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Day: 11 November 2011

Live: Calvin Harris @ Warehouse Project

Calvin Harris
Warehouse Project
7th October 2011

4 stars

The fourth weekend of the Warehouse Projects final year at Store Street kicked off with a sold-out night featuring the likes of the Japanese Popstars, Felix da Housecat and the main attraction, Calvin Harris.

We arrived at 11pm to find that the venue was already bustling with energy and that we were just in time to catch the intro for the Japanese Popstars set.  Once the rather long atmospheric intro had faded and this act introduced us to their pop infused house everybody was up and moving, the standards had been set for the rest of the night.

Not that this fazed Calvin Harris who ignited the overflowing crowd with his opening track ‘I’m Not Alone’.  Furthermore, ‘Bounce’ and ‘Feel So Close’ deserve to be credited as the tracks of his own creation that generated the biggest reaction.  Further mixes of artists such as Fatboy Slim and Example, not forgetting to mention an incredible and unexpected remix of the Chilli Peppers ‘By The Way’, kept the night fresh and the crowd dancing in whatever tight space they had squeezed themselves into.

Unluckily for Felix da Housecat, it seemed the majority of the crowd were already satisfied with the night so far and headed for the exits.  Taking the electric atmosphere with them, and leaving Felix’s combination of house, minimal and techno to fall upon a rather depleted audience.  Whilst there was still a decent crowd right up until the end, the night had already peaked.

It is also necessary to congratulate the Juicy and the Now Wave DJs for making Room 2 a serious contender, dropping classic hip-hop tracks all night for those who thought the main room was too much, or were just enticed in on their way back from the toilets.

Calvin Harris – Feel So Close (live)

Society Spotlight: Manchester Entrepreneurs

By Fahim Sachedina

 

Manchester Entrepreneurs (ME) have embarked on a stellar journey to becoming the number one enterprise society in the UK over the past year. We’ve not only been featured in numerous media outlets such as BBC radio, but have featured prominently on the National Consortium of University Entrepreneurs website.

Manchester Entrepreneurs was set up to create and educate a community of future business and society leaders. Our strong, ever-developing Alumni Network have gone on to create their own start-ups whilst others are now high performing employees of successful SMEs and FTSE companies.

We aim to run a variety of workshops and networking events that range from helping students enhance their business awareness, improve their sales skills through numerous event-led Sales Challenges (E.g. The Big Sales Challenge recently made the winners a profit of £235), and networking opportunities with Corporate firms like Bloomberg, Accenture and Jaguar Land Rover as well as many other associates who co-host events through the Manchester Entrepreneurs’ brand.

Being able to obtain inter-personal, team-working and sales skills are right at your doorstep, so why not grasp the opportunity with both hands and join us today on our mission to create positive contributors to our society by embracing the entrepreneurial culture embedded in ALL students, whatever your academic background may be? Whether you are a physical science student looking for resources to pursue an idea, to a marketing students looking to gain experience in applying the theory they learnt in their lectures to the real world scenario, there is something for everyone here at Manchester Entrepreneurs.

Stan Reinholds, President of the Manchester Entrepreneurs sees a bright future for ME: “I see ME as the most known student-run organisation in both universities (UoM and MMU) engaging over 500 students yearly”. Merging our society with that of the structure in Manchester Metropolitan University makes us a rare breed of society that has reached out to another university to expand the brand and scope for all events.

Manchester Entrepreneurs pride themselves their enterprising qualities, while never missing a good opportunity. The collaborative approach upon a plethora of students across a variety of academic-as well as international-backgrounds are clearly palpable, and demonstrate our potential to reach out across the mainstream flow of creative and enterprising students.

Our active use of social networking accounts provides the best platform for members to interact with each other, highlight upcoming business opportunities and keeping up with our latest events. So if you want to get involved in some capacity or have an idea which you feel is worth sharing, then contact us via our Facebook group and page: Manchester Entrepreneurs or follow our twitter account: @M_Entrepreneurs, as well as LinkedIn. We also have a cutting-edge website which should undoubtedly be visited if you are looking to learn more about our mission as well as external events happening in and around Manchester all enterprise-related! www.manchesterentrepreneurs.org.uk.

We will also be working alongside The Manchester Enterprise Centre in support of the “Venture Out” competition. This is a great way for those with ideas on how to solve everyday problems to tangibly turn their idea into a functioning business. The competition requires only a side of A4 to be submitted, for the chance to win start-up capital of £400 as well as gain business support. The follow-on to this, the Venture Further competition which will be held in the second semester, awards those potential ideas with potentially £4000 worth of start-up capital with the most chance of success. Check out our website for more information, or feel free to contact us at: [email protected].

 

Manchester Debating Union

By Raj Basu

 

The Manchester Debating Union is the university’s official competitive debating society and Britain’s largest. With excellent weekly Tuesday training sessions and Thursday public debates featuring experts including MPs, we have 1000+ life members. Fantastic socials, friendly committee, successful alumni (employed by Google, Goldman Sachs and United Nations, among others) and teaching Manchester’s schoolchildren public speaking through charities like DebateMate are reasons why we won the UMSU Best Politics & Debate Society 2011 Award.

So what do we actually do? We debate competitively at British, European and International levels. We teach you skills like public speaking, forming convincing arguments and seeing issues from all sides. And then we go out and party.

How can you get involved? We have two weekly events.

1) Debating Training: We teach you skills to not just make debates, but win debates, then let you try them out for yourself. Held at 5pm every Tuesday in Room 4.38, Simon Building (Opposite Roscoe Building, Brunswick Street).

2) Public Debate: A showdown between our best debaters and experts from around the world including activists, academics, MPs and international Ambassadors; entry is free! Held at 5pm every Thursday at Basement Theatre, Simon Building.

Our aim is to be more than just a society; our aim is to provide you with the best student experience out there. Our membership is for life. At MDU, all our members are welcomed.

To find out more and join us now, please visit our Facebook group at www.tinyurl.com/mdugroup or email us at [email protected]; we’d really love to talk to you.

Preview: Red Hot Chili Peppers

It’s always been about the live show with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and it’s fair to say that few other bands grant the live performance with the same levels of respect. Despite a fluctuating line-up throughout their turbulent history they’ve always managed to maintain and deliver on this ethos and no doubt this will remain the case when they take to the stage at the MEN on Monday night. It’s true to say however that the band have suffered a heavy loss after the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, though in recent interviews, Flea and Anthony Kiedis were quick to establish that his replacement, the equally gifted Josh Klinghoffer, is a more than sufficient substitute.

After a hiatus that many fans saw as being the end of the road for the Chili Peppers, their eventual reformation and the subsequent second departure of Frusciante, the band set about writing their tenth studio album I’m With You. It’ll be interesting to see how well this album is played out live and whether or not the personnel reshuffle has taken its toll on the band’s infamous live show. Let’s hope, for the sake of the Chili’s notoriously passionate fan base (myself included), that they continue to deliver.

Society Spy

Joining a society is something that comes so highly recommended to the student experience, yet here many of us are, some even in our final years of study and yet to attend one single society social or be actively engaged in any of their activities.

As nerve-wracking as it seems to join a society alone, with no previous contacts existing between you and other members, this anxiety is undoubtedly heightened at the prospect of joining several weeks into term. Friendship groups may already be established and the risk of being the only person stood in the circle unable to laugh along with “that time” seems far from appealing.

If these factors have prevented your attendance to events that you genuinely would have loved to have taken part in, you are not alone. Enough of all this worrying, it’s time to find out how these societies do actually respond to an enthusiastic “late-comer”.

Taking on the role of mystery shopper I shall report on the general wonderfulness (or not so much) of these wide and wonderful selection of societies we have here at the University of Manchester. Brilliant, experiencing a number of different societies at the same time as satisfying my life-long dream of being Miss.Marple, two birds one stone.

 

Yours anonymously, Jane Doe.

Society Spotlight: Travel Society

By Kate Bullivant

 

Sitting with a group of ‘Gap Year tragedies’, discussing tales of full moon parties and tubing in Laos is definitely not everyone’s idea of fun. Luckily the Travel Society is far from that. It is a new society aimed to bring together anyone interested in travelling whether you’ve never left the country before or have been travelling twice around the world already. Anyone is welcome and it’s a great way to meet people who can offer priceless first hand travel advice and experience. 

The society had its first social on the 5th October at Vodka Revs, which was a great way to meet everyone. As this society has just started, it was interesting to figure out what people wanted to get out of the society. Most people wanting the chance to meet others who’ve been to places they want to go, or potentially find a travel partner.

Setting out into the unknown can be extremely daunting, even if it is for 2 weeks in the summer holidays. Although I can’t knock how useful travel guides are, it’s also great to get a more personal opinion. So come along to the next social and grab the chance to chat to people who may be doing the same as you, or even better have already been to the same place you are headed.

At the fresher’s fair, the Travel Society stall was tucked away up stairs so organisers Katy Hands and Katie Smith thought they would have difficulty getting noticed. However I spoke to Katy Hands to find out why they decided to start the society and she told me about the amazing response they’ve had and are still getting towards the society.

Why did you start up the travel society, especially at the beginning of your third year?

One afternoon in an attempt to put off work we were sat around chatting and comparing our travel experiences, where we would like to go in the future and where we had been. We realised that it would be great to meet people with similar interests in travelling, there was no society for this we thought that it would be such a good idea to start one.  Although both Katie and I are in our third and final year, opportunities like this don’t come around very often and even though it increases our workloads we couldn’t deny how exciting it would be so we thought we would have to give it a go. We were both surprised and excited from the interest that we received at the welcome fair, over a very hectic three days we had an incredible 804 people and more have signed up since. We have a diverse committee of 14 members managing different aspects of our society that helps to drive it forward.

We aim this year to have a range of events, from talks to socials that will get people together. We want everyone who has been travelling or perhaps wants to travel for the first time whether during university breaks or after university (like myself) to join up and get involved. We love the idea of people making friends who they could go off and travel with.

 

 

What would you say was the overall purpose of the travel society?

We wanted to create a forum for people to share stories, swap ideas about travelling and find potential travel partners.  Through talks, socials and our website our members can gain information on travel essentials and opportunities around the world. We have a very diverse group of members from all corners of the world with many different cultures so by sharing experiences we can promote a safer and more informed way for our members to travel.

So what can we look forward to in the future?

This term we are currently organising a trip to Dublin during reading week for three nights from the 1st Nov – 4th. For details visit the website and go to the events section where you can find all the information. After the success of the first social there is a second on the 27th of October, so come along and meet other travel-crazed people. We are also going to be organising talks from a range of experienced travellers and travel companies, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and on the website. In the less immediate future we would also like to work with other societies such as Manchester RAG to raise money for charity and help them to raise awareness of events that would be of interest to our members such as the Charity Hitch and Jailbreak.

If you want to get involved then check out the website www.mutravelsociety.co.uk, and have a look at the Face book page, Manchester University Travel Society.

 

Hip Hop Society presents Lowkey

By Tom Purves

 

The University of Manchester Hip Hop Society is a fresh new society that has big things planned for the upcoming academic year. If you’re a fan of any aspect of hip hop then this is the society for you… and if not then join and see why you should be!

This year the society will be running the biggest and best nights Manchester has ever seen with live MC’s, beatboxing, breakdancers and the hottest hip hop tracks from our incredible DJ’s! So far our successes include a fortnightly club night at Roam (formerly Saki Bar) on Fridays and with Jaguar Skills at Sankeys.

Want to get involved with the society more than simply enjoying the amazing hip hop club nights? Come down to our workshops where we will be providing tutorials in everything from production, rapping, beatboxing, dancing and graffiti. The first of these will be the regular breakdancing workshop which will start after reading week in the students union. Guys and girls of all skill levels are encouraged to learn or perfect what is guaranteed to be an amazing party trick. Exact event details will be posted on the Facebook group page.

The Society is also aiming to bring the hottest new hip hop artists to perform in Manchester. We are starting with the unbelievably talented underground artist, Lowkey (who has worked with immortal Technique and the Dead Prez). He is coming to Manchester Academy 2 in association with the University of Manchester Hip Hop Society on the 21st November. This is the tour for his brand new second album “Soundtrack to the Struggle”. Tickets are available direct from us (07763274501/BBM – 21E9F8D3) or online (skiddle.com). Tickets are selling fast so buy soon for this must-see event.

For up to date information or just to find out what we are about join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/hiphopsocietymanchester/

No Monkey Business

Five stars out of five

Dawn Wolton’s production of ‘One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show’, stopped briefly at Manchester’s Contact Theatre two weeks ago and was a quick paced, farcical sitcom style insight into 1970s Suburban Philadelphia, home of Reverend Avery Harrison and his family.

It tells the story of Beverley, fresh from the South, who, after the death of her father, comes to Philadelphia to be met by her new guardian, her father’s ex business partner, Caleb Johnson, after a brief stay with Uncle Avery, Aunt Myra and Cousin Junior.  Not all goes to plan as a love blossoms between Beverley and Caleb, making a new man of him. The sub-plot involved Junior and his blossoming romance with attitude-filled Josephine ‘Lil Bits’ Neftertiti Caldwell.

It comes as no surprise that the playwright, Don Evans, was a founding member of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 70s. The Harrisons quickly assert their authority over the rest of the town and light-heartedly mock the ‘coloured’ and white (an crowd-pleasing line came from Myra: ‘I wish I was white, then I could faint’). Use of the ‘N’ word shocked audience at first, but of course they quickly came to realise the play was indeed, a product of its time.

Each performance was perfectly in tune.  Roger Griffiths and Jocelyn Jee Esien created ‘still got it’ chemistry as Avery and Myra and Isaac Ssebandeke brought innocence and energy to the role of Junior . But the real star of the show was Ayesha Antoine, who had me convinced she was a 16 year old Deep Southerner. Her comic timing was impeccable and all her monologues were a joy to listen to.  A true natural.

The production remained true to its 70s sitcom style throughout. Before the action even began, voiceover announcements could be heard (including one asking the audience to switch off their pagers and extinguish their cigarettes) and the ‘On Air’ sign was switched off. The ‘stage manager’ then entered, a jazzy 70s theme music was blasted and the ‘familiar’ characters were introduced. The audience were transported to 70s sitcom world and loved it! The laughter and applause had  a canned sort of feel and I even noticed a few ‘ooo’s when Beverley re-appeared, bouffanted and sassily dressed. I’ve never seen the Fourth Wall broken in such a modern and fun way and it immersed the audience entirely.

The play’s attitude to sex was tongue-in-cheek, charming and fun. From Junior’s fantasy of sliding across a sea of naked women (demonstrated by a graphic slide across the stage) to Myra and Avery’s sudden new spurt of frequent middle-aged sex (when its at its best, according to Myra), the sexual energy employed by the cast was spot on (and perhaps a little infectious).

The production was hilarious, insightful and daring and the overall message of being true to your heart was encapsulated brilliantly by the cast. Except for the odd slip of American accent, ‘One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show’ couldn’t be faulted.

 

Nap time

I gave up napping at the age of five. It was not a conscious decision, but perhaps one brought on by realising that the world was too exciting for snoozing. There were too many Haribos to shove into my feed hole, too many video games to waste my childhood playing and too many Pokémon to catch to ever bother with grabbing some daytime shuteye.

Then at age 19 and studying at a world renowned university, I took it up again.

It was one hazy afternoon in the first semester of my freshers year that I found myself overcome by a most peculiar feeling. I had the urge lay down, close my eyes and have a wee kip. It was a confusing situation, wasn’t napping only for bed wetting toddlers and incontinent pensioners? Nevertheless, as I put my grotesquely long-haired head to my pillow (every one has stupid hair in their first year), I almost instantaneously went from awake to dozing. Away I was, in the land of nod, dreaming of attending wine and cheese tasting evenings hosted by a rabbles of velociraptors.

Then soon napping, the activity of inactivity, became a favourite thing to do. I was slotting in a session whenever possible, almost addicted to blissfully ignoring the word outside in a period of peaceful dormancy.

But what was the reason behind this new obsession for spontaneous siestas? Was it the tremendous pressure of being a fledgling academic? Was it due to fatigue from endless nights of going to clubs and attempting to move my body to a temporally consistent noise? Was it because I was away from home for a long period of time and somehow reverting to a child-like form (I did have a milk obsession at the time)?

Whatever the reason, napping was now shamefully part of my lifestyle. I was certainly not being constructive with my time if I was spending it asleep. However, no matter how stereotypical it is of students to nap, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it with some level of professionalism – none of that silly amateur stuff.

Firstly, a good choice of nap time symphonies is essential, a personal preference of mine is the Jurassic Park soundtrack, but anything that helps conjure up memories of dinosaurs is a good choice. Secondly, one requires suitable levels of lighting; obviously low level is best, but crucially it needs to reduce the confusion of waking up and not being certain whether it’s morning of evening, which is the bane of many nap time rookies. Thirdly, you need to lock the door, nothing is worse than having a nap rudely interrupted by some ignorant housemate who fails to understand the importance of you catching some mid-afternoon z’s.

Now the nap surface is obviously a crucial component. Convention says to choose your bed, this is allowed but only if you adhere to the proper nap etiquette. It is most unbecoming to change into pyjamas for nap time, this is a nap not a fully fledged slumber session. Duvets are permitted on certain occasions, such as low temperatures, but ideally you should be on top of bed sheets as you wish to give the impression that you are only napping temporarily and are ready to return to being functional at any time.

Napping comes in two forms – deliberate and accidental. You can choose to enforce a session of dribbling on your pillow out of choice, which for humanities students it’s probably just to pass the time (as one of my housemates once told me “there are too may hours in the day”). Or you can fall victim to the accidental nap, which often strikes mid-lecture; you would have never slept in class at school, but there is something about higher education that makes it very easy to switch the mind off.

There is one final type of nap, which is only whispered of in certain secret circles and more unsavoury than an apple VK. Combining some of the most famous of student past times, the iNank is a hedonistic cocktail of watching iPlayer, napping and another activity.

No matter which nap approach you take, you will eventually awaken (hopefully). Then you will have the wonderful post-nap grogginess to shake off, your body will feel weak and even wiggling your mouse-pad to wake up your laptop will seem like a strain.

But soon you will come back around with a renewed energy for life and an enthusiasm to spruce up your hideous face, head out to some filthy bar or club and get completely and utterly trashed. Using the power of the nap to help you to continue enjoying your student years.

So tuck yourself in with a bottle of warm milk, suck on your thumb and enjoy the prime of your life in the best way possible – unconscious.

Live: Other Sounds Presents… @ Islington Mill

Bong, Organ Freeman, Womb, Elk Blood
Islington Mill
11th October

4 stars

Flooring the crowd at the Islington Mill was a captivating line up, boasted by the first event of the year from Manchester’s own Other Sounds Society. As could be expected of an offering by champions of the alternative, the acts chosen were indeed original and enthralling.
First to perform were Elk Blood, whose woozy guitar based psychedelia provided a promising opener for the evening. Singer Edwin’s visceral rasp, reminiscent of Joe Strummers trademark impassioned sneer, complimented the musical energy well.
Next up were all-female open collective Womb, wielding an abrasive atonal sound that could inspire somebody to liken them to no-wave, although this is clearly a band that cannot be pigeonholed. Having a penchant for the experimental, the guitar was played with what looked like an animal bone, and so harrowing was their piercing chorus of wails that a fire alarm set off mid-way through their set was not noticed for some time; the crowd eventually dispersing when they were informed that that obscure blare was not actually part of the act.

Something a little less intense next from Organ Freeman and, as the pun would suggest, this party-pop outfit were playful to say the least. From a dance involving mass belly-poking to flashing balloons, renditions ranging from Ke$ha to ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, there was no negative talk amongst those who caught these guys live.
To finish were Boom, doom-lords of Newcastle, gracing the stage for their second outing in Salford. Their extremely intense meditative wall of noise seemed to polarise opinion within the audience; perfectly expressed in the few up front flailing their limbs and bathing in the otherworldly sound-scape of endless drone, while others walked out unsure as to what the fuck they had just witnessed.
Despite this, I think it is safe to say that the evening was a success, and everybody there enjoyed the chance to experience new artistry at its finest.

Live: Clock Opera @ Sound Control

Clock Opera
Sound Control
10th October
4 stars

Playing an inexplicable second fiddle to Chapel Club’s flat-out uninteresting headline set, those who managed to arrive early enough were rewarded with a fierce and genuinely exciting half hour from experimental synth-rock titans Clock Opera.

Apart from a quick introduction, the band didn’t seem to be too interested in crowd interaction, but the all-too-short set contained enough diversity and raw power to draw their admittedly sparse audience in.
Frontman and songwriter Guy Connelly’s delicate voice bears a definite resemblance to Elbow’s Guy Garvey, but the thunder behind him points at something a hell of a lot more elemental. At times the painstaking sound manipulation on the pre-made samples brought to mind the wavy psychedelia of Feels-era Animal Collective, which only serves as a testament to their songcraft. Their over-reliance on these samples may have put some purists off, but the pot-bashing, crazy-dancing stage presence was more than enough to keep the audience on side.
Samples aside, Clock Opera can also boast a pretty impressive musical proficiency. The drums were sprawling but thoroughly grounded, and Connelly’s voice was haunting and powerful in equal measure, expertly backed by precise and deep harmonies.
Set closer and most recent single ‘Lesson No.7’ started off a with a spooky, chiming manipulated guitar loop and gradually built to a furious bass-heavy hurricane that drew the set to a pretty colossal conclusion.

Clock Opera – Belongings

Clock Opera – Me and the Moon (The Drums cover)