WHEN the chaps behind Guerilla Eats got in touch late last week to tell us their big come-back launch party set for Saturday 20 September had been cancelled, we feared the worst.
"Despite us putting word out over a hundred people turned up on the night anyway. To make up for it we've giving free food to the first 100 people through the doors next week. Our treat to say sorry."
Generator fire, ceiling collapse, flooding, cyclones, SARS, hyperacusic neighbours, a shortage of bacon to pile on everything.
All possibilities, all far less dull than the actual reason.
The Guerrillas and their #StreetFoodParty had suffered a severe licensing balls-up at their new eleven week base down on the ground floor of Ancoats Fairbairn Building (near the Hallé St. Peter's). One of those 'lost in the system' he-said she-said balls-ups. Very frustrating stuff, we imagine.
Guerilla Eats DJ
Fairbairn Building, Ancoats: home to the Guerrillas for eleven weeks
"Initially we got told by the council that the font for our notices outside the venue were too small - apparently they should be in font size sixteen," Guerilla Eats co-founder Scott Powet tells us. "So we had to restart the application."
"By this point we were nearing launch so were forced to apply for a temporary events notice," continues Power. "This we've done numerous times in the past. No problem. A few days before and we've had no confirmation so we get in touch with the council."
Power starts to look depleted.
"They reply saying they never received it." This is two days before launch. Alarm bells. Big red ones.
"The thing is we had evidence that it had been submitted online and sent that across," Power continues. "It's gone missing. No record. Glitch in the system stuff. Very annoying." Hazards of a digital age, it would seem. Like those emails we all pretend to never have seen. Does the cloud have landfill? Anyway, spilt milk...
Scott Power is also behind food trader Dirty Dogs
So, deflated, Power and fellow Guerrilla, Mal O'Connor, cancel Guerilla Eat's come-back and park themselves outside the venue in Ancoats, turning people away.
"What did give us heart," Power picks up. "Is that despite us putting word out over a hundred people turned up on the night anyway. Sadly we had to turn them away until we launch again next week, but to make up for it we're giving free food to the first 100 people through the doors. Our treat to say sorry."
Good on 'em. So everything is back on track for the Guerrilla Eats launch, just pushed back a week? Well, almost...
"We're waiting on confirmation again but all parties have all the documentation they need. We've gone through the whole process. Thoroughly," says Power, sternly. "There's no reason for this not to go ahead this weekend. Still..." he shuffles. "I'd have liked the confirmation ten minutes ago."
There's astroturf inside the venue. God knows...
Guerilla Eats hope to have the full go-ahead by mid-week. Meaning it's back to party business.
"Nothing much has changed, we've just had to rejuggle the trader diary and we'll now be on until Saturday 6 December," says Power. "In fact, the hold-up has allowed us to do some extra things to the venue in preparation, some bits we didn't think we had time for.
"The traders are in there as we speak personalizing their canteen spaces, we've put some astroturf down (5-a-side chaps?), and we've polished off our axe-grinded, half black cab DJ booth. The place looks amazing," beams Power.
So it's as you were for Guerilla Eats. 6500 sq ft space in Ancoats, 500 people, seven food traders, two bars and a roster of DJs every Saturday from 5pm 'til midnight, carrying us all the way into Sunday and well into December. Fingers crossed.
Guerilla Eats will launch again (probably) at the Fairbairn Building on Blossom Street, Ancoats, on Saturday 27 September and run for eleven weeks until Saturday 6 December.
