News

From the front: Sounds From The Other City

• 16th May 2016

For those people who get a sinking feeling when they hear about a superb event that took place nearby but already missed it, then either get ready to feel frustrated or buy an early bird ticket for Sounds From The Other City 2017.

Spread across so many venues that it is almost impossible to visit them all, a wealth of entertainment in its various forms – from the musical to comedy, visual and savoury – was on tap in Salford. The feeling that something better may be happening next door should never stop anyone trying to catch as much as possible, though.

Audience participation is a key ingredient to SFTOC and it’s difficult not to get involved at a Queer’d Science gig, especially when the livewire and vocalist Vendela jumps from the stage at the opening musical onslaught. That move, typical of any of their gigs, will signal the commencement of frenzied pogo-ing. When this level of moshing with the masses takes place amongst a crowd shoe-horned into the Crescent, then sweat, tears and spilled pints normally ensue, along with smiles and acknowledgments of enjoyment.

Over the 12 years since the first incarnation of this event in 2005, the organiser’s team has ensured they don’t get complacent by actively seeking out like minded individuals to draw up a programme of events that drag an appreciative audience into and around Salford. The event has continually updated and developed as much as the local area regeneration has progressed. Redundant venues such as the former Peel Park pub have now been converted into occupied office space but there are still plenty of opportunities amongst the back streets for the visionaries that curate SFTOC to exercise their creativity.

Early years saw the booking office space at Salford Central station acting as an auditorium for a grand piano, and this year two retail units were commandeered for music and arts, with SFTOC TV broadcasting back to Islington Mill sets from acts such as the poppy infused sounding Martha and the pumelling rhythms of Barberos.

The Angel Centre transforms itself every year, and provided a demonstration of the confluence between Salfordians and day visitors as would be listeners who wanted to witness the driving rhythms of Clenstch ended up in the GP’s surgery.

Whilst music is as the heart of this event, it is most definitely not limited to that part of the artistic bandwidth. Over at Bexley Square the Sham Bodie group hosted an array of comedic talent, that were as welcoming as they were humorous.

For sheer quirkiness, I have never seen so many people reverting to their infantile childhood phase simply by standing in front of a projector located in one corner of a room then creating shapes and illuminations and watching the results on the opposite wall.

Another place with the welcome experience of being somewhere that should not work on paper but does in practice was the “Womb Room” aka as the room inside the New Oxford. Decorated, by various members of the Womb collective the ceiling was completely obscured by balloons that would eventually be found tied around the wrists of gig goers as they paraded the Chapel St. route. Womb DJ’s clad in tinsel (perhaps Bacofoil) cloaks dispensed masks, music and mirth throughout the day, providing the ideal stop off point to sample real ales and gain refreshments

Packed venues was another feature of this year’s celebrations, as if every spare nook and cranny in this part of Salford could act as a performance area. There were straw bales set up on the site of a demolished building for the Midi School performance area, where Mica Sinclair delivered a raw and powerful solo set and DJ Shotto dropped some drums and bass sounds. Spoken word artists held court at the Deli Lama.

As in previous years, elaborate, handcrafted costumes and disguises were on display, in particular for the himHallows event that took place around midnight. That time does not signify the closure of proceedings but more signifying the next phase, one that involves late night, early morning indulgences. There’s no requirement to turn up at 3pm in order to feel that you may be missing out on something because its nigh on impossible to catch everything. Instead, the smörgåsbord of delights means that the spread of entertainment over 17 hours and across multiple venues means that you will always fund a nugget, a treasure, to take home and smile about.

The super early bird tickets for SFTOC17 have already gone, and there is a very good reason for that. Don’t miss out again.

– Ged Camera