Welcome to Back in Time Lite/Live/RV/Whatever!
Venue address:
"The Avenue"
Greaves Avenue
Failsworth
Manchester
M35 0NA
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Timetable
12 noon (12:00 on the 24 hour clock): entry into the Retrovision area. It's sunlit, and it has games galore, and lots of people to chat to. Hoorah!
5pm (about), that room will be closed, and people will move to the stage area. There
will then be the premiere
8pm (about), the concert will start with MJ Hibbett and the Validators. Then, it will be Mark Knight and "guest" (you know who that is!) performing violin and piano duet. Then, SID80s will take the stage: all seven of them (!). At some point, Jesper, Theo and Martin from PPOT may do a little something!
During one of the intervals, Markie will announce the raffle draw.
11pm (about) the concert will end with little speeches by Chris and Markie, and then
Kenz will put on a nice DVD showreel of C64 game footage and music while everyone chats and buys.
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The SHOP!
On Saturday, the shop will be open while the DVD is premiering, and after the concert,
and will be in the stage area.
On Sunday, the shop will be in the retrovision area for purchases you have yet to make.
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Credit cards:
We can take credit cards, but the payment does have to be validated, so you may not be able to
take your goods right away.
As I write this, we are searching for the plastic bags to allow people to carry their multiple
purchases: depending on how it works out, we'll try and make it so we can store people's purchases.
I don't know how possible this will be given the demands of the venue, and as I write this I don't
know what cloakroom facilities exist. Sorry.
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BIT Live Products on Sale
Back in Time 2 - £4.99 (with special autographable page!)
Back in Time 3 - £4.99
Karma64 - £4.99
Instant Remedy - £4.99
Galway Remixed - £4.99
Signed BIT 2 booklet (signed by many famous people) - £19.99 Crystal Dreamscapes - £1.99 BIT 3 Poster in tube - £1.99 BIT 3 T-shirt that lasts years - £4.99 Remix64 Vol 2 (limited stocks) - £4.99 Remix64 - £4.99 Sidologie - £4.99 Project Galway - £4.99
Newer stuff
Run/Stop Restore - £9.99
Deus Ex Machinae - £9.99
Revival ST - £9.99
It's Binary, Baby - £9.99
Back in Time Live DVD - £19.99 [edit: nothing to see here]
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Preordered the DVD already?
It's perfectly OK to pick it up at the event (hopefully they'll all be signed by 5pm!), but make sure we write your name down that you've got it. And when you get home, remind me again
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Hey Hey 16K Merchandise
Make sure you bring some spare cash for MJ Hibbett's CDs and the brand spanking new Hey Hey 16K T-Shirt (premiering at this event!!). Their songs are joyful and nice (and you get to listen to them before purchase). Don't forget to get them signed!
The Hey Hey 16K material will only be available on Saturday, whereas the C64Audio.com stuff will be available all weekend.
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Kenz merchandise
As per usual, Kenz will also be after your hard earned cash, but look out for a special showing of Emily Booth in "Inferno", the thrilling 20 minute CG-fest. Rare copies will be available
(it was never released on video or DVD). He will also be bringing other nice stuff that's well worth
your attention.
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Raffle: there will be a raffle. Bring pound coins
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Amenities
The venue will be selling food and drink throughout the day, mostly of the sandwich and
snack variety, but I've tried to persuade them to offer pizza as well
Should this not be to your liking, there is a Morrisons within five minutes walk offering a cafe, and five cash machines. Please don't bring food or drink into the venue though: they're giving us a really good deal on the hire and they need the food and drink money to justify being that nice to us.
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Size of venue
It's quite big. The main stage area can comfortably hold 300 people sans-stage, so even with the big stage and trimmings, you're looking at an atmospheric but not crowded experience.
The Retrovision area is smaller, but then, so will be the crowd in it. It can still fit 150-200 people, according to the latest research.
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Transport (from Waz Pilkington)
viewtopic.php?t=2871
Travelling into Manchester:
* If coming by train, Manchester has three main train stations:
Piccadilly, Oxford Road and Victoria.
Those of you coming from the South will most likely end up at Piccadilly station.
Outside the old station entrance, there is a City Link bus number 1 (signposted within the station) which is free,
and lets you get around the city to your hotel or any other accommodation.
If ending up at Victoria or Oxford Road, there's a City Link bus number 2 (also free)
which will get you to most places within the City Centre.
* If coming by coach, the main coach station is Chorlton Street bus station, which is very central to the city.
* If coming by plane, Manchester has three terminals. All of these are linked by a long travelator escalator
which takes you between them. Most European flights go from Terminal 1 (with some also from 3). If arriving
in any terminal, follow the signs for "The Station". This will take you to the bus and train station.
Here you have a choice: you can either get a train to Manchester Piccadilly (most of them go beyond there,
but they'll have Manchester Piccadilly as a scheduled stop) or from the bus station you can take the 43 or 105 buses,
which will drop you in Piccadilly bus station, opposite Piccadilly Gardens. You'll actually go down Portland Street
on the bus so you might see the Ibis or Premier Lodge you might be staying at..
Also, the 43 takes you through Manchester's Curry Mile, so you could always stop there for a bite to eat on the way, hehe.
* If you're staying within Manchester, quite a few of the hotels are located on Portland Street and near St Peter's
Square. This is walking distance from Piccadilly - just follow the signs for the City Link bus and walk out of the
old station entrance down the hill. Keep going along the road until you reach Piccadilly Gardens. Portland Street is
on your left, and you can go down there to the end and turn right at McDonalds on Oxford Street to get to St Peter's
Square. If you arrive at Victoria, get the 2 bus to Oxford Road station - then from there, walk down the hill,
turn left past the Palace Theatre and you'll see McDonalds on the left. Turn right for Portland Street or straight
on for St Peter's Square. If arriving at Chorlton Street coach station, come out of the station and turn left,
the main road ahead of you is Portland Street.
Travelling Around Manchester:
Since the buses were deregulated in 1986, the buses are run by many companies, but since the mid 1990s two dominate:
First Manchester for most North Manchester services, including the 82 and 83 buses to BITLite, and Stagecoach
Manchester, who do most of South Manchester.
You can get a ticket which is valid for all buses, just ask any driver for an all day ticket for all buses.
This costs £3, but with one caveat: you can only use it until Midnight! Hence if you're heading back into
Manchester on the Saturday night, make sure you either leave before then or simply pay single fares each way:
night services cost extra up to a maximum of £2.50. First Manchester also do an all day ticket for their
buses only (called FirstDay) but it's £2.80.
Getting to the venue from Manchester Piccadilly is easy enough: on the other side of Piccadilly Gardens
from the main bus station is Oldham Street. (hint: go down there to Vinyl Exchange and much CD bargains!).
The second stop on Oldham Street is where you can get the 82, 83, 180 and 184 from (stop A). Or you can
head to Lever Street and use stop F for the 24, 181, 182 buses which also take you there - also note if
you're stopping at the Oldham Broadway Travelodge, you need to get the bus to the hotel and to/from the
venue. Remember to get off at the last stop marked as Oldham Road/Broadway if coming from Manchester (ask the driver)
There's probably more I should cover, so sorry if I missed anything.
Over and out! And see you tomorrow at noon!
Chris
