Manchester Collective: Heavy Metal at The White Hotel

Johnny James, Managing Editor
Manchester Collective

Manchester Collective: Heavy Metal at The White Hotel, Salford, 10 December 2021 Tickets from £10.00 — Book now

“Boundary pushing”, “cutting edge”, “future-leaning”… These kinds of phrases crop up in nearly every article you’ll read about Manchester Collective. And for good reason.

The collective do things that most classical ensembles aren’t bold enough to try. While others cherish the boundaries between genres, musical periods, and artistic practices, Manchester Collective don’t. Their concerts reach across these borders, making one compelling whole out of supposedly incongruent parts.

The centrepiece of their next concert at The White Hotel – a venue as freewheeling as the collective – is a composer who shares their borderless approach. Ben Nobuto’s approach to music-making is defined by openness and plurality, an attitude that has led to collaborations with experimental artists, jazz musicians, poets, rappers, film-makers and video-game developers alike. His first language is the internet, and his music assimilates and responds to the dizzying array of digital media that Generation Z have lived with since birth. On, off, and on again. Attention and fragmentation. SERENITY 2.0 is the name of his brand-new piece for strings, electronics and percussion.

We’ll also hear a new work by Sebastian Gainsborough, AKA Vessel – an enigmatic and disruptive composer whose amorphous music leans towards the heavy and intense. His latest piece, though, will apparently be “something else”. Call us intrigued. Alongside this we’ll hear music by British-Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova, whose piece The Patience of Trees formed the centrepiece of an acclaimed Manchester International Festival 2021 concert. There’ll also be a work by Bryce Dessner (of The National) and a world premiere of a piece by Bang on a Can’s Michael Gordon.

Big percussion, live electronics, and amplified strings. A distortion pedal called the Ibanez Tube Screamer will make an appearance. This isn’t going to be your usual classical concert. But you didn’t really expect that from Manchester Collective, did you?

Manchester Collective: Heavy Metal at The White Hotel, Salford, 10 December 2021 Tickets from £10.00 Book now

Sextile
MusicManchester
Sextile at The White Hotel

From sunny Los Angeles to deepest darkest Salford, electronic punk duo Sextile head to their spiritual home of The White Hotel.

from £16.00

Where to go near Manchester Collective: Heavy Metal at The White Hotel

Symmetry Room
City Centre
Museum
Museum of Illusions

Museum of Illusions Manchester is part of the global Museum of Illusions Group, the largest and fastest-growing chain of private museums in the world.

Tropical World logo
Leeds
Tourist Attraction
Tropical World

At Tropical World, families can enjoy a fun-filled and educational day out. Start your epic journey in the Butterfly House, where exotic butterflies fly freely through our swampy mangrove, fluttering

Manchester
Restaurant
Soap Street Pizza

Based at Nordie in Levenshulme, Soap Street Pizza put out the perfect pie: crispy base and inspired toppings.

Wellington Place
Leeds
Event venue
Wellington Place

Wellington Place is a brand new business park in Leeds, with multi-use spaces and a varied programme of events from street food to art shows.

Carden Park
Cheshire
Hotel
Carden Park

Huge luxury estate, featuring high-end restaurant, beautiful rooms, a fully-packed spa and much more.

What's on: Music

Rock and Goal
Until
ActivityManchester
Rock and Goal Tour

Join Joe Feeley a Mancunian through and through, who guides you into Manchester’s two pillars of cultural excellence with his Rock and Goal tour.

from £9.99
A black woman sat down looking to the left.
Until
MusicLeeds
Sound Out Leeds 2024/25

Leeds International Concert Season is on a mission to push boundaries, expand horizons, and ask the question: ‘What haven’t we heard?’ as it presents its city-spanning Sound Out Leeds series.

from £10.00
Two dancers and orchestra on stage
Until
DanceManchester
Dance:Music at the RNCM

Through a treasure trove of concerts, the RNCM’s initiative Dance:Music explores the symbiotic relationship between music and dance.

from £0.00

Culture Guides

A woman sits in a car with hands holding the steering wheel.
Cinema in the North

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.