in a couple of weeks time, when I will be staying only 5mins from The Louvre for a week… minus one night when I will be spending some time with the Disney characters.
Here is one of the space invaders in Manchester, any ideas where it is?
