MIF25: Surround Sounds at Aviva Studios
Johnny James, Managing EditorBook now
Surround Sounds
Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.
What happens when one of the North’s most beloved DIY festivals takes over Manchester’s biggest, shiniest arts space?
Surround Sounds is the answer – a late-night blowout celebrating 20 years of Sounds From the Other City, landing at Aviva Studios with the same unruly spirit that’s defined two decades of the festival.
For one night only, the South Warehouse becomes an in-the-round stage, hosting a non-stop carousel of sounds and unexpected performances from artists who embody the kaleidoscope of styles, energies and characters that have graced SFTOC stages over the years.
The line-up? Stacked. Leading the charge: local cult band WU LYF – back from the dead after more than a decade underground. Joining them is North London rapper, producer and all-round force Lex Amor, whose laid-back flow and lyrical depth have marked her as one of the UK’s most vital new voices. And then there’s AFRODEUTSCHE going back-to-back with JD Twitch of Optimo – a dream team for anyone who likes their club music warped, unpredictable and built for heads-down hedonism.
Also on the bill: rising DJ Reisner, bringing tightly wound rhythms and unexpected turns; Adisa Allen, a drummer whose genre-blurring live set folds jazz, soul and electronics into something gloriously off-centre; and Sophia Dignam, a classically-trained violinist carving her own space in the city’s experimental underground.
Add to that Che3kz, Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh, and walkabout energy from collectives like Ghetto Fabulous, Club Clam, The Fvck Pigs, Banksie and Coco Cannell, and you’ve got a night that pulls you through a dozen different scenes.
That’s what Sounds From the Other City has always been about – making space for the offbeat and the outsider, and breaking form in favour of something stranger, wilder and more alive. Only this time, it’s doing it in a venue built for ideas that need serious kit and room to move. The edges stay rough, the spirit stays restless – but now it plays out louder and in the round, pulling the audience into orbit.
