The www sabi rock guy
It wasn’t until I read about him on LiveJournal that I started noticing Mr WWW Sabi Rock.
I’ve seen him four times in the last week – including yesterday, under a bridge in the middle of a dual carraigeway. Other sightings: outside the Palace Hotel, Oxford Road and in Piccadilly Gardens.
Stephen Newton’s spotted him too, but there’s been surprisingly little said about his appearance otherwise. Stephen’s blurry photographs make him look like some sort of enigmatic Loch Ness Monster figure:
On Flickr, Neil Wilkinson was given an impromptu photo shoot by the great man himself, including this remarkable pose:
The Mogfather went one better:
“WWW Sabi Rock”, by the way, doesn’t seem to mean much – yet. www.sabirock.com is a parked domain, while www.sabi.rock.com is just a subdomain of rock.com (”The Official Site of Rock Music”).
UPDATE: See comment below for a new development. He was at the corner of Princess Street and Portland Street yesterday rush hour. And the BBC Manchester Blog have given him a mention too.
UPDATE 2: Hello Flickr users. If there’s anything you can add, please do so below.
UPDATE 3: This comment is on the BBC Manchester Blog:
I asked him at a set of lights. He was pretty vague, but did confirm that he was promoting a rock music site. It must be visited.
UPDATE 4: Seen Mr www sabi rock lately? Please share your sighting on this Google Map mashup.
UPDATE 5: His website went live recently: www.sabirock.co.uk. Turns out he’s a folk singer!
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His sign has changed today. This morning it had a date on it… 15th Nov. Ominous!!! I’ll stay at home that day and put the tea cosy on me head!
By Ian on 09.06.06 2:33 pm
He has been about a few months I first saw him around June on the new road that joins White City to the end of Deansgate since then I have spotted him at the both ends of the Mancunian way and outside Overseas House on Deansgate.
By Ian T on 09.06.06 5:13 pm
who is he??? my boyfriend and I see him a few times a week on princess park way….. his site has no clues….. what does this mean …………..
By claire & danny on 09.08.06 3:03 pm
IVE SEEN THIS GUY LOADS OF TIMES NEVER IN THE SAME PLACE BUT I DID SEE HIM GETTING ON BUS EARLY ONE MORNING IN GORTON. WHO HIS THIS GUY
By ALEX on 09.13.06 1:22 pm
I saw him this morning on the Mancunian way. He put’s the effort in you have to say stood there in the middle of 2 busy lanes of traffic. Thought he was a bit creepy at first but after reading up on various sightings he seems a good lad.
By CMc on 09.15.06 9:42 am
Check out the picture I took of him. I say we worship him as a God. Why not, I’ve got nothing better to do, anyway.
SABIROCK
By Niall O'Shea on 09.15.06 10:57 am
I took the photo in the URL link of this guy. I say we worship him as a God. I’ve got nothing better to do at the moment, anyway.
By Niall O'Shea on 09.15.06 11:00 am
i think he lives in droylsden cos i see him twice a day EVERY DAY.. his website has turned into some kind of download site or search engine without the search… errrr if that makes sense
By jaw on 10.09.06 2:39 pm
His web site is working now.
By Andy on 10.12.06 8:49 pm
I’ve seen the sabirock dude loads of times in Manchester under the trinity bridge with his cardboard sign…..and around st mary’s parsonage on a boiling hot day wearing heavy black coat and velvet top hat which is massive!!
By Sharon on 10.12.06 9:40 pm
http://www.sabirock.co.uk/
By Benja on 10.18.06 9:52 pm
seen sabirock today sun 26 06 at 12.30pm got a great photo of him with a bill board on like a copy let me know all the best paul
By paul on 11.26.06 8:52 pm
i’ve seen him a couple of times but i really wish to know what actually the guy is up to.
By john on 12.08.06 11:59 pm
He’s a regular on the Hyde Road at the traffic lights close to the Mecca Bingo on the way out to Belle Vue. Been there since late summer and I saw him there first thing this morning. It’s a busy space – there’s also a constantly poignant memento to a young father who dies in a motorccyle crash, too.
By Steve B on 12.13.06 12:25 am
This dude is now hitting Great Ancoats Street.
By Tony W on 03.26.07 4:13 pm
Back in the heyday of ‘Madchester’ there was a bloke who used to stand outside the Oldham Street entrance to Afflecks Arcade (Where Identity was and Eastern Bloc used to be before it crossed the road to join the Methodists) asking people to listen to his demo on a Walkman he used to carry with him. I never listened, but this sabi-rock fellow puts me in mind of him.
By Mike on 03.26.07 11:52 pm
This is the coolest dude since forever, i see him everytime i go to college and at first thought he was a mad man till i listened to his music which was pretty mellow. we are gonna be seeing a lot of this cool dude in the future hehe.
By charlene on 04.13.07 11:10 pm
I saw him about a week ago in piccadilly sat on the fence rails near the bus station. I asked if i could take a picture and he said “yeh fine as long as you arnt associated with all these websites that think i am a random lunatic!†so i asked what is the point he is a solo rock artist from down south and its a sort of gimic for publicity. He is a really nice guy, was polite and far from a lunatic i have pictures on my phone as proof. Dont be scared of him he is a friendly guy speak to him yourselfs.
By John Roberts on 05.28.07 2:05 pm
Sabi definetly knows stuff we dont..
Big up…
By Warby on 09.19.07 9:05 am
I usually see the Sabi man on Trafford Road, Salford Quays but today I saw a gorilla standing in the same spot waving at the traffic – obviously I waved back!!! Can it be the same cool dude?
By Mex` on 10.02.07 10:37 pm
hi i see the sabirock man about 10 times a week and have done for about 7 months always in different places (i drive round manchester for my job) today couriosity got the better of me and i checked out his site he is actually very good and not the mad man i thought he was give the guy some credit he is out in wind hale sleet and snow good on him although i hope he wear thermal underwear dont want him getting ill
By karla on 01.07.08 7:56 pm
saw sabi rock man this morning at the traffic lights in stretford so checked out his site not bad
By wendy on 03.05.08 12:56 pm
Just seen this dude now striking a pose near old trafford stood in the middle of the central reservation
By Boy wonder on 04.04.08 8:43 am
That is just extraordinary. This guy is such a legend.
By Green Tea on 09.02.08 9:22 pm
you need to come to record your top single best wishes pete
By pete williams on 03.09.09 7:21 pm
Mancubist knocks up a ton » Mancubist: Life is good in Manchester
[...] have received 339 comments in return. The statistics page is actually my most viewed, followed by the Sabi Rock guy, ice skating in Piccadilly and UK North [...]
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