Liverpool Festival of Ideas performance
On Friday 25th July, not only did the 50-ft high Royal DeLuxe theatre company ‘giants’ take to the city of Liverpool, so did some of the Manx! A number of Manx music performances were organised by the University of Liverpool as part of the Festival of Ideas (organised in association with the Centre for Manx Studies and with support from the Isle of Man Arts Council).
The trumpet and organ duo ‘Chronicles’ gave a performance in the Metropolitan Cathedral, meanwhile Nish As Rish (a collective with whom I have played with since University days); my own trio; and new band Mec Lir performed in a gigantic marquee in Abercromby Square.
For me, the highlight of the day was undoubtably meeting my Dad’s best friend from childhood; Dad’s friend had moved to the North-West of England before the two lads had finished Primary School and they’d subsequently lost touch… until now! Having such an identifiably Manx surname is seemingly very useful when it comes to reunions!
The French theatre company Royal DeLuxe had two huge, reputedly 50-ft giant puppets roaming the city of Liverpool – one ‘little girl’ giant and a ‘granny’ on a chair, who was telling World War One stories. After our performances we patiently waited on Mount Pleasant for the granny to arrive, only to discover that she was an hour late as her head had fallen off as a result of breaking wind!! Fortunately I managed to glimpse her (with head intact) enroute to the Albert Docks, after which I sank into my seat on the ferry, happy from a great day in the vibrant city of Liverpool.