Lancaster Venues 32 to 34

This week I am returning to the 2025 Lancaster Live Festival. The next place we arrived at was Lancaster Greens on North Road. It has had previous lives as a railway station, motor car showroom, Spavin and Kelly sports and toy store and more latterly the Green Ayre Wetherspoons hostelry. The Green Ayre opened in 2001 and was subsequently flooded by Storm Desmond in 2017.

In 2020 it was converted into its current function as a large sports bar and the owner Keiran McNamara expanded his empire by revamping the unit next door from former DW Sports into a 11-table pool hall. They apparently also have the infernal karaoke on their pub roster.

Greens. Image Credit lancs.live

On our visit there was a band called Mikey T’s Small Town Playboys playing in the centre area of the bar. They hail from the Fylde coast and are also informally known as the Galleonaires, this title deriving from their regular appearances at the renowned blues and funk establishment, the Galleon Bar in Blackpool.  They also perform regularly around the local venues in Lytham and Cleveleys.

We then headed on towards the outermost location of the festival Lancaster Gregson Centre (previously Gregson Institute)which is a five minute walk down Moor Lane beyond Dukes cinema. My pal John Dewhurst inadvertently first discovered this venue when he was overnight parking his car prior to the lads Christmas night out one year.  

The institute was founded in 1889 (coincidentally the year when my team Preston North End became the original Invincibles) as a memorial to Henry Gregson. The Gregson family were the co-founders of the Natural History Museum and are purported to have created the word ‘dinosaur’.

In the early 20th century, it had a church and then a school attached before being bought in 1984 by a charity that now go under the name of Gregson Community Association. It sailed very close to the bankruptcy window in 1990 and also during the covid period, but both times thankfully survived and is now open 11am to 11pm seven days a week.

The volunteers outside Gregson Centre. Image Credit gregson.co.uk

Some considerable fundraising has taken place serving to improve the building and its facilities. They also have several affiliated charity groups that have undertaken activities to restore previously disused local sites such as recreation grounds and gardens, and they also run a cricket club.    

It is now a multi-functional arts and community venue and within their walls there is a café-bar, function room, music venue and a small cinema that is available for hire. I have always had thoughts of hiring the cinema for a small group and maybe showing something like the Mogwai soundtracked ‘Zidane’ but that still currently remains on my ‘to-do list’!  

I had previously visited several times for drinks and once for a hearty roast dinner, but I have never seen live music there. However, an archive check informs that over the years they have had periodic gigs including John Peel faves Bogshed, John Etheridge, Dutch act Guns of Navarone and of course The Wedding Present.

On our visit we consumed a fine beer in the bar before attending the cinema room where the shows were taking place with the Saturday listing being badged as Queer Night, in comparison to the other two been referenced as Band and Jazz Fusion nights respectively. On stage were a local noisy punk two-piece called Murky Buckets who lived up to their byline by playing music that your grandma would describe as a ‘bloody racket’.    

Murky Buckets. Image Credit facebook.com

Outside the plethora of venues that were directly listed in the festival programme, were a few additional fringe events. One such occurrence was at the Lancaster Reform Club on Great John Street. It was originally opened in 1873 and was modelled on the same named venue in Pall Mall in London. The latter establishment was devised on the back of the Great Reform Act in 1832 and was a haven for Radicals and Whigs of their time and evolved into the initial political headquarters of the Liberal Party.

The Lancaster version remains a grand old building, and they had named themselves the Craic Inn for the day and we saw a Scottish lass called Rhuari Campbell performing. I had seen her at a previous edition of the festival playing at Lancaster Storey Gardens.

Manchester Venues 209 to 210

Alongside many other likeminded music fans, I have always had a strong affiliation with records shops from an early age. Everyone will have their own tale of how they obtained the latest vinyl that they desired in their formative years, either via a local or national chain or somewhere broader based like the bargain basket at Woolworths.

In my youthful days in Preston there was Bradys and also House of Records on the upper floor of the indoor market, though the jewel in the crown was always Action Records down on Church Street where I spent my ready cash. The shop initially opened in 1981 and remains to this day under the tireless stewardship of Gordon Gibson.

I would also at this stage like to take the opportunity to pay homage to Gordon’s comrade in arms Allan Atkinson (Big Al) who worked with him all throughout that period. He passed away a couple of years ago, and I remember chatting to him at many local gigs, he was a thoroughly decent chap and a gentle giant.      

Big Al. Image Credit blogpreston.co.uk

In relation to Manchester, I have covered Piccadilly Records in extensive detail in previous blogs so in this article will initially concentrate on Manchester Fopp Records. The Fopp story began with an English geezer called Gordon Montgomery opening a one man market stall in Glasgow in 1981 armed with the commendable ethos of competitive pricing.

The name was derived from a 1975 track by funk band The Ohio Players off their third successive platinum selling album ‘Honey’. The bands influence carried forward sufficiently to be sampled/re-recorded by Salt & Pepper, Snoop Dogg and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.  

Fopp’s stature peaked in 2007 with over 100 UK branches after they took over Music Zone. However, soon after they encountered financial difficulties and went into administration before being taken over by HMV but retaining their name. They later moved under the ownership of Canadian record chain Sunrise Records. There are now only six shops remaining in the UK, though a new one was opened in Nottingham in 2024.

Fopp Records Manchester. Image Credit recordshop.directory

The Manchester branch is located on Brown Street, just off the main Market Street shopping area and opposite the Norfolk House blood donor centre. In August 2019 I randomly visited and headed downstairs to purchase the latest Hold Steady release.

Whilst I was perusing their wares, I heard the unmistakeable sound of an electric guitar going through a sound check process. With my interest now piqued I looked around and noticed for the first time that there was a bit of a gather, and it was instantly obvious that there was a band about to play a promo set.

I rapidly checked their website and was pleased to discover the act literally right in front of my eyes was Murder Capital, who I had heard on 6 music radio the previous evening. They are a five piece post punk combo who had formed in Dublin the year before and were promoting their debut album ‘When I Have Fears’ which was only 4 days old.

They had a mean and moody aura about them which I admired, and they could certainly play but their music was admittedly a tad dour for me. The lead singer edged out of the room as the final song began to fade, presumably to prep for the signing session that took place upstairs. They shortly after headed out on a sold out UK and European tour, so I was fortunate to catch them in such a small setting.  

Manchester HMV first opened its doors on Market Street in the 1980’s where it was wedged between Topshop and Thomas Cook with a C&A branch close by. It later moved to its current location within the Arndale Centre. Like many other record shops, they have periodic live acoustic shows, and I attended one there in June 2024.

HMV in 1981. Image Credit manchestereveningnews.co.uk

After queueing up and obtaining my pre-purchased CD with enclosed ticket included, I headed upstairs to where the makeshift stage was located. The band performing was The Mysterines who I had kept a close eye on ever since their excellent debut album ‘Reeling’.

They are Liverpool based and have a powerful lead singer in Lia Metcalfe, who despite having a sore throat belted out the tunes and I very much enjoyed their abbrievated set. Unfortunately, a couple of months later they at very short notice cancelled their headline European tour and have not been heard from since. Hopefully they will reappear at some future point.