• DECONSTRUCTING DAD •

Last weekend in Manchester was another unbelievable event.  Jon Kraus, of SnipSnap Music, put the whole thing together and did an amazing job, with underwriting by Red Bull.  The evening consisted of performances by a number of Manchester based groups and DJs, followed, of course, by a screening of the film.  It took place at the Soup Kitchen, normally a well known and excellent local Manchester bohemian eatery, that was converted to a cool club/screening room for the evening’s events.  The venue was packed with an SRO crowd, and the events were spectacular — special Raymond Scott sets by several DJs, including Jon Kraus who somehow also found time to do a DJ set of his own.

Jon Kraus Spins....

All sets were supported with very cool photo-animated visuals, and there were live musical performances from local acts Demdike Stare, Illum Sphere, Kdkanevil, and the one-off supergroup The Manchester Research Transfer Project, which was composed of 808 State’s Graham Massey, Silverclub’s Henrietta Smith-Rolla, and Dennis Jones — they played their set of re-imagined Raymond Scott compositions on vintage analogue synthesizers.  With the participation of so many talented people (who were all working on a volunteer basis), the evening kind of felt like like the first annual Scottfest (a concept that’s been percolating in my mind for a while).  It was really that special.

And yes, the film was shown too — the space had started the evening as a kind of funky nightclub environment and during a brief intermission it was

Outside the Soup Kitchen at the end of the night: LL to R--Rachel McFarlane, Moi, Henrietta Smith Rolla, Jon Kraus

transformed into a cinema.  Had a great QA after….so all in all just a unique evening and my thanks go out again to Jon Krause for making it all happen, Red Bull for their support, and to the Soup Kitchen and everyone who donated their time, talent and work to make the event a reality and huge success.

Next screenings are the weekend and Monday night of December 10-13, the first event with Adam O’Callaghan in Montreal at the Rialto Theatre, and then on Monday December 13 as a Music Monday event at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX.  I’ll be at both events…  will be posting more about them as the date approaches.