Category: Manchester

Manchester Venues 226 to 227 – Aviva Studios

In an earlier blog (Manchester Venue 113) I referenced the Aviva Studios and how it was directly affiliated with the Manchester International Festival square which was located alongside the building. Thus, I will not repeat myself here, but it is worth noting that after a scratchy start including seating number confusion, the Studios have now gone from strength to strength with many more gigs now taking place there.  

The surrounding area has also developed with the introduction of restaurants like Felix and Caravan and bars including Courts Club, Trading Route and The Stables. Also in that vicinity is an indoor golf centre called Pitch, Crystal Maze and Chaos Karts. There is an outdoor bar area designed for summer days with big screens recently showing Wimbledon and the football World Cup.

When I was chatting to Barry Jury one time he referenced that one of his scheduled upcoming gigs was at Manchester Aviva Studios Auditorium, so I tagged along to make my debut at the 1600 seating capacity venue. Thus, on a summers evening in June 2024 we met initially for a parlay and a couple of scoops in the large Dukes 92 beer garden, where his pal Lavin also joined us. As I had only booked a ticket at a later stage than the chaps, they were in the small standing area while I was located up in the gods.

Aviva Studios Auditorium. Image Credit factoryinternational.org

My first impression of the venue was that it reminded me of the huge Odeon cinema I used to visit when I was a young sprog. I reminisced about the Saturday morning showings I attended, including watching the original Raiders of the Lost Ark and later I was also there for a double bill of Chariots of Fire and Gregory’s Girl.

There used to be highly amateurish advertising with Pearl and Dean, a company involved in the cinema business since 1953 and their distinctive theme tune which is called ‘Asteroid’. I recall a crackly staccato encouragement to visit the local curry house after the screening! There were also intermissions mid-film where a hostess would sell you ice cream or cornetto’s.

The adjoining Odeon 2 was much smaller like the ciniplex auditoriums you see nowadays and if you needed a comfort break you would have scamper past in front of the screen! Also in that complex was the Clouds nightclub where I attended early gigs by Jesus and Mary Chain and Stone Roses. Sadly, the old cinema burned down in May 2022 and there is now talk of a car park to be built in its space.  

When the blockbusters were released, Star Wars and ET spring to mind, there were regularly ginormous queues around the corner, and we were turned away a couple of times. Our parents then decided to utilise the smaller but more accessible cinema in Longridge with their settees at the back.

Back at Aviva, I grabbed a cold beverage at the ground floor bar and as I entered the door at my level, the lights went down and as a result I stumbled in the darkness on one of the steps but did not spill a drop of my beer! I heard a punter say that bloke nearly fell over, and I muttered under my breath ‘yes, I am the entertainment’. I found my very comfy seat with a cracking view of the stage.

Bat for Lashes. Image Credit snackmag.co.uk

The artist was Bat for Lashes (Natasha Khan) who is a singer/songwriter and has released six albums in total. Her family has the sport of squash in their DNA as her father, grandfather and uncle were professional players. The latter referenced Jahangir Khan is widely regarded as the finest player ever and between 1981 and 1986 he won 555 consecutive matches, a run which is recognised by Guiness World Records as the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sport. A young Natasha attended many matches and has cited the experience and the roars of the crowd as a creative influence.   

She was a self-taught piano player by the age of eleven and her debut album ‘Fur and Gold’ in 2006 turned into a golden one and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize resulting subsequently in support slots for Radiohead. She has also dabbled as a fashion designer. She had a terrific voice but was perhaps a bit too chilled for my tastes. I met back up with the chaps for a post gig debrief in the Deansgate pub before heading home.

In the summer of 2025, my pal Lottie invited Gill and I to join her at a gig she was already attending at the other venue in the complex, Manchester Aviva Warehouse, so two tickets were duly purchased.The Warehouse has a 5000-standing capacity within a 21m high space and can be divided if required by a movable full height acoustic wall. 

Last Dinner Party. Image Credit cultura.id

I had considered a Fontaines DC gig there previously, but my slow ruminations resulted in me missing out on a ticket. By the night of the gig, Lottie and Gill could not attend so it was a solo trip, and I decided to drive which is an astoundingly rare occurrence for myself. The car parks in the city centre were highly expensive, and I found one eventually on Bridge Street.

The venue reminded of a slightly larger G-Mex space and the band performing was the Last Dinner Party who are an all-female five piece. They had managed to purloin a Hyde Park Rolling Stones support slot early in their career and on this tour were promoting their second album ‘From the Pyre’. They had a commendable socially conscious ethos, and they were also good fun live.

Manchester Venues 223 to 225

Included in one of many tributaries weaving off from Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter is Lever Street where you would find the Manchester Faraday. Back in 2012, a company called Bakerie opened what was badged as a bread and wine bar in that building. They apparently had a plethora of different vinos available, numbering over ninety, and staged occasional live music and made an instant enough impact on the local scene to be awarded the Manchester Food & Drink Festival best newcomer prize for 2012.

Their cellar bar area contained a novel wine jukebox, now I don’t how that device operated but notwithstanding that it still sounds like an intriguing premise to me! They had a small shop nearby where they sold bread and wine which punters could take away and the owners at the time also owned ran three other NQ sites, namely Dough, Apotheca and Pie & Ale.

That particular venture finally closed its doors in March 2018 and was rapidly taken over by a Scandinavian bar and restaurant called Fika, but they only had a short lived seven month residency. They were then followed for a 6 year period by a games bar called 7 Sins before the current owners moved in there in 2025.

Faraday pub. Image Credit Unknown.

The Faraday has maintained some historical precedent by having an active games presence in the upstairs area with shuffleboard tables, interactive darts and pool tables. I happened to be skulking past one rainy night (not in Soho!), as you do, and I was enticed into the establishment by the sound of live music emanating out from the door. I slid past the bouncers and avoided being allocated to a table and grabbed a perch on the edge of the bar.  

My first impression was favourable as the ground floor area was kitted out in a traditional British pub style with vintage pub mirrors, wonky bar stools, leather seating and the archetypal wood panelled walls. On a small stage at the end of the large room, I saw a local singer called Alvin performing.

A couple of hundred yards away on Hilton Street you will find a bar called Manchester To Be Frank. They opened in October 25 and then subsequently decided to relaunch in April 26 by adopting an Irish slant and the moniker was changed accordingly to ‘To Be Sure’! This revised version of the bar boasts that they apparently have the largest whiskey selection in the Northwest.  

To Be Frank bar. Image Credit www.manchestersfinest.com

The previous tenant there was a Melbourne inspired bar called Another Heart to Feed which was initiated in 2017 becoming the second branch of the chain alongside their original premises in West Didsbury.  

The closing time of ‘To Be Sure’ is 2am every weekday night and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. Also, on the weekends they stage live music on the ground floor with a DJ spinning vinyl in the basement. My one visit thus far was when returning from another gig and I saw a chap called Dennis playing.

Hilton Street initially commences from Spear Street, which runs through the centre of Stevenson Square, and then it proceeds as one of the three main thoroughfares across the Northern Quarter. You pass the Nancy Spains and the Affleck & Brown hostelries which sit on respective sides of Oldham Street before crossing Tib Street (named after the underground River Tib).

At this stage the name changes to Manchester Thomas Street and on the right is Evuna NQ restaurant, which is in my humble view the finest tapas restaurant in the city centre.  About five doors down from there is the renowned Millstone public house which is always highly busy with a marginal musical angle as there appears to be an all-day karaoke permanently ongoing.

The Millstone. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com

Now, when I say renowned that is patently not a recommendation, as my personal ‘renown’ with this hostelry is that I remain convinced to this day that our gig party had our drinks spiked there prior to my debut Mogwai show at the Roadhouse in 1998. Additionally in a homage to our new prime minister the pub recently changed the sign on the door to say ’10 of the North’!

A few months ago, I happened to be walking by and there was a pop-up stage directly opposite the pub where a combo called The Zumba Band were performing. Further bars are then encountered until the street terminates when it reaches the Shudehill Interchange. In December 2023 in a very unexpected turn of events the street was chosen to be the location for the catwalk for the Metier d’Arts 2023-2024 fashion show, resulting in undoubtedly bemused ‘A-listers’ mulching up and down the road!  

A postscript this week is that within this article I have proceeded to roll past 250k (a quarter of a million) words in total. The actual landmark word this time is ‘party’ which is one I can live with and fight for the right for!