I’ve witnessed John Grant perform on a few unforgettable
occasions: a bare-bones grand piano set at the Bridgewater Hall as support for
Efterklang; on the Glastonbury Park Stage in the middle of the afternoon in
shorts and flip-flops (him, not me); and at the hottest evening ever inside Manchester’s
Ritz, the day before he had his Mac stolen. Tomorrow (Friday 3 October) I will
be pinching myself good ‘n’ proper as I travel to Media City to see John perform
select cuts from Pale Green Ghosts with the BBC Philharmonic as part
of the ‘Philharmonic Presents’
series, previously featuring Culture Club and Jarvis Cocker. Pale Green Ghosts is becoming an album
for all time, one that the Philharmonic will no doubt be able to find new
dimensions in.
On 9 October, old punks, young punks, bookworms and
musos will be crowding into the Albert Hall on Peter Street to hear Dave Haslam
interview the Richard III of
punk-rock, Mr John Lydon. Lydon’s autobiography, Anger
is An Energy: My Life Uncensored, is just about to hit the shelves so it seems he’s
in the mood to talk which is good news for us, and for Dave. Lydon has, in his
way, been an acute cultural critic over the decades, often in short and sweary portions,
never without substance. Let’s see if he has insight into where he himself exists
in the peculiar maelstrom of UK musical culture.
It’s hard to believe four years have passed since
Peaches Christ and her divine crew of ‘Frisco drag queens turned the
Cornerhouse upside down with a
live-action show and premier screening of All About Evil, the debut feature length from Joshua Grannell (aka
Peaches Christ). I like to think some of that residual performative magic stuck
around; there’s been an explosion of drag and performance in the city ever
since. On 11 October Peaches
returns to Screen 1 with Bearbarella,
a drag deconstruction and outré comedy based on the 1968 cult classic Barbarella, which will also be screened.
Lady Bear takes the title role while the rest of the cast includes Manchester’s
own Cha Cha Boudoir performers, so dress your
sci-fi best and be ready to holler; there is nothing else like this in
town.
