Last night I was given the opportunity to attend one of the gigs put on for the Manchester International Festival ‘09 at the Pavilion Theatre in Manchester’s Albert Square.  The gig, put on by Same Teens and headlined by Mystery Jets, was exclusively for teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19, making for quite an intimate crowd.

                The venue, a marquee put up for the Festival in Albert Square, was great.  With room for a crowd of 400, a large stage area, DJ stall and fantastic lighting and acoustics, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Academy Two or another specialist gig venue rather than a temporary tent.  The only downside of the venue was the sauna-like heat that grew as the evening wore on – more fans or air-vents in the tent would have been welcome.  In fairness, free water was offered all night inside the tent in a thoughtful and much-needed effort to counter the heat.  However, the sound and lighting in the tent were brilliant, and all things taken into account the venue was a very good one.

                The support band for the night was Televised Crimewave, an alternative rock group.  The band had charisma, and the lead singer Daniel Wilson did a fantastic job in waking up all the lazy teenagers who initially looked intent on not moving a muscle throughout the night – at one point Wilson jumped off the stage so that he was amongst the crowd and jumped around with them for a while.  While the band had good energy, their songs were too repetitive and a little boring.  The band relied almost too heavily on their excellent drummer Craig Bowers to give their music any drive.  However, the dynamism that the band brought with them resulted in a good start to the night for the Manchester teenagers in the crowd.  This was followed by a fairly innocuous DJ set whilst the stage crew prepared for the headlining act of the night, the Mystery Jets.

                Having personally never heard of the Mystery Jets before, I was eager to see what they would be like.  The tent had busied up by the time they came on stage, and the atmosphere was noticeably more excited than earlier in the night.  Immediately I became a fan of the Mystery Jets.  Their music was interesting, their songs all had a sense of direction and, perhaps most importantly, the band looked like they believed in and enjoyed the music they were performing.  Their set was relaxed, they were willing to talk to the crowd, and their music was really cool.  Fans of Orson or The Kooks would like their music, but in truth it would be hard to find someone who didn’t think their songs were catchy.  The versatility of the band, with band members singing, playing electric guitars, acoustic guitars and synthesizers when needed in different songs, added to their impressiveness.  The crowd loved their set.

                All in all, yesterday’s gig proved to be a very enjoyable evening out.  Mystery Jets stole the show, but the intimate atmosphere and impressive sound in the marquee suggests that any of the gigs that will be hosted in the Pavilion Theatre in this year’s Manchester International Festival will be worth checking out.  Below is a list of the scheduled gigs:

Same Teens – Mystery Jets

 Tonight (Sat 4th), 7pm, 15 – 19 year olds only, £5 tickets

Amadou & Mariam and the Beating Wing Orchestra

Tue 7th & Wed 8th, 8pm

The Durutti Column – A Paean to Wilson

Wed 15th, Thu 16th & Fri 17th, 8pm, £16.50 tickets (£9 concessions)

Manchester Jazz Festival

Sat 18th, 1pm, £5 tickets

 There are also free DJ sets every night in the Theatre from now until the 18th of July, 9.30pm ’til late.  Have fun!

                Matthew Dunster’s gory, graphic production of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, on at the Royal Exchange until the eleventh of April, is as gripping as it is horrible.

                Dunster uses a war zone in modern day Scotland as his setting, and the use of laptops, mobile phones and video recorders during the play is surprisingly unforced and seems to work.  The soldiers in the play wear authentic camouflage, guns are commonplace, and Lady Macbeth is a highly charged cocaine user.  The ideas are original, although we could do without the modern music – it takes something away from the horror of Lady Macduff and her children being brutally murdered when it’s accompanied by jolly pop music.

                                The play begins with soldiers seizing and raping young girls, and it never becomes any cheerier.  Dunster tries to tackle the issue of the effects that war has on children in this play, and the three ‘weird sisters’ are depicted as mentally unhinged, psychologically unstable girls, who have lost their normality as a direct cause of the war going on around them.  These young girls play their parts unnervingly well, with seductive dances for money and unearthly visions for Macbeth both handled with an assurance and power exceeding their years.  The only point in the play that we could really do without is one of these seductive dances straight after the interval.  Here the three girls are dancing for money, but why they are doing this is entirely unexplained and has no relevance to the storyline.  To anyone who had not looked at the programme, where Dunster talks of the terrible effect war can have on children, this scene seems like it belongs in another play, certainly not Macbeth.  The music that the girls dance to (namely Pink) is, again, surely unnecessary. 

                However, other than this scene, the play works fantastically well.  Nicholas Gleaves’s Macbeth is fascinating.  Before his murder of King Duncan, Gleaves acts well within himself, his voice not quite monotonous but certainly lacking in passion.  Famous lines such as ‘Is this a dagger I see before me?’ and ‘Let not light see my black and deep desires’ are delivered without any of the importance that should surely be placed upon them, and this is immensely frustrating when we hear them.  However, once Macbeth has killed Duncan, and the reality of the crime that he has committed sets in, his change is absolute.  Gone is the calm, ambitious Macbeth, in its place a crazy monster who will go as far as he has to in order to secure his own power.  The sheer scale of this change in character is extremely effective, and we realise that this is why Gleaves acts so within himself in the opening.  It is an interesting take on the character of Macbeth, and one that makes a powerful impression on the audience.

                There are no obviously weak characters or actors in this production, and some very good ones; notably Hilary Maclean’s gradual descent into madness as Lady Macbeth is well handled, Christopher Colquhoun as Banquo’s ghost was suitably haunting and judgemental of Macbeth, and the three weird sisters almost stole the show as the best performers, although for me Gleaves wins this prize with his Macbeth.  The special effects and sounds were magnificent, suitably scary and timed to perfection, with the idea of using screens around the stage to show certain ideas working well.

                The play is very gory; watching blood pour out of Banquo’s mouth in Macbeth’s vision is really horrible, as is seeing Macbeth’s decapitated head being brought on stage by Macduff.  Dunster’s dark and psychological take on the play is summed up in his grim interpretation of the ending (I won’t spoil it for you!).  As a whole, this is an utterly gripping, intensely horrible and unashamedly gory performance.  Go and see it if you can!    

The performance is not for the faint hearted!

Gleaves's interpretation of Macbeth is fascinating

(Pictures taken from the Royal Exchange website)

          Today I went on a taster session at the Manchester Velodrome.  It was fantastic.  I cannot tell you how exhilarating it feels to be whizzing around the best cycling track in England!

            The session is an hour long, which is just about the right amount of time – long enough to get going confidently on your bike, short enough to ensure you don’t wear out your leg muscles!  My hour started with a quick explanation of what to do on the bike from the two men controlling the session.  The gist of what they said was that as the bike has no gears or brakes, you must keep pedalling at all times, even when trying to slow down.  This concept seemed illogical to me, and I wondered if they were pulling my leg.  No, in fact this was true.  The idea of slowing down by ‘leaning back’ on the pedals while continuing to pedal forward was, as the instructors told me it would be, easier to comprehend by doing than through explanation.  After tightening my helmet and embarking on a couple of shaky laps around the flat section of the track, I was delighted to discover that I could actually stop by this ‘leaning back’ method and so didn’t have to throw myself to the floor in order to stop moving.

            Getting started on the bike was, for me at least, terrifying.  One of the men straps both of your feet onto the respective bike pedals, leaving you no option to lean on one leg on your bike, as you do at red traffic lights on roads.  Your stability when stopped is maintained by holding onto the rail at the side of the track, and you are told to push off hard from this and begin pedalling to get going.  I wasn’t very taken with this idea of letting go of the safety of the rail, and it took me a good three attempts to successfully start pedalling and move in a controlled manner.  Having managed this once, though, it was simple for me to remember how to do it again – almost like riding a bike (sorry)!  What surprised me was that the two instructors, who took the thrilling (or lazy) ‘learn by doing’ approach to teaching, also encouraged speed.  After no more than ten minutes of riding around on the flat, I was told to move up to the sloped side of the track, and when I slowly began this new, weird and wonderful way of cycling I was told to ‘pick up my speed’.  My belief that these men were giving me a baptism of fire, with the sadistic hope of seeing me crash at high speed, was proved wrong.  As I sped up I found the cycling easier, because my pace took me effortlessly around the sloping sides of the track, making it feel almost like one long, straight road.  Not only this, but the enjoyment levels experienced when whizzing around the track as fast as you dare are so much higher than cautiously and nervously crawling around it.  The instructors obviously knew what they were doing as the hour passed without injury, and every novice on the session managed to cycle around the track by themselves; in some cases at dizzying speeds!  The ‘time trial’ at the end of the session was good fun as well – try and beat my time of 26.3 seconds for a lap!  Sadly, you probably will…

            I would seriously recommend anyone of any age (nine or above) to try out a taster session at the Velodrome.  It’s great fun, and in one hour you learn a new skill at Manchester’s very own national cycling centre.  Add to this the fact that you get a certificate at the end (score) and the motivation of trying to beat my time in the time trial, and what are you waiting for?  Why not bring a mate as well and learn together?  Book early, though, as places on these sessions are understandably in high demand!

                On arrival at the Manchester Velodrome last night I knew next to nothing about cycling, only that I had come to see a big event.  Former Olympic gold medallist and wearer of the prestigious yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Australian Brad McGee, had chosen the night to host his last ever competitive cycling event, and the chance to see this, along with many other big names in cycling, such as O’Grady, Hayles and Millar, the drug cheat turned pioneering anti-doper, drew in a capacity crowd of 3,500, coming from all over Britain.  Speaking to people outside the Velodrome at the start of the night, I found fans that had travelled from Leeds, Darlington, Nottinghamshire and Wales, and I also saw a couple of Chelsea football shirts.  This was an event of national interest.

                A couple who had travelled from Nottinghamshire told me that they thought our National Cycling Centre in Manchester was ‘Fantastic’, remarking that ‘the problem is that there should be more like it throughout Britain’.  Fans from Yorkshire agreed that the Velodrome was ‘Impressive’, and added that on the night it was the prospect of McGee’s last race that had made them come.  ‘It will be very exciting to see.  The name McGee is certainly a big pull for the crowds’.

                But Revolution 21 was not all just about big names.  Six of the nineteen events on the night involved teenage riders competing in their own league, the DHL Future Stars Championship.  Boys and girls representing the South East, South West, Scotland, North West, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire, East Midlands, Eastern and Central England battled it out throughout the night, watched by a full crowd and their senior heroes.  I spoke to Matt Winston, the Olympic Talent Coach for the North West.  He told me that ‘Five of the Six riders (for the North West) were from Greater Manchester’, from areas such as Bolton and South Manchester.  He informed me that the girls in his team, Jess Crampton, Sophie Gore and Melissa Bury, were very much a ‘development team’, but that he had high hopes for the boys, Chris Nicholson and twins Simon and Adam Yates.  The girls rode well and showed great ability and heart, notably with Melissa Bury remounting he bike after an unfortunate and nasty fall in the girls 6 Lap Dash, going on to heroically complete the event.  The boys were outstanding, working well as a team to secure second, third and fifth places from a field of thirty in their 6 Lap Dash event, and second, third and fourth places in their 5km Scratch Race, making them clearly the strongest region competing on the night.  Matt was understandably chuffed with his team, and the future of Manchester’s cycling looks very promising.

                As I was milling around the ‘elite’ competitors section, it was refreshing to see the camaraderie between athletes who minutes ago had been racing against each other.  Unlike in other sports, there were no obvious rivalries off the rack or intense solitary concentration before events – the riders appeared just to be enjoying the night with each other.  Of course, the standard was incredibly high throughout the night.  Andy Fenn, a brilliant cyclist from Fallowfield in Manchester, told me ‘I train every day, twice most days’, and it was then that I realised the dedication of these athletes.  It was plain to see how much they work for their sport – not only from the monstrous thigh and calf muscles that each competitor possessed, but also from the way that riders were physically sick after their events, such was the intensity.  Lizzy Goodband, a competitor in the Elite Women’s class, told me that although she didn’t keep to a strict diet as such, she knew the importance of having a lunch high in carbohydrates before an event.  Lizzy had travelled from Wales to compete, along with the sixteen-year-old prodigy Becky James, who secured victory in both the Elite Women’s Scratch Race over 8km and the Elite Women’s Devil Scratch Race.  Another woman in the Elite category, the impressive Kacey Manderfield, was American.  When I asked what Lizzy thought of the situation of the evening, she replied ‘The venue is excellent, up there with the best I’ve raced at.  It’s weird seeing so many familiar faces from television walking around’.  The presence of these famous cyclists speaks volumes about the event and how the Manchester Velodrome is perceived by riders.  I am indebted to Lizzy and her mother for pointing out faces for me and explaining the ins and outs of each event as they happened, such was my ignorance of all things cycling before last night.

                People in the know in the competitor’s section told me that David Brailsford MBE was the man responsible for British cycling’s recent success.  ‘It is thanks to David that British cycling is doing exceptionally well’, one woman told me.  I was lucky enough to share a few words with David in the evening, and he told me that he thought the night was ‘Fantastic’.  I agreed, and meant it.  ‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for the younger cyclists to be racing on the same track as the likes of Dave (Millar) in front of such a crowd’.  Millar, once a drug cheat and now an influential figure in stamping drugs out of the sport, seemed happy to be racing again and was surrounded by friends all night, which was good to see.

                Whilst the action on the track was pulsating, with Ed Clancy and Steven Burke recording the second fastest time ever in the Rothschild 1km Madison Time Trial, there was an opportunity for the spectators to get involved.  ‘Rollapaluza’ set up a roller-racing stall, where people try to cover 1km of ground on a stationary bike, or a ‘roller’, in the shortest time possible.  The record times were held by Craig MacLean and Chris Hoy, both established international cyclists, with times of 18.94 and 19.44 seconds respectively (!).  The stall was busy all night, with loads of children wanting to have a go.  A worker on the stall told me that he thought the ‘rollers’ were ‘Brilliant.  The idea is to set up things like this all over the country, especially in London where there is no Velodrome at the moment.  The beauty of it is that kids who can’t even ride a bike can do it and enjoy it’, he pointed out.  The kids certainly looked to be enjoying it.

                McGee, fittingly, managed to win an event on the night, the exciting 10km Scratch Race, to the delight of the crowd.  An interview towards the end of the night with legend of cycling and commentator on the night Hugh Porter and McGee, was really appreciated by the audience, during which Porter referred to McGee as ‘A talented athlete who has given us so many great moments’.  McGee then gave the crowd one more lap, through a guard of honour created by the other competitors in the Elite Men’s category.  It was a respected end to a fantastic cycling career.

                So, was it the abundance of talent on show that made me fascinated by cycling?  Or the incredible show of speed from the Olympic sprinting teams, the fastest of which reached 42.766 mph?  Perhaps it was the way that some cyclists had to continue for three laps after their race ended to reach a slow enough speed to safely exit the track, as they had no brakes (can you imagine travelling over 40 mph without brakes?!), or the roar of the crowd when the athletes dug deep for speed on their last lap.  I don’t know, but yesterday I changed from being entirely ignorant of cycling as a sport to an enthusiast, all in four hours of incessant action.  And I bet that more than a few of the many children in the crowd would have been taken in by the atmosphere as well…

                The future of British cycling, and of Manchester’s National Cycling Centre, looks just as bright as the present.