Neighbourhood Festival 2017
With a multi-tude of hot ticket names - including Blossoms, CABBAGE, Black Honey, Idles, October Drift, Queen Zee & The Sasstones, HMLTD, Anteros, Touts, Trash, The Orielles - Manchester's Neighbourhood Festival has really pulled it out of the bag for a zeitgeist of a day on Saturday October 7th.
2017 is a vintage year for rising new heritage bands starring on an escapist joy trek of new music despite it's circuit being constantly threatened with closure in an age that mixes Orwellian and Dickensian nightmares.
Complementing the brilliant standards and achievements of Britain's urban scene, guitar fuelled rock bands are coming up and at 'em. Especially noticeable in the last couple of years, and noted that poetry and word flavour all of our genres.
Somebody has got to have something to say in this age.
This is only the second episode of Neighbourhood, but it's finger has definitely been on the pulse of the new music industrious since Day One.
Additionally, quite a few of the artists appearing are favourites of our ongoing story of musical activism.
We recently caught Rat Boy and The Amazons at This Feeling TV shows. Also, Joe Fox, now an NME tip of the year, played the first ArtBeat Amersham Arms event, the club that TheZineUK was born in a couple of years ago, it's good to see talent tales develop.
Politics are as much in our DNA as diversity, and Manc locals, CABBAGE are key instigators. Their electrically charged 'Healing Brexit Towns Experiment' tour, with The Blinders, Queen Zee & The Sasstones and Proletariat is getting off the hook feedback, it's been too long since punky energy whipped up the righteous fuckedoffness of the youth. Neighbourhood is a 14+ event, perfect for the next wave of future changers to come and get inspired, at decibels. Image; photographer, Sandy K. Moz, caught CABBAGE's first proper London show last Summer, they've made a nationwide impression and are a BBC Sound Of 2017 pick. Lots of recommendations on Neighbourhood's bill.
Talking of documenting the moments that matter, newly moved to Mancheser, Sandy K. Moz is already making her mark on the scene.
She witnessed/filmed SHEAFS a few days ago, performing their next single, 'This Is Not A Protest' at Jimmy's (one of Neighbourhood's 13 city centre venues) with many of our frolicsome friends.
Recent interviewees, the unmissable newer wave force field that this Yorkshire quintet are live, will happen at another of the day's locations, The Bread Shed.
Call TheZineUK biased (totally) but this stage alone looks like the one of the best all dayers since sliced, erm, bread!
It's a time to catch artists like No Hot Ashes at "I Was There" moments as their reputation grows, another name covering themselves in glory right now.
Something is definitely in the Yorkshire water these days, straight outta Doncaster, another of the nation's most exciting rock bands, The Blinders, now reside in Manchester. A power of three who can't really be described beyond "you need to see and hear this - it's classic".
The Blinders are another of the names on the line up that the team have found ourselves gob smacked by, on more than one occasion. They were also the people who alerted TheZineUK to this event in our first interview last year. We had asked about recommended independents. They replied; "Neighbourhood Festival. We had a groovy time that weekend. The venues work their bollocks off to look after you. Its where we met our new favourite rascals, CABBAGE, and got absolutely wankered with ‘em. What more could you want?"
Fast forward from 2016 via a journey that even they couldn't have imagined, and they're back for #NBHD17 with new releases, tunes, followers, superlative laden feedback and a book's worth of photogenic iconography. In the spirit of tapestry weaving, the image above is from a Spring 2017 session around Manchester with Nidge, Trust A Fox photography, who has a forthcoming exhibition in the city, The Blinders come recommended from many other quarters, too "Catch them live. One of the most exciting new bands around." (Tim Burgess, The Charlatans).
There is many an excitement to be had at many a venue on 7th October, and more new futures will develop. This city is a legendary music world location, and this festival is it's celebratory coming together in a year that the city could also not have imagined. Britain is inspired by mancunians, and Neighbourhood Festival is, simply, inspired. Check ticket availabilty here; neighbourhoodfestival.com
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