Picnic Area
@picnicarea.bsky.social
Manchester based alt country/ powerpop band. Picnic Area are: Stephen Braithwaite (drums), Andy Callen (guitars, vocals), Matt Crawford (bass), Wayne McDonald (vocals, guitars).
Great gigs for the Picnics coming up this summer: picnicareamusic.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/g...
Gigs 2025
Fundraiser for the Together Trust, The Albert Club, 39-41 Old Lansdowne Road, West Didsbury M20 2PA, Saturday 14th June 2025. The Together Trust provides support for disabled and autistic kids. Thi…
picnicareamusic.wordpress.com
May 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Great gigs for the Picnics coming up this summer: picnicareamusic.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/g...
New version of this 1986 composition by Andy: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Stream "Albert Finney says" by Andy Callen and the Cagoules by Andy Callen | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
Song I wrote in 1986, a live favourite for my bands The Cynics, Smashing Time, and early My Cat Dances.
LYRICS
Just like The Searchers I've been sailing on a sea of heartbreak
Waking up to worktime, I
soundcloud.com
March 29, 2025 at 11:35 AM
New version of this 1986 composition by Andy: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Just a few days until the next Picnic Club! Adm free, please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can as it's a WeShallOvercome event.
March 29, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Just a few days until the next Picnic Club! Adm free, please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can as it's a WeShallOvercome event.
New version of one of Andy's old songs, co-written with Patrul Devlin. soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Stream "Travelling underground" by Andy Callen and the Cagoules by Andy Callen | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
New version of one of my oldest songs, written in 1978, lyrics by Patrul Devlin, music by me. A former live staple of Avant Garde, Croydon based new wave band.
LYRICS:
I descend into the underground
soundcloud.com
February 23, 2025 at 5:26 PM
New version of one of Andy's old songs, co-written with Patrul Devlin. soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Beautiful new composition from Wayne: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCU...
Picnic Area. The Kinski Method.
YouTube video by wayne mc donald
www.youtube.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Beautiful new composition from Wayne: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCU...
A totally new Andy Callen song, co-written with Jeremy Stokes: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Stream "Banstead" by Andy Callen and the Cagoules by Andy Callen | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
A new (2024) composition! Lyrics by Jeremy Stokes, music by me.
LYRICS:
Verse 1
Never guess what I saw
When I walked down the street
Broken bottles on the floor
And a dead parakeet
Glass strewn around
soundcloud.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM
A totally new Andy Callen song, co-written with Jeremy Stokes: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Just over a week to go, great lineup, it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event so please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can.
January 28, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Just over a week to go, great lineup, it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event so please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can.
A re-recording of one of Andy's 1980s compositions: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Stream "Office Romeos" by Andy Callen and the Cagoules by Andy Callen | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
Another home recording, this time of a mid-80s composition that I used to play with The Cynics, Smashing Time, and early lineups of My Cat Dances.
LYRICS:
I don't know what's going on
But I know it's
soundcloud.com
January 26, 2025 at 1:58 PM
A re-recording of one of Andy's 1980s compositions: soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Wayne's latest is a tongue in cheek tribute to one of Manchester music's most controversial figures: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-37a...
Picnic Area. Heaven knows I'm Morrissey now.
YouTube video by wayne mc donald
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Wayne's latest is a tongue in cheek tribute to one of Manchester music's most controversial figures: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-37a...
Our first Picnic Club of 2025, on 5th February, has an unbeatable lineup of acts: The Blazing Snowmen, From The Annexe, Kev Shutt and of course Picnic Area. Adm free, but please bring grocery donations if you can for the Levenshulme and Burnage Foodbanks as it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event.
January 4, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Our first Picnic Club of 2025, on 5th February, has an unbeatable lineup of acts: The Blazing Snowmen, From The Annexe, Kev Shutt and of course Picnic Area. Adm free, but please bring grocery donations if you can for the Levenshulme and Burnage Foodbanks as it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event.
Lots of great gigs coming up in 2025, and this is just the start: picnicareamusic.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/g...
Gigs 2025
Picnic Club at Station South, 975-977 Stockport Road, Levenshulme M19 3NP, on Wednesday 5th February 2025. Long-running acoustic/ Americana showcase, now at its new location in Levenshulme, 7.30pm,…
picnicareamusic.wordpress.com
December 31, 2024 at 5:04 PM
Lots of great gigs coming up in 2025, and this is just the start: picnicareamusic.wordpress.com/2019/12/21/g...
Just a week to go until our next Picnic Club, at our new venue in Levenshulme, featuring The Reedcutters, Picnic Area and Rog Hildreth (from the Vanity Pages). Adm free, please bring groceries for the local foodbanks if you can as it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event.
November 27, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Just a week to go until our next Picnic Club, at our new venue in Levenshulme, featuring The Reedcutters, Picnic Area and Rog Hildreth (from the Vanity Pages). Adm free, please bring groceries for the local foodbanks if you can as it's a WE SHALL OVERCOME event.
Andy is gradually putting together an album's worth of home recordings of mainly powerpop flavoured songs from a back catalogue of 46(!) years of songwriting. This is the first recording:
soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Stream "Going nowhere" by Andy Callen and the Cagoules by Andy Callen | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
Home recording on a Boss BR 80. I wrote the song in 1981 and performed it live during the 80s with the bands Avant Garde and The Cynics.
LYRICS:
You're trying hard to break out from your crowd
Cos you
soundcloud.com
November 26, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Andy is gradually putting together an album's worth of home recordings of mainly powerpop flavoured songs from a back catalogue of 46(!) years of songwriting. This is the first recording:
soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
soundcloud.com/andy-callen/...
Picnic Area's lead vocalist Wayne McDonald is an incredibly prolific songwriter and producer of videos, here is his tribute to a Manchester "legend": www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EGG...
Picnic Area. Mark E Smith and me.
YouTube video by wayne mc donald
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2024 at 7:57 PM
Picnic Area's lead vocalist Wayne McDonald is an incredibly prolific songwriter and producer of videos, here is his tribute to a Manchester "legend": www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EGG...
Our next gig at Station South, Levenshulme, adm free but please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can!
November 17, 2024 at 1:17 PM
Our next gig at Station South, Levenshulme, adm free but please bring groceries for local foodbanks if you can!