Not only did I lose my wallet but I also misplaced by dignity, ending up kipping on a park bench and then stumbling around in some undergrowth by the side of a motorway looking for my hotel.
I’ll need another week or so to recover so won’t be out and about, but for the rest of you – there’s this…
The Karate Kid
Saturday 6th October
I always like to include a classic movie in these weekly round ups – especially if they come from the 80’s and feature a Bananarama tune or two. It’ll come as no surprise to anyone to see the Karate Kid on here then – a true masterpiece that also spawned the brilliant Cobra Kai TV show this year which you should definitely watch. The story is simple, a little street punk from New Jersey moves to California, gets the shit kicked out of him on multiple occasions and so gets an old Chinese bloke to train him in the ways of karate and catching flies with chopsticks. I don’t want to ruin any of it for you but if we’re being honest, Daniel DID cheat at the end and ruin Johnny’s life.
Conor McGregor vs Khabib
Saturday 6th October
It’s UFC time this Saturday night and thanks to those pesky time zones – it’s not on in Blighty until proper early in the morning. Fear not though because your insatiable desire to see two men kick each other in the face while half naked can be satisfied by many of the city’s sporting establishments. For example, Dive NQ will be showing the fight, perfect for if you want to head on down around 10ish, knock back some bevvies, have a dance, eat some wings and by that point everyone’s favourite bearded scrapper McGregor will be stepping into the pitch-thing with a bloke called Khabib. I know shit all about UFC so I dunno who is going to win.
Mama Pacha Peruvian Pop-up @ Sandinista
From Tuesday 9th October
The city’s first actual Peruvian food and drink experience, Mama Pacha will be opening up inside Sandinista as a kind of very exotic and very impressive pop-up event. I must say that when I was actually in Peru I was so poor that all I ended up eating was eggs and bread, but I did get a chance to try guinea pig and even tucked into some very special dishes in a Peruvian place at Camden Market once. The brain-child of Jose ‘Papi Jose’ Wong, Mama Pacha will be dishing up what can only be described as a ‘diverse’ menu – reflecting the many influences within Peruvian cuisine itself. Kate wrote a brilliant guide to the cuisine a while back if you’re still unsure – check it out below:
TROVE Ancoats
Tuesday 9th October
Not a week goes by where there isn’t a new opening in Ancoats and thus this week is no different. This opening is a bit of a biggie though as Levenshulme stalwarts TROVE take the plunge and jump head first into a city centre venue. Will they do as well as they already have done down in the South of Manchester? Probably. Will it be packed on Tuesday when it opens? Probably. Will they still serve them amazing Merguez sausages? They better bloody have do or I’ll be flipping tables in there and having a tantrum like a 2 year old in Ikea. They’re open from 8am until 8pm so there’s plenty of time to get in there, take some Insta pics and then bugger off again.
Jägermeister Ping Pong Tournament at Twenty Twenty Two
Tuesday 9th October
I recently went to a Ping Pong Tournament, made a fool of myself and re-ignited a long lost passion for hitting a little plastic ball across a table in a race to the number 11. Luckily for me this week sees Twenty Twenty Two’s monthly Ping Pong Tournament hit the venue, and they’ve grabbed Jägermeister to get involved with them too. It’s only £5 to enter and with that you’ll get a free cocktail, free shots and Jäger minis and the grand prize is a £100 bar tab. Can’t go wrong with that really. Just as long as Forrest Gump doesn’t turn up and ruin it for everyone of course. Register at the bar or by email.
Seasonal Supper at Randall & Aubin: Mother Nature’s Harvest
Tuesday 9th October
It’s shameless plug time! It’s our last Seasonal Supper event at Randall & Aubin this Tuesday and the theme is ‘Mother Nature’s Harvest’. No it’s not some sort of new cereal and grain bar from Holland & Barratt’s, it’s referring to harvest season – that time at school when everyone had to bring in a couple of tins of beans from the cupboards at home. Now’s the time to gather all of the bounty that the warm summer months have yielded, and so Ed Baines is grabbing as much meat, fish, cheese and veg as he can and serving up a lovely 3 course dinner with 3 paired wines. Check the menu and buy tickets below…
Boyzlife @ Club Academy
Wednesday 10th October
Just in case you can’t wait for Boyzone to come back next year, you can get the next best thing (apart from just putting one of their old CDs on, obviously) by watching Boyzlife – a combination of Boyzone and Westlife that is just about as odd as it sounds. It’s not even as if it’s all of them – it’s just Brian McFadden (from Westlife) and Keith Duffy (from Boyzone and Corrie). They’ll be heading to Club Academy, and if their performance is anything like what they pulled out of their oversized Guinness hats at Bongo’s Bingo last year – you’re in for a treat. A treat involving a bit too much booze backstage and some of the best pop songs from your childhood. You can also pay £66 to meet and greet the fellas so if you’ve always wanted to try and get off with one (or both) of ’em – get your hand in your purse and make it happen.
Manchester Oktoberfest 2018
From Wednesday 10th October
Now is about that time of year that BuzzFeed start releasing those articles entitled ‘15 Videos that Show That Oktoberfest is the craziest festival in the world‘ or ‘12 Men at Oktoberfest who have had too much to drink and have been made to look a complete knob in front of some dick head with an iPhone‘. It’s time for thousands of people from all over the world to descend on Germany and wear leather shorts, drink too many sausages and down massive pints of lager as fast as possible. Of course Manchester has jumped on the bandwagon too, with a massive tent for 2,000 people getting erected in Albert Square from Wednesday. Get your tickets below…
One ‘Dexys’ Wednesday @ Electrik
Wednesday 10th October
Usually Electrik have super special guests at their 1 Deck Wednesdays at the end of the month, but October seems to be different – with founder and frontman of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Kevin Rowland, getting in on the act this week. Everyone remembers ‘Come On Eileen’ but there’s also ‘Geno’ which got to number 1 in 1980 – making them one of those very elusive ‘2 hit wonders’ that are much more difficult to remember than the likes of Chesney Hawkes and Whigfield. Anyway, this One Deck should be excellent, orchestrated by a true music legend. It’s free too. I’m trying to think of other notable 2 Hit Wonders and can only come up with Sisquo. Answers on a postcard? Anyway, this One Deck should be excellent, orchestrated by a true music legend. It’s free too.
Belgian Micro-Festival with Heverlee at Mayfield
From Thursday 11th October
Bringing a bit of Brussels right into the city, Haverlee will be putting on a brilliant Belgian mini festival down at Mayfield Depot complete with loads of street art, music, food and obviously – beers. In case you’re wondering, Heverlee is a Belgian lager that is inspired by the beers first brewed by a bunch of baldy monks in Leuven in medieval times. That means it’s a proper classic, fizzy concoction – something that slips down just a little bit too easy – likely because the monks were so bored out their heads they needed some form of entertainment. No such measures will be needed at this little festival though – there’s no way you can get bored with this much stuff going on. It’s FREE but it’s a good idea to RSVP on their FB page so you’ll get in:
DM18
From Thursday 11th October
As someone who knows very little about design, DM18 has gone a little over my head through its 6-year life in the city but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a brilliant celebration of creativity and design that you definitely should be getting involved in. There’s a rather comprehensive (and large) range of events and exhibitions happening from Thursday until the 21st October – too much for me to even attempt to start listing here. That’s why websites exist. Check theirs out below and see if anything takes your fancy…
