CityLife

It was standing room only at the exclusive 25th anniversary acoustic gig by the legendary 'Men They Couldn't Hang'. m19 bar's first floor acoustic room in Levenshulme village was packed to the rafters on Monday 18 May when the alternative Celtic rock band and their legions of fans descended on the venue. Tickets for the 'secret' event in Manchester had sold out, but that didn't stop their fans turning up to see if they could squeeze in. The venue was rocking from the first bar to the last sweat induced encore, with fans almost touching their heroes in the venue, it was certainly a night to remember. Almost like a party in your own living room, it was quite a fitting way to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Still famous for their 'Green Fields of France' track which holds the record for being the longest running number one in the independent charts, the band are more used to playing stadiums than intimate venues like m19. Currently on tour with the 'Wonderstuff' and with a summer of festivals lined up including 'Glastonbury' it was certainly a coupe by the venue to get them to play a gig. Many of their fans could not believe they could be so close to their heroes’ and enjoyed every minute of the experience.

Burnage Oasis Bar set to ‘Roll with it’ for Band’s homecoming gigs The newly refurbished Farmers Arms in Burnage is launching a new bar in honour of local supergroup 'Oasis.' The aptly named 'Oasis Music lounge' will be staging a four day Oasis festival to coincide with the bands homecoming open air gigs at Heaton Park. The Festival features an exhibition of ‘Oasis’ photographs by rock photographer Karen McBride taken at their last open air gigs at the City Of Manchester stadium. It also features a collection of Oasis memorabilia in the newly opened lounge dedicated to the band. The festival kicks off on Thursday 4 June and runs until Sunday 7 June. Lawrence Hennigan the owner of the bar said “We are really looking forward to opening up the new music lounge in time for the return of Burnage’s Prodigal sons. The response from the general public has been overwhelming since we first decided to create the special lounge. Fans have been emailing us from all over the UK asking for details and offering to donate items. After we have the music lounge finished we are looking into the possibility of an Oasis Museum in the stables at the rear of the property.” “One of the items we had donated was a photograph of Liam’s former football team at St Bernard’s Primary School. It would be great if we could trace his former team mates for a possible charity match. We are still looking for a photograph of Liam when he played for the Farmer’s.” The bar is hoping to start a monthly new music night to support local bands and solo acts who want to be the next supergroup to come out of Burnage. For further details about the bar or the new music night email rockfest24@hotmail.com Press Listing Oasis Festival featuring Oasis exhibition by Karen McBride Thursday 4 June to Sunday 7 June in the Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms 8pm-late FREE ENTRY Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms , 254 Burnage Lane, Burnage, Manchester M19 1NA

Well done to the Royal Exchange for bringing a little bit of Ireland to the centre of Manchester on Friday night. The exhibition From Manchester to Mayo held its private view on Friday 15 May in the Mezzanine Gallery in the Theatre. THe exhibition was commisioned to launch the world premiere of Edna OBrien's new play 'Haunted' which is enjoying sell out shows at the venue. Visitors to the exhibition were greeted by traditional Irish music and dancers in their tradtional Irish costumes. The photographs which were selected from the Manchester Irish Festival and from the small parish of Attymass in Mayo. The new gallery is a hidden gem in the theatre and is a fantastic space which was a fantastic setting for the pictures. The new Lord mayor of Manchester in one of her first official engagements officialy opened the exhibition and performance by Young, Gifted & Green. THe special FX performance by Young, GIfted & Green was packed to capacity, with not a spare chair or inch of room to stand around the stage. They kept the capacity crowd mesmirised for an hour with their extracts from their award winning show. for more info visit www.royalexchange.co.uk www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk

100 events over two weeks most of which are free see www.levenshulmefestival.co.uk Friday 23 October to Sunday 8 November 2009

Manchester celebrates the Guinness 250th Anniversary with a five day Tradfest Arthur’s Day on Thursday 24 September is a worldwide celebration by Guinness to mark the day that Arthur Guinness signed the lease on his now famous St. James’s Gate, Dublin brewery in 1759. The Levenshulme Pub company has joined forces with Guinness, the Full Irish Radio show on all FM 96.9 and the manchester irish festival website to put on a massive five day tradfest featuring two hundred and fifty hours of live Irish entertainment featuring close to two hundred and fifty performers. Most of the events are completely free and run from Wednesday 23 September until Sunday 27 September. The festival is launched on Arthur’s Eve on Wednesday 23 September at the Union Inn on Stockport Road in Levenshulme with a special Guinness Tradfest session featuring the award winning Grace Kelly and friends. Festival highlights include a Gala concert by the internationally famous Irish singer Eleanor McEvoy on Arthur’s Day at m19 bar. Eleanor’s single ‘Only A woman’s Heart’ is listed as one of Ireland’s biggest selling singles. She pre launches her new album at the concert which is officially released in the UK on 28 September. When asked about her appearance at the Guinness Tradfest Eleanor said “I had a great time at the M19 last February when I appeared at a sell out show for the Manchester Irish Festival. I’m looking forward to coming back in September to celebrate the release of my new album “Singled Out” with my fans and friends in Manchester.” Supporting Eleanor will be Manchester’s traditional Irish group ‘Shake the Barley’ and the award winning harpist Louise Thompson. Tickets are just £7 in advance from the venue or from www.skiddle.com for this very intimate concert. Lawrence Hennigan, the managing director of the Levenshulme Pub company said, “It looks set to be a fantastic five day festival. We are delighted to part of the worldwide celebration of Guinness’s anniversary celebrations. It is great to see them supporting traditional Irish music and going back to their roots. With Joe Casserley and the full Irish Radio show behind the festival along with our media partners the festival is bound to be a major success.” Other Arthur’s Day highlights include free concerts by Ged Graham and Innisfree, who will be appearing at the Farmers Arms in Burnage and the Union Inn in Levenshulme respectively. James Cannon the son of Sean Cannon from the legendary Irish band ‘The Dubliners’ will also be staging a free concert on Friday 25 September. He is performing with his six piece Celtic Rock band ‘The Sinners’ at the Union. On the same night M19 bar host a special Guinness Acousticfest which features nine acoustic acts headlined by the six piece Celtic rock band ‘Reckless Elbow’ and Iceland star Simon Lynge. On Saturday, the award winning actor and musician Kieran Cunningham, fresh from his UK tour with the ‘Essence of Ireland’ show performs a special free concert with Quare Craic at the Union Inn. The festival is brought to a close on Sunday 27 September with a special free family afternoon hosted by the award winning Joe Casserley and Full Irish Radio show which is being broadcast live from the Farmers Arms and Oasis Music Lounge in Burnage. The afternoon is set to attract close to one hundred Irish musicians and dancers who will be providing live entertainment from 12 noon to 6pm. The award winning Cork singer songwriter Mick Flannery will be one of the star attractions of the afternoon along with Kate Walsh as part of a special UK tour to promote their new albums. Other acts include the Keegan Kennedy School of Irish Dancing, the Scally Brothers, Celtic Ramblers and Shake the Barley. www.manchesteririshfestival.com

see www.levenshulmecommunityfestival.co.uk three local authors launch their books Friday 23 October to Sunday 8 November

catch the Men they couldn't hang on their 25th anniversary shindig at an exclusive acoustic gig at m19 bar in Levenshulme on Monday 18 May in the first floor acoustic room. Tickets £7 adv, £10 doors www.m19bar.com www.skiddle.com

Burnage Oasis Bar set to ‘Roll with it’ for Band’s homecoming gigs The newly refurbished Farmers Arms in Burnage is launching a new bar in honour of local supergroup 'Oasis.' The aptly named 'Oasis Music lounge' will be staging a four day Oasis festival to coincide with the bands homecoming open air gigs at Heaton Park. The Festival features an exhibition of ‘Oasis’ photographs by rock photographer Karen McBride taken at their last open air gigs at the City Of Manchester stadium. It also features a collection of Oasis memorabilia in the newly opened lounge dedicated to the band. The festival kicks off on Thursday 4 June and runs until Sunday 7 June. Lawrence Hennigan the owner of the bar said “We are really looking forward to opening up the new music lounge in time for the return of Burnage’s Prodigal sons. The response from the general public has been overwhelming since we first decided to create the special lounge. Fans have been emailing us from all over the UK asking for details and offering to donate items. After we have the music lounge finished we are looking into the possibility of an Oasis Museum in the stables at the rear of the property.” “One of the items we had donated was a photograph of Liam’s former football team at St Bernard’s Primary School. It would be great if we could trace his former team mates for a possible charity match. We are still looking for a photograph of Liam when he played for the Farmer’s.” The bar is hoping to start a monthly new music night to support local bands and solo acts who want to be the next supergroup to come out of Burnage. For further details about the bar or the new music night email rockfest24@hotmail.com Press Listing Oasis Festival featuring Oasis exhibition by Karen McBride Thursday 4 June to Sunday 7 June in the Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms 8pm-late FREE ENTRY Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms , 254 Burnage Lane, Burnage, Manchester M19 1NA

THe Uk's first Oasis dedicated Music bar opens up for business on Thursday 4 JUne at 5pm just in time for Oasis's homecoming gigs at Heaton Park. Doors open at 5pm, get in early if you can VIp stretch limo to arrive at 9pm Draw for a pair of Oasis tickets for Sunday 7 June to take place on Friday 5 June at 10pm just ask bar staff for free entry form The Farmers Arms, 254 Burnage Lane, Burnage, Manchester, m19 1na

Burnage Oasis Bar set to ‘Roll with it’ for Band’s homecoming gigs The newly refurbished Farmers Arms in Burnage is launching a new bar in honour of local supergroup 'Oasis.' The aptly named 'Oasis Music lounge' will be staging a four day Oasis festival to coincide with the bands homecoming open air gigs at Heaton Park. The Festival features an exhibition of ‘Oasis’ photographs by rock photographer Karen McBride taken at their last open air gigs at the City Of Manchester stadium. It also features a collection of Oasis memorabilia in the newly opened lounge dedicated to the band. The festival kicks off on Thursday 4 June and runs until Sunday 7 June. Lawrence Hennigan the owner of the bar said “We are really looking forward to opening up the new music lounge in time for the return of Burnage’s Prodigal sons. The response from the general public has been overwhelming since we first decided to create the special lounge. Fans have been emailing us from all over the UK asking for details and offering to donate items. After we have the music lounge finished we are looking into the possibility of an Oasis Museum in the stables at the rear of the property.” “One of the items we had donated was a photograph of Liam’s former football team at St Bernard’s Primary School. It would be great if we could trace his former team mates for a possible charity match. We are still looking for a photograph of Liam when he played for the Farmer’s.” The bar is hoping to start a monthly new music night to support local bands and solo acts who want to be the next supergroup to come out of Burnage. For further details about the bar or the new music night email rockfest24@hotmail.com Press Listing Oasis Festival featuring Oasis exhibition by Karen McBride Thursday 4 June to Sunday 7 June in the Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms 8pm-late FREE ENTRY Oasis Music Lounge at The Farmers Arms , 254 Burnage Lane, Burnage, Manchester M19 1NA