CityLife

Mrs Boon's Tea Party

IN the right light, the celebrated bars and cafés of the Northern Quarter sparkle like jewels beside the tired masonry of a now distant industrial heyday.

Yet here, in Manchester’s trendiest corner, a happy few are keeping the faith. Faith in turntables, in vinyl, in live music, in soul and in tea and cake.

Mrs Boon’s Tea Party, hosted weekly at TV21, is a refreshing fusion of old and new and, as the name hints, combines the essential ingredients of tea and enormous wedges of delicious cake lovingly crafted by Mrs Charlie Boon.

There is also the small matter of Mr Clint Boon; celebrated DJ, perhaps our city’s most Inspiral Carpet and certainly one of its favourite sons, spinning vinyl on two vintage Dansette turntables and introducing an eclectic mix of live acts.

Whilst Charlie manages the demand for brownies and cheesecake, her husband directs the whole affair with an infectious blend of quiet authority and obvious affection.

Like a sorcerer in his grotto making the magic happen, he casts unbreakable spells, sprinkles fairy dust and tidies away dirty plates.

And magic does happen. The ambience, the music and the simple pleasures of tea and cake combine with the basement setting to create a sense of otherworldliness.

Boon’s friend, the screenwriter Paul Abbott, sums the tea party up in a way that makes Clint especially proud. “Paul said to me that after an afternoon at the tea party he felt like he’d ‘been away for a week’.

“The whole thing about it is that it’s done with authenticity – it’s not retro for the sake of it. There’s table cloths and real china with homemade cake.

"People bring their kids - it’s a real departure from the norm. During the recession it’s a new and different thing to do. Everybody’s included and we want it to be an experience people will remember.”

So where did the idea come from? “It’s really an extension of what we already do with family and friends. We had a few try-outs at another venue before starting weekly parties at TV21 last year.”

And the cake?

“I’d never really baked before.” confesses Charlie “but when I was pregnant with our second son I got cravings for cream cakes, so I just started baking and there was a surplus... Clint would be taking them into the Music Response [radio show] team.

Glasvegas

"It became a bit of a thing we did and now we’re providing backstage tea parties in the dressing room for visiting bands like Glasvegas.”

And the idea is taking off. White Lies won’t come to Manchester without dropping in to the tea party and there are plans to take the concept further afield with prospective events on three continents.

But for now, Clint Boon wants to keep the TV21 event ‘beautiful’ and avoid it falling victim to its own success. The marketing strategy reflects this.

“I send out a text to contacts in my phone on a Friday night letting them know who the live bands will be and that’s all the advertising we really do.

"The rest is word of mouth.”

He seems to like it this way and Charlie concurs, “People enjoy that - it’s a bit of a secret.”

Despite the admittedly clandestine success, Clint is quick to point out that it was all done for soulful not commercial reasons.

The tea, like admission, is free, the cake is inexpensive and the live acts all perform for free.

This week, the Bingo Twins’ cover of Love Is In The Air captures the mood well.

The subsequent half dozen songs from The Travelling Band includes a breathtaking and haunting rendition of the Stone Roses’ Waterfall; exquisite harmonies accentuating the ethereal feel. The Enemy’s Tom Clarke and Reverend and the Makers have both enjoyed tea party cameos in recent months.

The weather of a spring afternoon in Manchester can be reliably unforgiving and it is all too soon before we emerge onto Thomas Street, bleary eyed as if from a dream, into another damp Saturday.

The rain floods gutters. Was it a dream? Surely cake doesn’t taste that good even in dreams?

Irrespective of the weather, Mrs Boon’s Tea Party rests for another seven days. Thanks to the music, the atmosphere and the cake, Manchester has not only a favourite son in Clint Boon but a favourite daughter-in-law too.

If you are thinking about grabbing the kids and storming TV21 for the first time next Saturday to get your fix of music, cake and general Boonery; do yourself a big favour, don’t.

Leave it a week, leave it two. It’ll be all the more special if you do.

Weekly from 3pm at TV21, Thomas Street.

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