City Focus

I received another typical Lib Dem leaflet today. They trumpet the success of their recycling scheme – which seems a little premature as it hasn’t started yet, and I was told by someone at the council that there was no planned start date, which is a further backtrack from the original glossy brochure I received telling me to ring the environmental services to set it up for my building (naturally to discover it wasn’t possible)

I was visiting Chepstow House last night and talking to residents there. They already have recycling, and the only other building I know that does has it for the same reasons – they had a great concierge who arranged it for them. Some people said that people were put off using it 100% and it had limited success because the collections weren’t regular enough, and also said they were having similar problems with their rubbish collection. The Lib Dems say the collections will be once a fortnight, will this really be regular enough? How have they come up with that as a plan? It makes you wonder about their claim that THEY have put recylcing in 24 buildings in the city centre. I only know of two and neither were anything to do with the Lib Dems.

There’s always something disturbing about their newsletters them thats hard to put your finger on….its something about the way they portray themselves, seeming like puppy dogs overly keen to do anything for their masters that makes them want to take credit for everything, and anything. In the most recent one Marc Ramsbottom is seen to have solved the problem of noise from the Beetham Tower. I had been told that Ian Simpson (who of course will be a resident in the tower as well as being the architect) said that it made a noise until it was finished and the natural completion of the top of the ‘wing’ solved the problem. You’d think a Lib Dem had scaled the tower and fixed it with his or her bare hands by the way they report their ’successes’. It all seems so engineered and synthetic rather than them really having any passion or vision for the city.

Drip Coffee

Anyone who likes coffee and wants to support yet another really worthwhile independent business in the Northern Quarter should go to Drip. On the corner of Hilton Street and Tarriff street its in the ground floor corner of Fourways House next to Lamars (another interesting place to go for drink and food!) The coffee was great, and the interior is very Northern Quarter, antique wooden floors and exposed brick. My only reservation is why do places like that in Manchester need to play dance music when you’re just trying to relax over a coffee….?

Cloud 23

What a great addition the sykbar in the Beetham Tower is to Manchester’s nightlife. I don’t really want to tell people about it because its so nice there I don’t want is to be spoiled! Amazing views, good service and a touch of class and glamour of the kind that doesn’t exist anywhere else in this city yet. It was a great reminder of how fun tall buildings can be, creating an atmosphere that cannot be mimicked in something 5 storeys tall.

I saw Gordo there just before I left (aka Mark Garner of Manchester Confidential) so I’m sure it’ll be getting a good mention in their reviews. I hope they keep their door policy unpretentious and civilized.

Tale of two cities

Its funny how you can so quickly get used to something as the norm, even if its clearly not. This is what I’d like to alter in some small ways with regards to previous comments about antisocial behaviour in my neighbourhood (which is Piccadilly and the Northern Quarter)
Mostly I’m really glad to get back to Manchester from being out of town at a gig somewhere, but saturday night was an exception. The Halle performed to a full house at the Sheldonian theatre in Oxford. Its an amazing building (the first building designed by Wren), the gig was great and the whole experience was positive and uplifting playing to such a good audience in wonderful surroundings.
Some time later we arrived back in Manchester (about 1am). I realise this is atypical, but I’m walking home from work at 1am up Portland street with a couple of friends from the orchestra of also live in the city, most people don’t have to whitness the carnage we did on their walk home – what a depressing experience….stepping over pools of urine, (I saw about 10 people urinating on the street, in office doorways and against walls – if you work in the city, DO NOT touch the entrance door to your building it will have dried urine on it) vomit on the pavement, people brawling and shouting at taxis….when I finally got to my building there was some character dressed up for his saturday night out urinating against my building (doesn’t help that the street lighting is VERY bad on my street) I stopped and thought about saying something….that slightest halt without even saying anything brought out rage in the city reveller “***k off, can’t you see I’m having a piss, what are you looking at!?” to which my response was that I was looking at someone breaking the law and urinating on a listed building that I’d paid a lot of money to be able to live in….naturally just a torrent of abue – he feels he’s absolutely in the right, doesn’t believe its against the law, and why would he, there weren’t any police within half a mile….why do we live like this, people in Sheffield and Oxford clearly don’t, and its a great deal cheaper to buy a flat there!

Changes in Sheffield…

This week the Halle discovereed and interesting new talent in Alina Pogostkina who the orchestra will remember for her great performances of Sibelius concerto as well as her good looks no doubt.

Our concert on friday was in sheffield which was interesting. Sheffield is another northern city going through a great deal of change and development. Last time I was there a vast area of the city centre had been levelled for redevelopment. Money has been spent on their concert venue, the city hall, although sadly not yet on the accoustics which leave a little to be desired to say the least! However there are many attracive features appearing on the streets, very attractive imaginative fountains, little green spaces and squares. It was a good reminder that urban renaissance isn’t just limited to Manchester by any means.

Manchester’s Regeneration Architects

There was a very helpful article in the Manchester Evening News today by Ray King about the regeneration of Manchester.

I think its important that although we’re looking to the future and what we can achieve in Manchester, we also de-bunk the myth that the Labour council can take all the credit for the way the city has changed and emerged from the doldrums. I’ve mentioned previously that I really resent the New Labour = New Manchester thing, and this article refers to the true architects of Manchester’s change of direction – the Tories.

Although it may not be popular to do so and will make Labour supporters squirm and fume, so be it. It was really the Tory government at the time that helped change the hard left city council of the time into the outward looking progressive council they became with the incentive that the government would ‘do business’ with them if they changed.

The contributions from the Tories at the time were:

• Supportive the groundbreaking Olympic bids - slightly more suportive that the current Labour government has been of huge projects for Manchester, robbing us of the chance to have the national sootball stadium, world athletics championships and no doubt they have the super-casino stitched up for Greenwhich and not our East Manchester bid
• Hulme’s regeneration- perhaps one of the biggest piece of the puzzle – was facilitated by Heseltine’s City Challenge
• The decision not simply to re-build but to create the opportunity to refasion the city via an international design competition was pure Heseltine and John Major
• The trams were introduced by a Tory government, and subsequently thwarted in their advance by the Labour government

The point is that Labour hasn’t been as good for the city as we would be led to believe by the spin. The trams, Hulme, and the regeneration and new direction after the IRA bomb are all pretty massive things. From one perspective the Labour hasn’t done anything apart from facilitate lots of apartments to be built, helping developers such as Tom Bloxham and Urban Splash with large handouts of public money.

After these major developments the thing that has driven the city forward has been you and me…people who have bought into the city, who earn and spend our money here and pay our council tax in the city centre, we’re as much pioneers and benefactors of new Manchester as anyone. The council would have you beleive they actually created Manchester. Nobody doubts the incredible contribution of some members, and our chief executive is universally admired, however isn’t it about time we provided an alternative to the spin from the town hall….

Whisky Cats

I went to a gig at the Academy the other night and saw the Whisky Cats. The Bass player was an ex-housemate of one of my violinist friends – they were really fun, I’d reccommend them.

A Manchester No.1! The Halle

The city’s Halle orchestra has recently been declared the best orchestra in the countrybeating the London Symphony Orchestra into 2nd place in the league table, when else can we say something like that about a Manchester institution! The orchestra really is worthy or the world class city I hope Manchester becomes.

Great cities need world class culture, and an orchestra is an amazing expression of this. The Halle tours the world and takes the name of Manchester to places that a football team and rock bands do not. After a concert a couple of years ago in Vienna I went out for dinner and a drink with friends of my cousins who live there and work for the United Nations. These were some of the 10 most important people who walk the corridors of power of that huge institution and they were HUGE fans of the Halle, so keen to hear what we were doing next, to hear about our music Director Mark Elder and about our concert hall here in Manchester. What else could deliver tha level of exposure for our city.

It frustrates me that the Halle orchestra doesn’t always get the recognition in its home town that it deserves. Every one is always harping on about how Manchester’s music scene is nothing like it used to be, we don’t have anything world class since the decline of Factory etc in the 80’s – what a narrow minded view! As if teenagers in bands are the only cultural offering the city has to offer. It has turned out a little like the Beetles effect…however the Halle has gone from strength to strength under the direction of Mark Elder (a fellow city resident incidentally)

I played in their performance (I’m a violinist) of Mahler’s 5th symphony last thursday which was an amazing experience, really the orchestra at its best. The trumpet solos by Gareth (the principal trumpet) were truly great. You don’t have to go to London to experience the best orchestra and music in the country, ITS ON YOUR DOORSTEP so go and support it at the Bridgewater Hall!