What To Do This Week : 15th-21st Feb

In the first of our weekly previews, we highlight personal picks of what to do to help you have an even better 7 Days than Craig David did that one time…

MONDAY 15TH FEBRUARY

CRASH OF RHINOS @ SATAN’S HOLLOW

Swiftly moved following the sudden closure of Tiger Lounge, this gig screams ‘party’. If you’re familiar with the bands Little Explorer and The Jesus Years, you may have heard of Derby’s Crash Of Rhinos, which features members of both. We saw them at Kro Bar last October and were pretty astounded with their wave of emotional rock. Throw in ace supports such as the Fugazi-inspired Wooderson from Sheffield, and locals NASDAQ and Well Wisher, and you’ve got a tip-top line-up. £5 on the door, 8pm onwards. Facebook event here.

TUESDAY 16TH FEBRUARY

GABRIEL MINNIKIN/JO ROSE/BLIND ATLAS @ SOUND CONTROL

The first of Sound Control’s new weekly band nights gets off to a majestic start. With a rare show from Canadian singer, song-writer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Minnikin (“think Tom Waits meets The Wizard of Oz“), accompanied by his 6-piece band. Support comes from the mercurial Jo Rose and his full band, and the modern-day alternative-country of Blind Atlas. A super line-up for £5, which also grants you access to the hot new indie night Control with XFM DJ Gareth Brooks. A gig and a night out for a fiver, you say? Darn tootin’. 7.30pm onwards. Facebook event here.

WEDNESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY

IDIOSYNC @ JOSHUA BROOKS

New nights are continuing to crop up as the new year is well underway, and iDiOSYNC is one of those cannonballs in-line to launch. Self-described as “a brand new night offering midweek clubbers the best underground techno/tech-house/minimal that Manchester has to offer“, their first night’s line-up includes the in-demand DJ/producer Adam Shaw, Joe Blackett and iDiOSYNC residents. Add to that the cheap drinks offers at good ol’ JB’s and you’ll be dancing like there’s no tomorrow. Tickets are £4 advance; more on the door. 10pm-3am. Facebook event here.

THURSDAY 18TH

BABYBOOM VS FREE FOR ARTS FESTIVAL – LAUNCH NIGHT @ THE BAYHORSE

We’ve spoken before about the forthcoming Babyboom Records co-alition with the fabulous Free For Arts Festival. Well, their nights have come around fast and we’re jolly well looking forward to this. A mish-mash of alternative bands to kick off proceedings, with Hyacinth Girl providing scuzzy vibes, post-rock from the gents in Mountains Became Machines, and prog-punk from SC faves With That Knife. Babyboom DJs will be spinning some polycarbonate and/or vinyl-based music mediums, and there’ll also be live drawing throughout the night. All for the cost of a donation. Can’t say fairer than that. 8pm onwards. Facebook event here.

FURTHUR @ STAR & GARTER

Only the second Furthur, but it’s a night that’s already caught our eye. Do you ever find yourself listening to the most obscure music at home and wishing somewhere played that sort of stuff on a night out? Well, Furthur play “avant rock, afrobeat, doo wop, classic rock, dub, spacerock, shoegaze, funk (the guitar-heavy kind), psych, ragtime and every other genre that ever warped a mind“, so that’s a whole host of obscurity covered right there. 9pm-2am. £2 before 11pm. Facebook event here.

FRIDAY 19TH FEBRUARY

BEAT BOUTIQUE’S 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY @ RUBY LOUNGE

2 years can certainly fly by, can’t they? It definitely doesn’t feel that long since Beat Boutique launched to considerable aplomb. Now approaching the grand age of 2 – that’s 24 in club night years – BB has grown from strength to strength. Playing “the absolute best in northern soul, funk, ska, psych, 60’s r’n’b and underplayed unknown modernist sounds new and old”, the usual residents plus special guest Anya Proud take up their standard 3rd Friday of the month slot at the warm and homely Ruby Lounge. 10.30pm-4am, £5 entry. Facebook event here.

SATURDAY 20TH FEBRUARY

TURBOJUGEND UK DENIM MASSACRE 2010 @ RETRO BAR

Dig out your denim jackets and sailor hats and get down to Retro Bar for this 2nd annual event from the UK Turbojugends – fans of the ace Norweigan rock band Turbonegro for those that thought we’d started making up words. Featuring live bands in the form of Nottingham garage-rockers The Hip Priests, Welsh punk-rock from The Sick Livers and Manchester’s lightning fast punks Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man, as well as DJs playing the likes of Zeke, The Stooges, Nashville Pussy, The Hellacopters and Turbonegro all night long. 9pm-3am, £5 advance/£6 on the door. Facebook event here.

SUNDAY 21ST FEBRUARY

MURDER MY HOFF @ THE CORNER, FALLOWFIELD

Another new night for you fine people now – Murder My Hoff comes to you courtesy of some of the folk behind Jupiter Rooms and Sex With Robots. High-list credentials already then, this new Fallowfield outing promises “forgotten 80s classics, weird synth pop, quirksters electrofunk and jammin’ slamming hip hop as we murder Hoff on the dancefloor”… Quite why anyone would want to murder Mr Hasselhoff, I don’t know – especially after that legendary kebab video. Nevertheless, this is a free party, and whatever your views on Knight Rider are, that’s a good thing in anyone’s book. 8pm until late; limited free mix CDs to the first people through the door. Facebook event here.