Year: 2024

Manchester Venues 122 Deaf Institute – Part 2

Nearby to the Deaf Institute Music Hall on the same side of Grosvenor St is the Footage pub (previously Flax and Firkin) which is a large vibrant pub with craft ales and many TV screens showing the latest sports. Just around the corner is the basement Umami Noodle Bar which has been a regular pre-gig eating stop for over 20 years.

The Footage with the Trof Deaf Institute sign in the background. Image Credit Zomato.com.

My first gig there was on 02/07/09 when I saw Nine Black Alps, a four-piece band from Manchester whose original moniker was The Chelsea Girls. The Alps name was selected from a line in a Sylvia Plath poem. I had picked up on them initially via their belting debut album ‘Everything Is’ which I still play periodically to this day.   

A couple of years later I had to cancel at short notice a trip to my brothers in Nottingham thus missing a Kyuss (forerunners to Queens of the Stone Age) gig. I was kicking my heels and a couple of lads were off to see Killing Joke, so I tagged along, but discovered on arrival at the Academy that their gig was sold out. A variant C approach then evolved by quickly checking that night’s gig listings and identifying an event at the Deaf that I could attend and then meet up after with the boys for the train home.

I struck lucky as the act on that particular night was the Dum Dum Girls whose name derived from a Vaselines album and an Iggy Pop song, thereby displaying their musical influences. Originally it was a solo project for Californian Kristin Gundred who then renamed herself as Dee Dee. After she signed up with legendary label Sub Pop three more girls were added into the band including the drummer Frankie Rose who has also been in Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls and Frankie Rose and the Outs.

Dum Dum Girls. Image Credit Fanpop.

They disbanded in 2016 where Dee Dee then became Kristin Kontrol and her sound morphed more into the synth pop arena. She also around that time provided an excellent atmospheric cover of one of my favourite Jesus and Mary Chain tracks ‘Teenage Lust’. They were enjoyable live with many of the tracks coming off their debut album ‘I Will Be’ and reflecting the geographical location they were playing in, they decided to finish their set with a cover of ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’.  

Next up was one of those ‘right place right time’ moments that only occur very occasionally in one’s gig going journey. During my attendance at the Dot-to-Dot festival in May 2013 I had sighted on the roster an upcoming band I had just become aware of, and at that stage had only released two singles. The band in question who were performing in a teatime slot were Wolf Alice.

The venue filled up just before they landed on stage, and they were stunningly good, and rarely have I seen a young band who had such poise and justifiable confidence in their sound and ability.  At one quiet point between tracks a punter at the bar said in an awed voice ‘outstanding, absolutely outstanding’ which received a shy thankyou from lead singer Ellie Rowsell.  They finished with their superb first single ‘Fluffy’ and it was plainly obvious they were destined for great things including subsequently headlining Glastonbury stages and Mercury Music prizes.

As the set arrived at a tumultuous finale and the band left the high stage Ellie was struggling to step down so I proffered a hand to assist her which she gratefully accepted. Musical royalty was touched in that very instance and I am sure Ellie has not washed her hand since!   

Wolf Alice. Image Credit nylon.com

In October 2013 I went to see White Hills for the first time who are a stoner psychedelic rock band from New York and provided a pleasing slab of white noise. They have had a prolific output since their formation in 2003 and have recorded over fifty releases incorporating an impressive twelve studio albums. In their early days they were championed and supported by Julian Cope and were also cherry picked to appear as a live band in a scene of a 2012 Jim Jarmusch movie ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’.  

There then followed a gap of 4.5 years until my next visit in March 2018. Gill and I headed down with our pal Laura Buckley to see an Icelandic dream synth pop band called Vok, the name translating as a ‘hole in the ice’. They had formed in 2013 and gained some instant recognition by winning Musiktilraunir, an annual Iceland music contest and the year before we saw them, they released their debut album ‘Figure’. 

Manchester Venues 121 to 122 Deaf Institute – Part 1

One of my favourite Manchester venues is the Deaf Institute situated on Grosvenor Street off Oxford Road, almost equidistant between Manchester Oxford Road train station and the Academy venues.

The Deaf has a long history, initially being built in 1877 by a chap called John Lowe (not the darts player!) and the foundation stone laid by local MP Hugh Birtley was engraved and is still in situ. Also still inscribed over the doorway is its original name of Adult Deaf and Dumb Institute. No expense was spared at the time, and the initial build cost a princely sum of £5800. There were annual soirees arranged including the institute performing Romeo and Juliet in sign language in Hulme Town Hall as early as 1900.

Deaf institute entrance. Image Credit Tokyoindustries.com

It served an integral role in the city by helping individuals with speech and hearing difficulties. However, when the Institute moved to new premises in 1975, it resulted in the original site falling into disrepair and it lay unused, abandoned and reputedly ghostly for many years. The next activity was that planning permission was provided in 1987 to convert the building into a wine bar and bistro.

In 2006, the local promoters TROF took ownership and sensitively upgraded the building by utilising its existing grand features, including the stone gothic exterior. It was subsequently reopened in 2008 and was renamed as simply The Deaf Institute.

It is a three-tiered Grade II listed building with high, lavishly decorated rooms. The ground level is the Manchester Deaf Institute Bar which had a seating area which you could visit as a standalone bar. They had food options available, including a Sunday Vegan hangover menu, in this area they also staged DJ sets and periodically bands played there.  

Deaf Institute Bar. Image Credit headbox.com

I have seen three acts in this space, the first on 14/11/16 prior to attending a gig at Trof’s sister venue Gorilla, the performer being an acoustic singer called Rafiq B. The second gig on 05/12/21 was as part of a Record Vinyl collectors event organised by the Charlatans lead singer Tim Burgess, who is a keen advocate and supporter of the Manchester music scene.  

The band undertaking a decent acoustic set that day were Apollo Junction who are an indie band from Leeds. They formed in 2015 and within a couple of years were appearing live in session for the Janice Long show and their music has been used as the soundtrack for Match of the Day. They released their debut album ‘Mystery’ in 2019 and have since released two further albums and even played at the Tan Hill Inn (Britain’s highest pub).

What impressed me most was their engagement and inclusivity with their fans resulting in an avidness and dedication within their fanbase that you don’t witness very often, the last time I sighted that was with Hold Steady and their followers. The other band I saw there were called the Mottleys.   

Apollo Junction. Image Credit radio30org.fr

In 2022 a reorganisation took place, and the ground level area was closed as a working bar area and is now used more as a rehearsal space. The downstairs room was originally an events space that could be hired out for functions and regular club nights called Girls on Film took place there. This area has now been recalibrated into a smaller gig space called the Lodge, a venue I have not yet visited.  

Within the 2008 reopening the upper floor area was converted into the Deaf Institute Music Hall complete with a huge disco ball, parrot patterned wallpaper, raised stage and a small outdoor smoking balcony. There is an upper viewing balcony and there are wooden blocks to perch on at the rear of the venue that are reminiscent of the layout of the University of Central Lancashire’s original venue back in the 1990’s.

It has an intimate capacity of 260 and the likes of Kate Tempest, 1975 and Florence and the Machine have played there. Additionally, Johnny Marr held a residence there in 2011 when he was relaunching his solo career.

I have attended gigs there on 11 occasions, though I did miss one of my favourite bands Sennen playing an early tour date there. In retrospect, that turned out to be a blessing as speaking to them a couple of years later they outlined that it had been a promo event and they had only been allowed to undertake a very late post-midnight short set in front of an unresponsive corporate audience.