Book tickets: Sounds from the Other City 2018 music fest ft. Pip Blom & Spectrum

Salford’s Sounds from the Other City 2018 (SFTOC), returns on Sunday 6 May 2018 for another dose of the finest in new music, performance and art. SFTOC has gone from strength to strength since its modest beginnings in 2005, with previous acts including BBC Sound of 2018-shortlisted IAMDDB, and Sampha who went on to win the Mercury Prize. The festival takes place over one day in unusual corners of the city – Salford Cathedral, artists’ studios, warehouses and other unexplored cracks in the burgeoning Chapel Street area. Its initial line-up announcement includes new and emerging talents like 1Xtra favourite Chrystal, conga-inspired Boy Azooga and chilled-out fuzzster Pip Blom. Among the more established acts on the bill, there’s Spectrum, the latest moniker of Spacemen 3 founder Pete Kember, and James Mathé’s skewed pop alias Barbarossa. There’s also due to be a bespoke appearance from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in an as-yet unannounced collaboration. Promoters involved are some of the region’s most well-respected trend-setters, with the likes of No Wave, Hey! Manchester and Band On The Wall all contributing to the musical banquet on offer. And with a genre-defying line-up, a whole host of after-parties from the likes of Thirsty Girls Collective and Invisible Wind Factory later into the evening, as well as a visual concept headed by Stina Puotinen and David Bailey, the festival is set to be something of a creative explosion. Skiddle called it “a pinball machine of opportunity with each crevice presenting myriad experiences waiting to swallow you up whole”. Well put. The full line-up is due to be announced on 23rd Feb, at which point we at Manchester Wire will be holding a competition for tickets – so watch this space. Early bird tickets are currently available for a mere £25.

Sun 6 May 2018, Sounds from the Other City, various venues in the Chapel Street area, early bird tickets from £25, 3pm-late, www.soundsfromtheothercity.com

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