As the Big Weekend at Manchester Pride finally approaches, here at MM we’ve been dusting off our dancing shoes and taking a sneaky peek at the jam-packed programme to unearth the freshest acts to sing and dance along to.
If you’re lucky enough to have got your mitts on a ticket there are just a few days left to wait and see what the country’s greatest Pride event has to offer.
Here we’ve taken the cream of the weekend’s events.
Friday
Amy Lamé
Acting as the host for the opening ceremony for this year’s Big Weekend, artist and entertainer Amy Lamé will be sure to start the celebrations in style.
Manbears Presents
There’s a number of exciting acts appearing on the Manbear stage in Sackville Gardens. Cabaret performer Vanity Von Glow will be presenting local acts like Wolf, Squiffy, Pride veteran Kim Brunt and the wonderfully-named Bear Explosion.
Velvet Stream
Female-led band Velvet Stream should get you dancing. Their tracks Bitch and Selfish Mind are perfect, empowering summer anthems.
What really makes Velvet Stream stand out is the way the boys of the band harmonise behind the vocalist Mati.
Worth Googling on your phone (if you can find a minute to yourself amid the chaos).
Saturday
Rowetta
Rowetta’s Mother Love will remind you to text your own mum and let her know you survived the first night of fun-filled partying.
Scarlet Street
The combination of 50s pop-glamour and tight harmonising means that this ‘barber-pop’ quartet should keep you chirpy throughout Saturday.
Sunday
Kate Nash
Gone are the days of her cutesy lyrics of wanting a kiss in Pumpkin Soup now Kate Nash appears to have reinvented herself as a third-wave feminist in the old-school Riot Grrl mode.
One act to pop down and dance along to with your mates.
Patrick Wolf
Something about Wolf’s soft melancholy tunes may help some people (depending on your disposition) recover from their Saturday hangovers.
Wolf’s perfomances are renowned for their astonishing array of instruments and intimate style. Plus he wrote the pop-heroin hit The City – one listen and you’ll be hooked. Trust us.
The Quangos
Manchester boys, The Quangos, can be relied upon to provide a bit of light rhythm & blues with a distinctive retro twist.
Monday
Lucy Spraggan
Wind down on the final day with Rylan’s X Factor partner in crime Lucy Spraggan.
Armed with her trusty acoustic guitar Lucy will be bringing her comforting and familiar tunes to to the masses – perfect for chilling out to and preparing for everyday life.
Image courtesy of Patrick-Wolf-TV via YouTube, with thanks
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