Month: April 2023

Manchester Venue 83 – Etihad Stadium

Nearby where we live now in south Manchester is the Fallowfield Loop which is an off-road cycling, walking and horse-riding path. It traverses the eight-mile route from Chorlton Cum Hardy metro station through Fallowfield, Levenshulme, Gorton and ends at the Ashton Canal, and I have cycled it many times. 

It runs down the old ‘Manchester Central Railway’ line which closed in 1988 and the ‘Friends of the Fallowfield Loop’ were instrumental in then converting it into the cycle route you see today. It is believed to be the longest urban cycleway in Britain.

A frosty Fallowfield Loop. Image Credit flickriver.com

During the pandemic, we decided to walk the lengthy route into town because there was quite frankly nothing else to do at that time! When the path reaches the canal, you can take a left turn and a couple of miles later you find yourself at the Etihad Campus, otherwise known as Sportcity. This is part of the continuation of the ongoing development of East Manchester and there is their own distinct metro stop attached to the complex which was opened in 2013.  

Within the same area you find the national cycling velodrome where I have attended a couple of times and seen cycling’s royalty, Laura and Jason Kenny in action and continually marvel at the astonishingly steep banking they have to navigate on the track!

The Campus is owned by Manchester City football club and contains the Manchester Etihad Stadium and City football academy. I have never attended in a football capacity as our paths seldom cross and I once also missed a famous 1-0 Preston North End win at City’s old ground at Maine Road in 1998 due to having a job interview early the next day.       

Adjacent to the complex, there is a current venture jointly run between Manchester City, LA developers, and the singer Harry Styles to build a Co-op Live stadium. This will become the UK’s largest live entertainment arena with a 23.5k capacity and there are plans to have around 120 live events annually staged there.

The project has an eyewatering cost of £365m and is due to open in 2024. Whether there is scope for two huge auditoriums in the city with the Manchester Arena situated about three miles away remains to be seen, or will it subsequently result in them becoming competitors to each other?  

The Etihad Stadium was originally built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the following year Manchester City made their home there and it has played host to a variety of sporting events in the intervening years. The stadium capacity is 53,400 but increases to 60,000 for gigs (by utilising the pitch area) which take place during the summer months. The first concert there was the Red Hot Chilli Peppers supported by James Brown in 2004 and in 2011 Take That played eight nights with tickets sales of over 400k for the duration.  

Manchester Etihad Stadium. Image Credit traveldigg.com

We had previously seen AC/DC twice at Manchester Arena and Glasgow Hampden Park and decided to witness them again in 2016. In between purchasing the tickets and the date of the show the lead singer Brian Johnson had to pull out with the very valid excuse of hearing loss. Remarkably he has since gone through experimental treatment to restore his hearing and is now back performing again.

It was announced that somewhat bizarrely he would be replaced by the Guns and Roses lead singer Axl Rose. Following that news, we hummed and hawed whether to claim a refund but subsequently went past the deadline, so we had no choice but to attend.

On the night Uncle George, John and Paul Dewhurst met in Monroes near Piccadilly Station for a couple of scoops before diving onto the metro. Upon alighting we were met by all the considerable food and amenities surrounding the complex and then headed up to our seats at the back of the stadium. 

Now, Axl Rose has a considerable reputation for being a prickly customer and arriving on stage at very very late hours. Thankfully, on the day he played it with a very straight bat perhaps helped in part by the fact that one of his feet was in plaster due to a recent accident. As a result of Brian’s absence AC/DC were not in the same league as previous performances but admittedly it was not as bad as I feared it could be, and they had some inspirational moments, with ‘Highway to Hell’ being a personal favourite on the night.   

There was one particular blissed out punter directly in front of us who was having the time of his life and danced throughout the whole performance. The metro was packed so we followed the crowds by walking back into the town via the canals in the regenerated area of New Islington.

We were at that point in time in advanced preparation for relocating to Manchester but had already decided on a location in the suburbs and written off moving into the city centre, which could well have been a more viable option for us if we had been twenty years younger!

Gateshead Gigs – Part 2

My first ever foray to Newcastle was in 1987 when my local Preston North End team went on an impressive FA Cup run. Despite being in the bottom division at that stage, we had a famous win at Middlesbrough in the Third round before drawing Newcastle away in the Fourth round. About 6000 fans headed up and I remember a convoy of coaches crossing the impressive Tyne Bridge, but unfortunately we lost the match 2-0.

The Tyne Bridge with the Sage in the background. Image Credit Evening Chronicle.

On Mogwai’s 2023 tour, and almost twelve years to the day from the previous 2011 Gateshead date, Uncle George and I decided to make a return visit. I had already undertaken a double header aural battering in Manchester on the Thursday and the Friday before a day off on the Saturday and then headed up to the Northeast on the Sunday.

Due to train constraints, it was a logistical challenge initially involving my first ever Uber journey. Now, I must say I am somewhat conflicted about Uber’s and the working conditions they abide to, but to salve my conscience somewhat the driver who took me into town stated he preferred his job to his previous role as a Black cab driver, albeit the smallest possible sample size to draw these findings from!

My route incorporated trains from Manchester to Wigan, Wigan to Carlisle, a 45-minute wait and then onto the bone rattler Northern train into ‘Heidi’ territory over the mountain pass into Newcastle, a small matter of over 5 hours since I left home. I simply would not have undertaken this journey for any other band!  

We were staying again at the Quayside and then navigated our way back up the very steep steps to the welcoming Bridge Inn at the apex, where we encountered a fine ale, a roaring fire, and Six Nations on the TV. We then scouted around the corner for a quality pint of Porter in an excellent Taps bar called Split Chimp.

After grabbing some tea in a Turkish restaurant, we headed over the High-Level Bridge to a terrific little bar owned by my pal Gary Moore and his partner. Gary is also a keen muso and a huge Eels fan, he retired a few years ago and bought a pub, which sounds like a fine career change to me!

The venue is called Microbus and is ensconced within the arches on Wellington Street and they have created the bar from the front of a campervan and there is an old bus stop inside and a live-time bus timetable display so you have no excuses as to when to finish off your pint!

Inside the inimitable Gateshead Microbus bar. Image Credit microbus.pub

They have also just been awarded the Tyneside and Northumberland CAMRA’s pub of the year and this is all within the first year of its launch. They do stage music but unfortunately not on the night of my attendance. The site used to be a café back in the 1960’s and the story goes that a chap called Alan Hull was stuck on a bus outside in pea souper smog and allegedly wrote the famous song ‘Fog on the Tyne’ whilst he was sat there.        

A quick five-minute walk brought us to the venue and we swiftly released we were in the larger Gateshead Sage Stage 1, an unexpected bonus new venue. The larger room is apparently modelled on the Musikverein in Vienna and the acoustics were compellingly impressive.

It was my favourite performance of the three as there was room to breathe in comparison to the Friday Manchester gig, a very respectful audience and the venue created a very lush sound.  ‘Summer’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’ were particularly epic.

Post-gig we headed to the Tiger Hornsby and got chatting to a couple of lads from Galashiels who had also attended the gig. We were informed on entry that they would be closing in 20 minutes but then must have taken a likeness to us as they very generously served us for another hour.

Back at the hotel, we watched the Superbowl until they reached half time. The following day, thankfully the trains behaved themselves and I enjoyed total musical silence on the way home to rest my jaded ears!