Manchester, you are quite a beautiful city

It's been over 10 years since I last lived in Manc

I have quite hazy memories of the city and made friends for life there.

The other week I visited again whilst on a video job shooting live streaming of various DJ sets and grime artists.

Even though the traffic was HELL ON EARTH the place struck me for a moment just how great the city felt.

It's a striking mix of industrial vs cutting edge architecture.
Warm natured but self assured attitudes of Mancunians.
A place for big business and independent artisan business to somehow cohabit in balance.

I love Afflecks Palace - an old and huge indoor market arcade with an ambundance of independent shops.
It's the underground cultural beating heart of the city, based in the trendy Northern Quarter.
It hosts a range of unusual offbeat shops and experiences. Worth a visit.

Now I'm not really a huge fan of busy cities.
I know many people who will love to argue that city life is the best, but for me it doesn't offer me much than I already have.

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This view was from the Q First Street car park - which features prominent Manchester University buildings - the car park of which, should you believe it, played host to an amazing evening live DJ sets.

I was there shooting for the fantastic Boiler Room - https://boilerroom.tv

They are a global video streaming business with teams that travel the world streaming live video of shows and performances, right from the worlds biggest DJ's to the most niche events possibly going.

Their crew is so welcoming and talented. This is the 4th time I had been asked to shoot with them and it was, as always,a pleasure.

The show that night was insane.
It was a freezing cold evening as the sun went down, but as soon as we got on stage with cameras the place got hotter than hell.

Immense Northern grime act Levelz literally made the concrete floor bounce.
I mean, it was like a 9 storey trampoline.
Terrifying.

That's a snapshot of the streaming desk during a set we didn't need to shoot.
But when we're live it gets beamed across the world to a huge viewership.

Good job I didn't drop the camera, eh?

Anyway it was good to visit again.
I think bits of Manchester will always hold a special place somewhere in my heart.