Sounds From the Other City 2014: Listening in

Salford’s independent music festival is back for another year – it’s tenth.

The best way to think of Sounds From the Other City music festival in Salford? It’s like a playlist of rising stars – but in 3D. And it’s the three dimensional bit that makes it interesting, not only for the unpredictable fizz of the live performers. Chosen by promoters such as Hey! Manchester, Now Wave and Deep Hedonia are Adult Jazz, Rosie Lowe, Manchester’s very own lady crew, PINS, as well as The Travelling Band, who’ll be performing Neil Young’s album “On the Beach” at the First Chop Brewing Arm.

It’s like a playlist of rising stars – but in 3D

Tucked under Salford’s railway arches, it’s venues such as this that make SFTOC an unusual event. Unfolding across the lazy Sunday of a May Bank Holiday, the festival’s organisers have focused on some of “the other city’s” unused spaces and more unusual haunts, including The Angel Centre, St Philip’s Church (which plays host to the A/V Art Rave) and firm indie event favourite, Islington Mill. It’s a heady mix of offbeat venues, promoters and players, with art directors The Volkov Commanders throwing in some strange visual goings on for good measure – all for £18. This is the kind of event that Salford does best – it’s ‘the other city’ that wants you to visit.