Either Manchester International Festival is taking a liberal approach to announcing this year’s programme, or someone’s jumped the gun:

07-18-2009 20:00

MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

Dave Haslam presents

And all they had to do was hold out until the press launch at Manchester Art Gallery on 19 March!

Anyway, this could be good… at least we know that Haslam is as pro-Manchester as you’ll get – unlike Rufus Wainwright, who’s having a good go at making Manchester feel well and truly second best. He’s not exactly talking up his opera-writing skills either, is he? And he’s not even sure that it won’t be a disaster.

July looks set to be a fun month!

At some point last week Mancubist had its one millionth recorded view. I’m impressed, particularly as this is only views of individual posts and not things like the homepage or search results. I’m getting roughly 500 visits a day now, with each visitor looking at 5-6 pages.

Subscriber numbers have grown too: over 500 RSS readers, 250 email subscribers and just over 100 followers on Twitter. And I thought the latter was just a flash in the pan.

You’ll have noticed that my posting has been less frequent in the last couple of months though. This is mostly because I’ve been away, working hard and running new things like RainyCityStories.com. I’m also in the process of launching a Manchester music blog – so if you like Mancubist and you’re not averse to a mix of folk, Americana and experimental music, check it out.

Later this month, two of the city’s most established live music nights – Blowout and Friends of Mine – are coming together for Friends of Manchester, a one-day event (inevitably deemed a ‘festival’ – this is Manchester after all).

This ‘12-hour music marathon’ takes place on Saturday 24 January at Jabez Clegg, just off Oxford Road, and – due to strong demand – Kro Bar next door, which is hosting a winter barbecue. I count about 50 bands confirmed so far – including personal recommendations the Longcut, its a buffalo, Ten Bears, Gideon Conn, Jo D of the Travelling Band and Islands Lost at Sea.

Tickets are £9 in advance from www.ticketline.co.uk, Piccadilly Box Office in Zavvi and on 0161 832 1111 – or, until Sunday evening, you can get a £7 early bird ticket here. There’ll also be some available from both venues, plus the Thirsty Scholar and Joshua Brooks.

Friends of Manchester is sponsored by Ben Sherman – but don’t let that put you off.

It’s a busy week here at Mancubist towers so here’s a quick mid-week, mid-November round-up…

The biggest event this week is surely the re-opening yesterday of the Manchester Christmas Markets. The largest one, in Albert Square, is open daily, 10am until 9pm, right through to 22 December. For more information, including opening times for the other four – in St Ann’s Square and on Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street and Brazennose Street (here’s a map) – check out the council website.

Inside the town hall, meanwhile, the two-day NOISE Festival – Creative Futures event is currently taking place to promote careers in creative industries. Today’s schedule (10am-6pm) features portfolio reviews, one-to-ones, careers advice and a busking corner, plus an unsigned showcase and panel, and a seminar on art direction by Amelia’s Magazine. Warp Films and Badly Drawn Boy, who played last night, are among this year’s big-name curators.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of great gigs again this week: tonight, the Faint play at Academy 3, supported by an interesting Polar Bear-related band, the Invisible (’the Invisible Band’ would be a better name…). Or Parenthetical Girls are playing across the road at the small but perfectly formed Kro Bar. And on Friday, Four Tet’s Keiran Hebden returns with drummer Steve Reid.

Salford Film Festival is also in full flow at the moment – great to see it back after last year’s near-cancellation. It runs until 23 November at venues including Salford Arts Theatre, the Lowry, Islington MIll and the Theatre Organ Heritage Centre. Check out the day-by-day guide here.

Oh, and the Spinningfields Ice Rink opens tomorrow, Thursday 20 November, and for the first week it’s just £5 for all skaters.

So the Bays were very good at the RNCM last night – as were Monotonix, an Israeli three-piece who made me fear for my own safety at Club Academy, and the classy Sun Ra Arkestra, who’s ultra-rare appearance packed out the Deaf Institute. More music tonight…

Steve Reich in the Afternoon (geddit?) offers two short rush-hour concerts featuring the septuagenarians minimalist’s music alongside that of ‘a new generation of cutting-edge composers’. The Reich pieces include three of his counterpoints and two phases – think absorbing drone music performed with terrifying accuracy on piano or violin.

Both hour-long concerts – tonight and next Wednesday – begin at 5.45pm and take place at a great venue: St Ann’s Church in St Ann’s Square. They’re organised by Manchester-based new music and music-theatre ensemble Psappha, who will perform with additional musicians. Entry is £5 or £3 for students/under-18s.

And if, like me, you’re on a personal mission to combine as many gigs as possible into one mid-week session, check out Tara Jane ONeil. She’s playing at the Black Lion on Chapel Street tonight (8pm-11pm) alongside dbh and the Redhouse. This show’s promoted by Kaffeequeria, who will be offering vegan cakes, and it’s £5 entry.