Author: jimmyc1968

Bolton Venues 2 to 7

This week I am concluding the tale of my attendance at the muti-venue Right to Roam festival in Bolton town centre in July 2023. Outside of a side door of the Market Hall brings you to the outdoor Bolton Patio Stage containing its own bar area. Initially we saw Minatore, a stoner duo from Nottingham comprised only of drums and guitar but that did not stop them making a mighty din with their Black Sabbath riffs.

Next up was The Empty Page, a punky band from Manchester who have just released their second album ‘Imploding’ which was recorded at Eve Studios in Stockport. The final act was Dirty Blonde, a Manchester female duo whose grungy sound channelled early Blondie and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I thoroughly enjoyed their set.  

The Bolton Main Stage was located on the Victoria Square outside the Town Hall, the square being one of the first parts of town to be pedestrianised and they hold an annual Buskers Ball there. It was an area suitable for a large capacity but unfortunately was sparsely attended especially just before A Certain Ratio’s headline set as we noted when walking past later heading back to the station. We caught the Katie West Band performing on the stage, Katie undertook her apprenticeship playing wash tub bass and piano in New Orlean’s French Quarter, then was in a duo called Truckstop Honeymoon before creating her current combo.

Right to Roam. dekyas.com

The intermittent monsoon conditions were a challenge all day, especially when sallying over to the outermost point of the festival, Bolton Northern Monk Brewery. On an outdoor pop-up stage an act called Helle were performing and in a coincidental nod to the brewery’s home in Leeds, the noisy four-piece punk band were also from the same Yorkshire city.

The weather was quite frankly awful by this point, and I had oodles of sympathy for the band on stage in those conditions as most punters were sheltering in or as near as possible to the covered brewery room.

The next venue was Bolton Octagon Theatre. The Octagon was opened in 1967 and the concept of the first flexible professional theatre in the UK was initially the brainchild of five students and their college lecturer Robin Pemberton-Billing.  This included facets of design, music, dance, film, repertory theatre, schools, education and daytime availability.

The Octagon Theatre. Image Credit uk.sports.yahoo.com

It was paid for by a combination of a large public fundraising appeal and a couple of council grants. Since it opened, around 3.5m people have passed through the doors and luminaries such as Danny Boyle and Maxine Peake learnt their trade there. 

We headed up to the small theatre room and the band on stage were called Percy who were formed in York in 1996. They still have two remaining founding members of Colin Howard and Andy Wiles and they also employed ex-Housemartin Hugh Whitaker on drums between 1997 and 2004. They provided some quirky intriguing post-punk and have just released their latest album ‘New Phase’.

Being a Northern lad and following strictly the Lancashire Hotpots advice, a chippy tea is a requisite requirement now and then and we satisfied that craving with a nosh fest at the award-winning Bolton Olympus Fish and Chips Restaurant. Whilst hoovering up my mushy peas, we were treated to a soothing set from the house pianist.

2023 Right to Roam bill. Image Credit righttoroambolton.com

The final venue on the roster was the rock pub Bolton Alma Inn situated on Bradshawgate which is over 170 years old. In 1979, the building was purchased by Burtonwood brewery who then bought out the fine arts shops next door to extend the pub. A large fireplace and range was discovered during this refurbishment which subsequently provided the site with Grade 2 listed status. They have live music on every weekend and Caliban and Raging Speedhorn have played there.

We caught up with the other chaps in attendance who were ensconced in the south facing beer garden where the stage was positioned. First up was local noiseniks Bandit followed by some self-styled ‘cosmic punk’ from Londoners Waco who have garnered support slots with Slaves, Anti-Flag and Juliette Lewis & The Licks.

The final and standout band was Riskee and the Ridicule, who are a vibrant inclusive grime punk band from Kent. They have been in existence since 2011 and recently released their fourth album ‘Platinum Statue’ and are finally receiving some overdue attention. There was a logistical challenge for us as we returned to the Alma from another venue just before their set and could not gain access as it was packed to the rafters. However, there was a novel alternative as we could watch them through a fence at the side of the venue, and thankfully the rains stayed away for the duration of their set.   

Manchester Venues 133 to 134

The Manchester Retro Bar is located on Sackville Street, at the other end of Charles St from the Joshua Brooks pub and Factory 251 venue. It is situated underneath the train line at the mid-point between Oxford Road and Piccadilly. It is actually listed under the auspices of Manchester University as it resides in their North Campus area which houses the school of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. It is close by Vimto Gardens where the unusually large Vimto bottle and associated fruit is housed, which can clearly be seen when scooting past on the train.   

Vimto Gardens. Image Credit mikkitiamo.com

It was originally called the Swinging Sporran, which was an archetypal biker’s rock bar. Due to its proximity, UMIST students also frequented, and it was the site of very early sets by the Chemical Brothers, who at the time were called the Dust Brothers. The Retro Bar has a modernist vibe and would not feasibly look out of place within a 1990’s housing estate as it is essentially a pub built into a car park!  Gill and I stayed once at the hotel next door, now called Pendulum, in the days of affordable hotels in Manchester before they skyrocketed to the London prices now in place. 

The Retro has a bar area at the ground level where they once filmed a concert scene in the Cold Feet TV series when John Thomson played drums for his son’s band. Downstairs is a 120 capacity club and live music venue which hosts regular shows. The Retro Bar closed for a spell in 2017 but was subsequently reopened later that year under the name of Hive. Perhaps living up to its original name I did discover that in the last couple of years Tiffany and Spear of Destiny’s 40th anniversary tour took place there with Kingmaker scheduled for September.  

Retro Bar. Image Credit trustinns.co.uk

I had walked past the venue many times and noticed there was a live band scheduled to play on 28/02/13 when I was in town. Thus, after a Joy Formidable show at the Ritz I dragged Uncle George along to grab the opportunity to pay a visit prior to heading up to Piccadilly for the last train. The act that night was a local combo called Paper Tigers.  

My second and only other visit was as the first venue of the Dot-to-Dot multi venue wristband event on 24/05/19. The act that afternoon was a 3-piece from Cheadle called Elephant and the Rider. They had an indie angular sound and had only issued a couple of EPs at that stage. They have just recently released a couple of further singles which are starting to garner some radio airplay and interest from BBC Introducing.

If you travel further down Sackville Street across Whitworth St West, you reach Manchester Tribeca located in the area of that name which skirts both Chinatown and the Gay Village much as it does in the original incarnation in New York. The literal translation of Tribeca is Triangle below Canal. This was our second location of the same Dot to Dot event referred above.

In a continuation of the attempted New York replication, the bar is multi-tiered with a mezzanine area by the entrance with comfy sofas then onto a raised area by the bar. Downstairs, in a bizarre twist you will find a lounge bar with real beds, appropriately named B.E.D! They also have additional spaces called Blue Lounge and Purple Lounge and there are regular DJ sets at the weekend running into the wee small hours.

Tribeca Bar. Image Credit licklist.co.uk

When we visited, we grabbed a stop in the upper bar with a view down to the makeshift stage which was located in front of the huge bay windows with the afternoon sun filtering through, it created a bonny vista.

There was a decent local singer/songwriter called James Holt playing. He had a challenging start to his life as he was diagnosed with bilateral moderate to severe hearing loss at the age of four. However, he didn’t let this define him by subsequently graduating with a first-class honour’s degree and MA in Music Composition at the University and Salford and then launching a musical career. He has recorded at Abbey Road Studios and has been cited as ‘fresh and exciting to listen to’ by the producer Brian Eno.