SLASH | Phones 4U Arena | Fri 28 November | From £35
Former Guns 'N' Roses guitarist, Slash, will be bringing his world tour to Manchester's Phone 4 U arena - cue celebratory guitar solo. Promoting new album, World On Fire, he will be joined by band The Conspirators and Myles Kennedy on vocals.
Slash
RIOT JAZZ | Antwerp Mansion | Rusholme | Sat 29 Nov
Riot Jazz have been performing their unique combination of brass band and bass in Manchester since 2008. They describe themselves as 'the bare-breasted galleon figure of the Riot Jazz armada' - whatever that means. Captained by Nick Walters (MA in Jazz Trumpet) and fronted by the prodigious MC Chunky, they frequent most European festivals. They'll be playing their last show of the year in Manchester's Antwerp Mansion (a derelict rave mansion hidden away in Rusholme). It's loud, sweaty and, well, a riot.
Riot Jazz
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS | The Lowry Theatre | Tues 25 Nov - Sat 29 Nov
Based on the classic Tim Burton motion picture, this dance production by Matthew Bourne (featuring the music of Danny Elfman and Terry Davies) tells the bittersweet story of an unfinished boy creation with scissors for hands in a strange new world. Great for families during the festive season.
Edward Scissorhands
LA TRAVIATA | The Lowry | Fri 21 Nov
Featuring some of the most instantly recognisable and touching arias, La Traviata is widely considered the most popular opera of all time. It's Opera North’s first new production in fifteen years and follows Violetta, courtesan to the rich, in her superficial world of wine, song and reckless abandon. Her life is turned upside down when she falls for the young nobleman Alfredo.
La Traviata
'THIS IS ME' BEAUTY EVENT | Great John Street Hotel | Tues 25 Nov | Free
When it comes to ageing we're far more likely to fight tooth and nail than succumbing to nature gracefully. But, Allergan - makers of Juvéderm facial fillers - are hosting an exclusive ‘This Is Me’ beauty event at Great John Street Hotel to help ease the process. The team are giving away beauty tips and tricks from some of the industry’s top experts. Beauty journalist Alice Hart-Davis, celebrity make-up artist Louise Constad and leading Aesthetic Practitioners will be on hand to offer advice on facial filler treatments. There will also be complimentary treatments from HD brow specialists and the opportunity to experience the very latest in face and skin analysis with 'high-tech Visia and Vectra machines'.
Louise Constad
BBC PHILHARMONIC: BRAHMS VIOLIN CONCERTO | The Bridgewater Hall | Sat 29 Nov
Three great romantics come together in a wonderfully tuneful programme, conducted by dynamic young British conductor Nicholas Collon. Berlioz’s fizzing comedy overture and Stravinksy’s pulsating Symphony in Three Movements frame the pure, sunlit song of Brahms’s ever-popular Violin Concerto, written on a summer holiday in the Austrian Alps. It’s played by the brilliant Canadian James Ehnes. Ravel’s seductive La Valse completes the programme.
Nicholas Collon (credit: Benjamin Ealovega)
Three Wine Men
SARA PASCOE VS HISTORY | The Lowry | Sun 30 Nov
Sara Pascoe, star of Stand Up For the Week, Live at the Apollo, QI, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Mock The Week and Twenty Twelve (BBC) presents her first ever UK tour show, Sara Pascoe vs History. With a comedy brain that leaps from stimulating arguments onto abstract confabulation with lumpy doses of openness, honesty and earnestness, Sara is to share her romantic history, existential theory and cultural insights.
Sara Pascoe
THE TING TINGS | The Deaf Institute | Sat 29 Nov
Let's admit, their first single That's Not My Name is permanently etched into our brains. The Ting Tings hwent missing for a while (we hear they've been in Ibiza working with Duran Duran guitarist, Andy Taylor) but the duo - who started their career in Salford - are back with new album Super Critical. They'll be back in the city performing at the Deaf Institute.
Ting Tings
HOW TO BUILD A BODY WITHOUT ORGANS | Cornerhouse | Until 25 Nov
What makes up a person? Their bones? Organs? What about their skin? French philosopher Deleuze goes one step further and looks at how things such as the clothes we wear can complete us, or can 'build a body without organs'. In this selection of works curated by University of Edinburgh PhD candidate Alessandro Bucci – whose research spans art history, philosophy and fashion – artists have reflected upon the process of clothing the body, emphasising the role of dress in creating the whole ‘self’.
More here
How to build a body without organs
