Hobbsy

I tweeted on Tuesday night about the Taxi Taxi! gig I’d just seen:

Taxi taxi! were superb. Well worth the walk in the rain from the N&D.seen some amazing acts at electric boogaloo #itcmanchester

On reflection Taxi Taxi’s set was probably the highlight of my In The City 2009…

In the same way that Run Toto Run nursed my cumulative hangover on the final night of ITC last year, this year it was Swedish sisters Miriam and Johanna E. Berhan (aka Taxi Taxi!) that provided the aural Nurofen. Their delicate songs are just breathtaking… head over to the band’s MySpace and take a listen.

I only wish I’d filmed the whole gig – as one song in particular (somewhere in the middle of the set) made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and almost brought a tear to my eye. After four nights of non-stop ITC carnage, this was the perfect way to end an emotionally and physically tiring festival (well, a brief chill-out at least before the madness of The Drums N&D set closed my In The City)

I have a few videos that I might try and post on YouTube later, but my upload speed is so pathetically slow (512Kb) that it takes the best part of a day to upload a 4-minute 700mb HD video. In the meantime, here are some photos I shot of Taxi Taxi!:

Here’s a list of bands I photographed on day 3 of In The City:

• Ray Summers at Manchester TV21
• Futures at Manchester Roadhouse
• The Tides at Manchester Moho Live (2nd Room)
• Apples at Manchester Ruby Lounge
• Asakusa Jinta at Manchester TV21
• Young British Artists at Manchester Night and Day
• Morton Valence at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• Slaggerij at Manchester Studio
• Egyptian Hip Hop at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• Taxi Taxi! at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• Mount Kimbie at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• Hounds at Manchester Studio
• The Drums at Manchester Night and Day

Panels I watched:
- Tribes, Fans, Followers panel
(ft. Sean Adams, Anthony Volodkin, Ian Hogarth, Alex Ljung, Joe Cohen)

- Making The Law: The Author Panel
(ft. John Robb, John Niven, Andrew Collins, Mark Hodkinson, Peter Hook, Pete Frame)

- The ITC Hive Panel
(ft. John Robb, Johnny Jay)

Here’s a list of bands I photographed on day 2 of In The City:

• Woodenbox at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• Copy Haho at Manchester Bar 38
• Ed Sheeran at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• Culture Reject at Manchester Studio
• Life In Film at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• Unicorn Kid at Manchester Bar 38
• The Hugs at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• Onlookers at Manchester Bar 38
• Sweet Baboo at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• Hook and The Twin at Manchester Studio
• Busker outside Manchester Bar 38
• She Is Danger at Manchester Chicago Rock Cafe
• The Crookes at Manchester Bar 38
• Jesca Hoop at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• I Am Blackbird at Manchester Bar 38

I’ll be working on getting them online and on the official ITC flickrstream this week

Just a quick list of who and what I saw yesterday at Manchester In The City (Sunday 18th October 2009) – as much a reminder to myself, as an actual blogpost :) I’ll update this properly tomorrow with photos etc – but right now I need to sleep, I’ve been up since 7am (it’s now 3am)

- P2P Piracy debate @ Midland Hotel (quick iPhone pic I tweeted)
- Digital distribution talk @ Midland Hotel
- Steve Lamacq/Creation Records talk @ Midland Hotel (quick iPhone pic I tweeted)

Little Boots (aka Victoria Hesketh) checking in at the Midland Hotel:

• The Momeraths at Manchester Space
• My First Tooth at Manchester Space
• Gallops at Manchester Bar 38
• Olfar at Manchester Bar 38
• Milk White White Teeth at Manchester Chicago Rock
• Asakusa Jinta at Manchester Studio
• Dutch Uncles at Manchester Chicago Rock
• Dirty Good at Manchester Electric Boogaloo
• Sophie Madeleine at Manchester Bar 38
• MAY68 at Manchester Studio
• Cate Le Bon at Manchester Cellar Vie
• Bright Light Bright Light at Manchester Cellar Vie

Everything Everything played last night at the Night and Day as part of a Manchester In The City Fringe event – according to their MySpace, they are playing the same venue again tonight (?). Really difficult gig to shoot: the lead singer had his eyes closed for 95% of the concert, the lighting was poor and temperature (as you’d expect for the N&D) was sauna-like. I’m in two-minds whether to shoot any more bands there this weekend (but the line-up is great: Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Egyptian Hip Hop, Young British Artists, May68 and The Drums)