Manchester Punk Festival is just around the corner, ANNND I am super excited to be covering it next week! So here is a little pre-review of what you can expect from the renowned, almighty MPF! This eclectic, comprehensive festival, celebrating all things punk, pop-punk, ska and hardcore will sprawl across England’s finest city from Friday 7th – Sunday 9th of April.
… “120+ bands, 6 afterparties and 7 stages.” …
MPF WEBSITE
HISTORY & ETHOS:
This will be the seventh time MPF has come to the streets of Manchester, an independent festival that is ‘free from sponsorship and ego’, MPF focuses on setting up great gigs, with wonderful people in beautiful venues, so that we can all get crusty.
Check out more about the history of MPF here.
WEATHER:
Coming to the North needs weather prediction. Even the weather is looking dry, bright and HOT with highs of 15 degrees that weekend. Yep, you heard it here first – the weatherman says no rain for Manchester Punk Festival for the whole weekend – incredible.
(Bring spare socks and two jumpers because we all know the weatherman can be wrong and I don’t want wet punks on my hands. Also; I am not the weatherman.)
BANDS:
There are set to be over 130 bands playing across the weekend including:
Off with Their Heads, who will be playing Home in full, Fat Wreck’s The Flatliners, The Beltones – who will be playing their first UK gig in 20 years. Self-proclaimed ‘British Punk heroes Snuff will be playing The Bread Shed on Saturday, Big D and the Kids Table, Discharge, Bad Nerves and Lightyear! Not to mention Wonk Unit, Death By Stereo, PKEW PKEW PKEW, Onsind and Petrol Girls. It’s going to be a glorious, brimming festival.
If you are stuck for choice, here are some top picks for the weekend!
FESTIVAL GOERS TOP PICKS:
Jess – A.K.A. me:
My personal weekend top picks are The Restarts on the Friday and Discharge on the Sunday. Two of my all-time favourite bands in the world ever. I would be incredibly sad if I missed either – this leads me on to explain the free app that MPF have courteously set up for our listening pleasure (link below).
The Restarts are just beauty defined. They are a classical punk band from the mid-nineties with elements of hardcore and ska. I first saw them at Rebellion Festival when I was pretty new to the scene. We drove up from the south, where I lived at the time, in my mate Andy’s tinfoil covered car and descended on the festival, never to be the same again. There was a moment in those few days where I saw The Restarts and had a profound time. I think it was where I lost half my outfit and had to buy an XXXL faux leather jacket off a bloke for a fiver. I remember staring at the stage and thinking;
‘Wow. It’s actually them. I spent college sitting in the toilets listening to their album and now I’m actually seeing them live.’
I entirely fangirled, and I haven’t stopped. Don’t look at me on Friday.
Discharge created D-Beat and therefore are one of the greatest bands to ever exist. Because what would life be without a little bombadombadom? I saw them a couple of times last year and was never disappointed. I was wondering just the other day whether their name should be attributed to a human secretion, the firing of a weapon, or if they’re just telling people to go away in a posh voice? What do you think?
I wanted to see the title holders of the ‘East Anglian Hardcore Scene’ again but The Domestics are no longer playing MPF 2023, so don’t go looking for them! In good news – they have a bunch of tour dates up this year (including SwineFest in York) and a new album coming out soon, their first in… forever?
Spallbags of Oi Oi Saveloy DIY
Spallbags is headed up all the way from Essex for this year’s festival. She was at MPF last year and is returning with bells on to this illustrious event, here’s what she had to say:
“There are so many bands playing MPF that I consider a must-see, so it’s super difficult just to pick a couple.
Bruise Control are opening the festival on Friday, and they are absolutely awesome. Jim is a f*king incredible frontman.
Throwing Stuff were one of my fave bands from last year, so I’ll definitely be catching them again, especially as their gigs are few and far between!
The Meffs are a band from my hometown in Colchester and it makes me feel proper proud that they’ll be representing the Essex punk scene.
Other Half are a band I’ve listened to a lot lately, and I really love the Comeback Clit EP, so I won’t be missing either of them.
If you haven’t seen Sniff perform yet, make sure you don’t miss their set. It is so beautiful and funny and interesting. Blows my mind how good they are.
I’ll be seeing some long-time faves, Faintest Idea, Wonk Unit and Snuff.
Finally, I love French hardcore so I’ll be down the front for both Youth Avoiders and Jodie Faster.”
James Dolan of NASTYxGITx
James, drummer of Nasty Git, is – like me, a first-timer at MPF. He will be traveling all the way from one end of Oxford Road to the other for this jam-packed festival. He’s been looking forward to MPF for a whole day since his last festival attendance at Dreadfest in Leeds last weekend. Let’s hope he survives. Here are his top picks!
“Going Off – First saw them at love day based on a recommendation. Absolutely insane energy as they deliver a crushing blow of short and ferocious hardcore.
Krupskaya – Dismal melancholic aural assault, provided as short stabs of hyper-blasting madness.
Corrupt Moral Altar – With an all-star cast it’ll be hard to miss Corrupt Moral Altar. A lethal concoction of griding sludgy elements brought to you by serving members of HorseBastard and Napalm Death.”
THE APP:
I strongly suggest you download the free app and take a look before you come. It makes finding out what you are doing after five pints of ale a lot easier. It has a drop-down list of all the bands who are playing this weekend, their set times, conversations, and – if you allow notifications, it will even remind you when that band you REALLY wanted to see is playing *right now*.
(You have to download Woov first and then search for Manchester Punk Festival)
VENUES:
Manchester Punk Festival (MPF) takes place in several renowned venues, giving punks of all tastes and creeds the chance to melt together in a pool of pits and Buckfast this Easter Weekend.
The app has a map that will guide you seamlessly to your destination, unless you make loads of friends and talk people’s ears off on the way, once you have the lay of the land you will be all good. It’s no more than a 6 minute walk between venues, and most of the time it will be far less than that so no fretting. It’s fun! (Can you tell I was slightly fretting before I downloaded the app?)
More information on venues, accessibility and a map here.
The Union
21 Higher Cambridge St, Manchester M15 6AD
Gorilla
54-56 Whitworth St, Manchester M1 5WW
The Bread Shed
126 Grosvenor St, Manchester M1 7HL
Rebellion
2B Whitworth St W, Manchester M1 5WZ
Zombie Shack
50 New Wakefield St, Manchester M1 5NP
Yes
38 Charles St, Manchester M1 7DB
Sandbar
120 Grosvenor St, Manchester M1 7HL
There will also be a poetry stage at this years MPF as well as a comedy stage and a bunch of eateries where you can get special MPF discounts!
So – I shall see you there compadres! Hope you all have an excellent festival. If you don’t have tickets yet, I believe (according to the app) there are 17 tickets left, so get on it! Get your Manchester Punk Festival tickets here.
OH! Last thing, if you’re coming down early on the Thursday why not check out the MPF warm-up gig at Rebellion in Manchester (one of the venues for MPF). It’s an excellent line up of Incisions, Negative Measures, The Overjoyed, Galivantes and, (a personal favourite of mine) Slash Fiction. Tickets for Manchester Punk Festival warm-up gig here (they’re £8 quid).
More Info on Manchester Punk Festival: Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram
Review By Jess Milner: Twitter / Website / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok
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