Category: Bolton

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.   

Bolton Venue 1 – Bar Four in the Vaults

Bolton is a former textile mill town in Greater Manchester and in its industrial peak in the 1920’s there were over 200 cotton mills in the area employing 36,000 workers people making it one of the most concentrated cotton spinning centres in the world. The northern side of town faces Rivington Pike and the locally famous Winter Hill TV mast on the West Pennine Moors. Famous ex-punters include comedian Peter Kay, steeplejack Fred Dibnah and boxer Amir Khan.  They also have a baseball team based there with the memorable moniker of Robots of Doom.

Bolton Robots of Doom emblem. Image Credit news.ltn.com.tw

My first forays into Bolton were on football trips and in fact the first ever away game I attended on my own following Preston was at their old ground of Burnden Park with the terraces adjacent to Normid superstore! A group of us went over on the train, we drew 2-2 and the game took place on 17th December 1983.

The significance of that date is contained in the tale that when I was walking back to the station and put my transistor radio on (pre-internet!) to check the football scores I was instantly approached by two policeman. The reason for their interest was for any details of the news headlines, but I had only picked up on the sports results so could not provide any information. It transpired the only news headline that day was of the IRA Harrods bombing in London.       

Many football trips followed including a couple at their new stadium at Horwich retail park when they relocated there in 1997. A particular nadir was in May 1993 when Bolton beat us 1-0 to gain promotion and that result also relegated us, a particularly fun afternoon that one!  

The old away end at Burnden Park, at least you could do some shopping after! Image Credit Fine Art America.

I recall in the mid 1990’s I had a prang in my motor which necessitated obtaining a new bonnet. The sourcing of that particular car part took me to an anonymous retail park under railway sidings in Bolton. The suspicious looking geezers and location was akin to completing a deal outside a lock-up in the Sweeney!

Aside from the above occurrences it is a place I have rarely frequented despite it being a 30-minute train ride from Preston as we would normally just pass through on the way to Manchester, I only have recollection of one pub trip over that way.

On a musical front, there have never been any venues of note there apart from a brief period in 2009 when a venue called the Soundhouse opened with a 650 capacity. I picked up that Glasvegas were playing there but dawdled on tickets and it subsequently sold out on me. Shortly after that gig the venue abruptly closed for good.  

However, the musical gods decided to give Bolton a second chance with the inception of the Right to Roam festival, a metropolitan multi venue music and arts event around the town centre. Jez Catlow flagged it to me as an event of interest after he attended the 2022 version. The tickets were only £10 and there were over 100 bands performing over two days, though not altogether sure how the organisers break even.

Marcus, Anita and I decided to head over to catch up with Jez’s crew on the Saturday of the July 23 shindig. The trip started surreally as at my local train station there was a pillock who instead of taking the standard route via the main road between platforms decided to hop across the actual track. I don’t whether there is a third ‘live’ rail on my route, but if so, he avoided it!

The ticket pick up point was in the basement of the Grade II listed Market Hall which opened in 1855 and encompasses an area of 7000 square yards and at the time it was cited as ‘the largest covered market in the kingdom’.

Bolton Market Hall. Image Credit flickr.com

Next door was Bolton Bar Four in the Vaults which opened its doors in 2022 and championed music and young upcoming acts in an intimate setting. First up there was the former Hacienda glass collector and Inspiral Carpets frontman Tom Hingley with an acoustic set. Later, we saw Double Cross who were an acoustic harmonica and guitar duo.  

I have just read that the bar is closing as they are a making a loss and the business will be moving into the new market food hall where they hope to maintain the music slant with open mic nights at weekends. The owners will continue to run their other music sites, the Ramp and the Loft, both in nearby Horwich.