Category: Manchester

Manchester Venues 40 to 43

Back in the 1980’s the only available train from Preston to Manchester was an once an hour service into Manchester Victoria Station and the last train home was at the rather useless hour of 10.30pm, in those days the band may not even have hit the stage as gigs had much later start times. Any track into Victoria also always appeared to be a Northern all stopper exploring the delights of Lostock, Blackrod and Adlington on its journey over.

The station was designed by George Stephenson and built in 1844 and now caters for around 10m customers per annum. It also contains a central hub of the metro system and I have caught a few trams home from there. It has an ageing grandeur within, and one interesting fact is that I had my best ever Hot Chocolate from one of the kiosks here prior to a last train.

I once slept in a waiting room on the platform following my first Husker Du gig at Manchester International in 1985 on a cold Friday night before catching the first train at 6am on the Saturday morning. Much like Piccadilly Station the Preston trains annoyingly departed from the furthermost point from the entrance which is the full length of the station and to add insult to injury you then need to head up and over some steps to reach the platform. I have witnessed many punters whilst sat on the last train doing a comedy slowing down run when they realise the chase is futile, I have also on a couple of occasions been one of those punters!

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Manchester Victoria Station pre refurbishment with a high speed engine on the track. Image Credit Geograph Britain and Ireland.

Victoria is located adjacent to the MEN arena from which you can exit directly onto the station. On the 03/11/17 whilst waiting to meet Gill I witnessed the King Division Brass Band playing on the concourse.

Not being a natural shopper, I tend to skirt around Market Street in the centre but traversing home one evening just after we moved to Manchester on 20/09/17, I was distracted by a full set up called Marley Band playing some reggae/dub sounds on the sidewalk opposite Skechers.  

Within the sanitised environs of the Arndale Centre nearby in April 18 I witnessed a huge roving combo containing a plethora of drummers called Sergeant Pepper Band who produced bizarre Beatles covers.

Now, the purists out there may scoff at the three venues outlined thus far and I admit they are a smidge tenuous but in the spirit of fair debate I would refer you back to my previous Definition of a Gig and a Venue blog article as evidence for the defence!   

However, I will finish this week with an undisputable venue. This one perhaps best portrays my dedication (nee fixation) in sourcing new venues. Thus, upon leaving the Ritz on 25/03/14 after an early set by Band of Skulls me and Uncle George jumped into a cab to locate the Eagle Inn in Salford.

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Eagle Inn in Salford. Image Credit eventthestars.co.uk

The pub is located on 18-19 Collier St, a 5-minute walk from Vic Station but literally buried deep within some ramshackle windswept streets. It is a Grade 2 listed building dating from 1902 and is a traditional Joseph Holts brewery back street boozer.

There is a terracotta plaque of an eagle with a name above the door but is also known by the name of the Old Lamp Oil. The attached cottage was converted into a live music venue that opened in October 2013 and is now a separate room off the main bar with a small stage built into the brickwork.  

On the night in question, we arrived after the main band Buller had taken the stage and I negotiated a reduced-price entry after I explained our considerable detour to arrive there.

It was an interesting venue and worth a visit, and we had wisely pre-ordered the original cab to take us back to the station for the last leg home. Further out into Salford from there is another enticing sounding venue called the White Hotel which I have not yet managed to visit, but I plan to rectify that one day!   

Manchester Venues 38 and 39

Over the years, I have probably spent more time overall at Manchester Oxford Road train station, but I have still had a sustained period also in residence at Manchester Piccadilly station. This would either involve grabbing unwholesome late-night snacks prior to waiting for trains or undertaking a frantic lengthy scramble up the escalator to furthermost Platform 14 for last trains to Preston (many for the 1.24am ghost train!) or more latterly Platform 13 for trains out to our current digs in South Manchester.

One welcome change over the last 5 years is the removal of the annoying financial change for the courtesy of spending a penny! A couple of star spots whilst traversing the platforms there have been Graeme Souness and the Sunday Independent music critic Simon Price identified via his very distinctive hairdo.  

Upon departure from Piccadilly via the main entrance or through the adjacent car park drops you directly into the Northern Quarter. There is an abundant area of back streets and original industrial units and dark satanic mills at your disposal. As a result, it is the perfect backdrop for TV and movie filming with the list including the Crown, Peaky Blinders, Das Boot and the Captain America: The First Avenger film.  

One such street exemplifying the area is Tariff St. Your initial impression would be there is just industrial units but there is in fact a plethora of viable options. At the far end lies the Pen and Pencil which is a decent bar to visit.

At the other end is the Tariff and Dale bar which has been a very useful destination prior to a midnight train as most of the hostelries close to the station shut up shop at 11pm prompt. Next door is the Takk Coffee House which leans heavy on its Icelandic influences.

A further door down is the Kosmonaut bar which opened in 2011 and it merged into the area with its stripped-down floors, urban feel, and a terrific choice of craft ales on tap. It has been taken over in last couple of years by the Northern Monk brewery.  

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Manchester Kosmonaut. Image Credit Zomato.

It gained inclusion to the Dot-to-Dot roster for a couple of years with gigs taking place in the downstairs bar. Thus on 28/05/16 we saw Crosa Rosa, a very heavy local psychedelic three piece who were gathering some attention and featured on a Huw Stephens ‘Best of BBC Introducing’ that year. A couple of years later we saw three to four songs within a noisy chaotic set from another local band called the Threads.

Further down the street is located the Whiskey Jar. The bar has been converted from an old textile mill and we first visited the ground floor prior to a gig at the Soup Kitchen and living up to the Preston peasants that we are, we readily devoured the pies that were on the menu! This bar holds acoustic events, but I have only witnessed acts in the downstairs space.

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Whiskey Bar downstairs venue. Image Credit DesignMyNight.com

I initially visited there as part of the Carefully Planned Festival before it then also became part of the Dot-to-Dot schedule.

The first gig I saw there was with Uncle George and Dave Dyson on 19/10/14 and The Rattle were a very unusual combo consisting entirely of two female drummers. It was an interesting sight and sound initially but soon became a tad monotonous!

In 2016, I saw Bristol based Stevie Parker who provided an ethereal backdrop.  A couple of years later I saw a noisier 4-piece Manchester called Dear Caroline who broke up a year later. The final act I saw there was Sylvette an art rock band also based in Manchester. Google informs me they are still in existence and are playing the mighty Mad Ferret in Preston later this year.