Big pay-day for Kay & CiN as Tour extends to 20 days at the M.E.N Arena
The Tour that doesn't Tour Tour, which was originally set for four dates at the venue has now been extended to a massive Twenty shows, which will no doubt make it a bumper pay for the performer as well as Children in Need. Kay announced last night on the BBC charity show that £1 from every piece of merchandise sold at his shows will go to CiN, as well as all the proceeds from the two years in the making official Children in Need single & video he was also involved in.
Here are the dates announced so far...
APRIL: 27th, 28th, 29th & 30th
MAY: 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st & 22nd.
Tickets are available on the Ticketmaster website.
Kay sets up 4 date residence at M.E.N Arena
Peter Kay has announced that he is to perform four dates as part of a residency at the M.E.N. Arena in April next year. It's the Bolton comic's return to stand-up after a seven year absence after last playing the Arena with his final date of his "My Mum wants a Bungalow" tour in back in 2003.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Saturday 21st November) at 11am for the four shows taking place on April 27, 28, 29 and 30. If his last run of shows are anything to go by, they are almost definitely going to be snapped up in record time. It has been rumored that he might be playing as many as ten shows which would take him right through to May. Even the websites www.peterkay.co.uk and www.men-arena.com went down for a period of time today due to people wanting tickets before they were available!
It was revealed in an interview with the Manchester Evening News earlier today that these residency shows have been almost a year in the making as the idea was that of the General Manager of the M.E.N. Arena, John Knight. In the Manchester Evening News, John is quoted as saying: "This is a groundbreaking deal in the industry. I first suggested to Peter over a year ago that when he was ready to perform live again he should simply take over this Arena for a run instead of trekking round the country every night. It means that SMG, the operators of the Arena, are promoting the shows directly with Peter. We are working closely together on all aspects of the event - plus he gets to sleep in his own bed every night!"
There is no doubt that fans from all over the UK will swarm to Manchester which will also be seen as a massive economic boost for the City.
So, wanna chance of seeing the man in action? Tickets cost £35 so you'd best get yourselves to the Ticketmaster website from 11am or call the M.E.N Arena directly on 0844 847 8000. If more dates are announced, we will let you know as soon as humanly possible.
UPDATE: As predicted, he has added 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th May to his list of dates. Tickets are selling quickly on the Ticketmaster website.
LOL! Manchester profiles... XS Malarkey
XS Malarkey
@ Remedy, Wilmslow Road (next to Sainsburys), Fallowfield, M14 6XS
www.xsmalarkey.com
In 1997, a young chap by the name of Toby Hadoke began a small comedy club in Fallowfield called Murphys Malarkey at Scruffy Murphys (now a Scream Bar known as the Cheshire Cat). Each week he would book and host this night with little known comedians with names like Peter Kay and Dave Spikey. Time was up for the night at Scruffy Murphys, thus Toby seeked another venue and found Malarkey an new home just up the road at Bar XS (Now Remedy in September 2001, where the headline acts on that night were Toby Foster and Jimmy Carr. The night was truly a turning point as Toby Foster took the audience out of the old venue and marched them down to the new one. From there, things only got better - the club has won Best Comedy Club (North) four times at The Chortle Awards, and Best Comedy Club twice at The North West Comedy Awards. Toby Hadoke also won 'Best Off-Stage Contribution' at the 2008 Chortle Awards.
XS Malarkey takes place every Tuesday at Bar Remedy on Wilmslow Road, next to Sainburys in Fallowfield. However, they are running a series of gigs under the F. O.F.F banner, the Festival Of Funny February. See their website for all special one off shows this month.
