RAE MORRIS | Gorilla | Fri 6 Feb
Blackpool-born talent, Rae Morris, has been touring the country supporting big names already, converting rooms full of strangers into ardent fans with every show. She's back in the North West to transfix audiences with her sumptuous soulful voice.
Rae Morris
BROTHER'S DAY FILM PREMIERE | Moston Cinema | Fri 6 Feb
New urban indie film Brother's Day is billed as 'Manchester's answer to Kidulthood'. The plot surrounds Ryan and Chris, two Manchester-based brothers, who have lost their family to a gang-related crime. Ryan, the older, leads his own gang, but tries very hard to keep Chris, the youngest, outside of that world. Typically, things go very wrong. The film will debut at Moston Cinema.
STEVE AOKI | Albert Hall | Fri 6 Feb
World renowned electro house artist and Grammy-nominated producer Steve Aoki, will be performing at Albert Hall as part of the ongoing Transmission events. Aoki is also known for his trademark acrobatic stage stunts, his hyperactive stage presence, throwing cake at fans, spraying champagne bottles and even riding rafts on the dance floor.
Steve Aoki
ELBOW | Apollo | Until Mon 8 Feb
Elbow are back in Manchester. Guy Garvey, Richard Jupp, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner have announced a run of shows in London and Manchester for February of 2015. The shows will see Elbow return to a more intimate setting in both cities following multiple sold out arena shows over the past few years.
Elbow
KATE O'DONNELL BIG GIRL'S BLOUSE | Contact Theatre | Weds 11 Feb
Who knew what being transgender was in the 1970s? Not Kate’s family. To be fair, crispy pancakes had only just landed in the Midlands so she had her work cut out. The path to becoming a woman doesn’t always run smooth and with a lifetime of coming out, Kate has had to use every trick — theatrical and otherwise — to get by. Big Girl’s Blouse sees Kate make a song and dance about her life using humour, music and costume to tell her story. Created in collaboration with Olivier Award-winning director Mark Whitelaw, as part of the Contact Theatre's Queer Contact season.
Kate
THE HALLÉ VALENTINE'S DAY CONCERT | Bridgewater Hall | Sat 14 Feb
Think of all the classic, big belter ballads such The Power Of Love and Total Eclipse Of The Heart, sung at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall by powerful vocalists. Good one for the old romantics.
CAI GUO-QIANG | The Whitworth | 14 Feb - 21 June
Another of The Whitworth's 'opening ten' exhibitions, this stunning installation comes from New York-based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, a man renowned for his work with gunpowder including the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Unmanned Nature (2008) includes a 45-metre long, four metre-high gunpowder drawing, and this will be the first time the installation – first commissioned by the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art – has been shown outside Japan.
Caiguo
VALENTINE'S DAY FUN FAIR | Heaton Park | Sat 14 - Sun 15 Feb
Nothing says 'I love you' more than crashing into each other head-to-head on the dodgems. This Valentine's Day weekend (and again on Sat 28 Feb), Heaton Park is to host a love-themed fun fair with Waltzers, the 'Mach 1 Bomber', Dodgems and many more thrills. Admission to the Great Manchester Valentines Fun Fair is free and will open daily from 12 noon until 5pm next to the boating lake.
SIMON AMSTELL | The Lowry | Sun 15 Feb
Best known for being a pithy presenter on Never Mind The Buzzcocks (and that stint on T4 a long time ago), comedian Simon Amstell is on his fourth international tour To Be Free. With his 'troubling honesty', he'll be exploring freedom, joy, love, death, adventure, art, peace, sex, regret, success, eating, suffering, dreaming, healing, forgiving and other areas.
Simon Amstell
MACY GRAY | Bridgewater Hall | Sun 15 Feb
Grammy award-winning neo soul/R&B singer, songwriter, record producer and actress, Macy Gray, is to perform at the Bridgewater Hall. Best known for everywhere-pop-song I Try, the singer is set to wow audiences once again with her distinctive husky voice.
Macy Gray
