Manchester Gigs of the Month – June 2016

Veterans and rising stars collide in Manchester this June. Getintothis’ James Sullivan plots his way through five top gigs to catch.

June can be a noisy old month with football tournaments and stubbornly-staged barbecues. But here at Getintothis we’re celebrating some of the intimate delights Manchester has to offer.

So while Parklife festival descends on Heaton Park on 11-12 June – featuring heavy hitters like The Chemical Brothers, Major Lazer and Jamie XX – we’re looking that little bit smaller, that little bit cosier.

There are performances from pop veterans, new incarnations of familiar figures, cultural history lessons and future stars galore across the city. Allow us to pan for the gold and bring you five tip-top tips for a musically rich month in Manchester.

1. Queer Noise – The Hidden History of LGBT Music in Manchester: Band on the Wall, 3 June

A double whammy for a Friday night. First up, Abigail Ward from the Manchester District Music Archive is giving a free talk on LGBT music and club culture in the city to mark the launch of Manchester Histories Festival 2016.

Her presentation will feature rare images and footage from the archive exploring how queer music culture helped redefine attitudes to sexuality across Manchester, and takes place at the Picturehouse, Band on the Wall at 8.30pm.

The action then moves next door into the venue for A Queer Revue!, featuring live performances from four top Manchester acts. There’s whip smart post-punk band ILL, noisy new wave from LIINES, smoky soul from Ménage à Trois and icy electro-pop courtesy of Husk.

For more information, click here.

2. Ben Watt featuring Bernard Butler: Deaf Institute, 5 June

Ben Watt will presumably always be most famous as one half of Everything But the Girl, but his recent third album Fever Dream harks back to his debut solo release (North Marine Drive) from 33 years ago, as well as second record Hendra from 2014.

The album is full of immaculate, honest songwriting, touching on the folk and jazz influences of his childhood. And, like on Hendra, Bernard Butler is there playing open, textured, hollow-bodied guitar lines all over everything.

He’ll be there at the Deaf Institute too, and it’s sure to be an intimate, masterful treat.

For more information, click here.

3. The Tea Street Band + Pins DJ set: Night and Day Cafe, 11 June

Antics clubnight at Night and Day welcomes The Tea Street Band to Manchester from down the M62.

Their summery, groovy electro-guitar pop is an ideal fit for a (theoretically) sunny Friday night in June. Depending on your outlook, and possibly age, new single Feel It sounds like exactly the kind of sparkly, ravey guitar anthems that Radio 1 laps up. They’ll be armed with a host of new tunes and a second album ready to go.

Tea Street band at Camp and Furnace: picture gallery

And after them, local punk heroes Pins are on the decks late into the night.

For more information, click here.

4. An evening with TVAM: Gulliver’s, June 21

The GIT Award nominee won a host of new admirers at our recent ceremony. Wigan’s Joe Oxley (aka TVAM) may not have walked away with the prize, but his one-man blend of kaleidoscopic electronics, grinding guitars and video art is a captivating sight.

Alone on the stage flanked by an old television and VHS player, he summons mini-symphonies and interweaves them with the visuals on the TV.

Read our GIT Award 2016 artist profile of TVAM

It’s an incredible achievement in attention to detail, a unique live treat, and a rare successful attempt at creating mystery in the saturated information dump of music in the 21st century.

For more information, click here.

5. Alexis Taylor: International Anthony Burgess Foundation, June 21

The voice of Hot Chip heads to Manchester for a solo performance at the piano.

Always an underrated part of Hot Chip’s music is the sweet, shifting voice of Alexis Taylor. He’s described his debut solo record Piano as a “sort of gospel record in places – albeit an atheist’s gospel album, if that’s possible.”

He’ll be playing new songs, reworkings of his own work and some of his favourite songs by other artists at this special gig at the Anthony Burgess Foundation, a charity aimed at raising awareness of the work and life of the writer and composer.

For more information, click here.

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