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Review: Federal café
Review: Federal
Published in The Mancunion, 13th November 2017
If you have the time and energy to drag yourself out of the student comfort zone that is Fallowfield for a brunch with friends, Federal Café is the place to go.
Only a short walk from Piccadilly Gardens and Arndale, its location is ideal to take a break from shopping (or, in most students’ cases, window shopping).
The staff were genuinely nice and friendly: when we arrived we were received with a warm welcome and despite the fact the café was full we only had to wait a couple of minutes before being shown to a table.
Federal’s all day New Zealand Australian inspired brunches are sure to cure even the worst of hangovers — yes, I’m speaking from personal experience. The menu options vary from French toast to corn fritters, so it’s perfect to satisfy any craving, whether it be sweet or savoury. I had the corn fritters with bacon — which was initially startling as it had some of the brightest colours I had ever seen on a plate, but most importantly its taste exceeded my expectations.
The corn fritters perfectly complemented the crispy bacon and the egg was fried to perfection so the yolk was runny — the dream! The Sriracha hollandaise gave it a pleasant spicy kick, even though I’m not a spice lover, as it was just the right amount, which made it a brunch that stands out in my memory from others I’ve had. My cappuccino was also good, as well as being extremely aesthetically pleasing with the prettiest chocolate stencilling I’ve ever seen. So if you’re keen on instagramming your coffee this is the place for you!
I highly recommend the Federal Café and Bar because it ticked all the boxes for me: great service, great food, pretty and tasty coffee and a relaxed atmosphere.
Live: Little Mix
Live: Little Mix
Published in The Mancunion, 30th October 2017
This is the first article I wrote for the student newspaper, The Mancunion. I co-wrote it with the friend I went to the concert with.
A fish out of water and a fan are amazed when they find themselves so close to the stage. The fish does concerts and not clubs, the fan does clubs and not concerts, but this chalk and cheese pair were both in for a great night, when fire canons blazed, announcing the arrival on stage of Little Mix.
They were sitting so close, they could feel the heat of the flames that leapt into the air as the four band members rose up through the middle of the stage belting out their recent hit single ‘Power’.
The thing about a gig on this kind of scale is that it’s impossible not to get swept up in the mob mentality. The age of the audience was all over the place — mums, daughters, 20 somethings — it was definitely a girl power atmosphere.
Little Mix were very much aware of this. Being extremely confident young women with an incredible stage presence, they used this as an asset to encourage their fans, predominantly young and female, to be strong and sure within themselves. Their performance of ‘Salute’ was enough to make anyone proud of their femininity — even some of the dads in the audience.
This open encouragement of self-love was not exclusive to women. A particularly powerful moment in the evening took place before their emotional rendition of ‘Secret Love Song’: as the four women walked down a catwalk suspended above the audience, they called attention to the LGBT+ community, recognising that the songs had become a sort of pride anthem.
This was reflected by the audience, with many holding up rainbow coloured flags bearing the songs’ lyrics throughout the stadium. It was the first time hearing this song for the fish, but here, the fan found a fresh light shed on the song and the possible meaning of it’s lyrics.
The stagecraft was immense, with confetti cannons, flamethrowers and various sets brought to the fore like tigers in the Colosseum. Equally, both were wowed by the intensity of the choreography, with not just the backup dancers but Little Mix themselves performing full routines, in perfect sync, whilst singing. Perrie Edwards in particular, was not afraid to prove her talent, singing daring vocal riffs and ornamentations.
One criticism might be their failure to establish any particularly genuine relationship with the audience. The short and sweet conversations between themselves and the audience intermixed with the songs frequently felt scripted; there was the ever corny line “I know I’m not meant to say this, but you are the best audience we’ve had.” This line is one that can be genuine, but it definitely did not have that ring this time around.
On the whole, though, both girls left the night buzzing, enough so that the fish even felt ready to go out and boogie the night away in the Northern Quarter. Little Mix worked like an espresso, giving both a shot of girl power that would last all week.
8/10