Within the Manchester University complex on the second floor lies Manchester Academy 3. For those with longer memories it was previously known as the Hop and Grape and the venue opened in the 60’s.
The original layout was very cosy with an entrance to the left of the bar, in later years they expanded the venue marginally with an entrance round the back of the bar. The capacity is 470 and it is my favourite of all the four Academy venues as it remains an intimate size and there is a good view from all vantage points.
My first visit in October 99 was to see Guided by Voices. They are a legendary band from Dayton, Ohio and formed in 1983 with the ever-present lead singer Robert Pollard. They are highly prolific recording artists and despite a couple of hiatuses they have just produced their 30th album and they have been known to play 4 hour shows mirroring the length of some Bruce Springsteen and E-Street band gigs.
They received regular airplay on college radio which was the route REM traversed when progressing into the limelight. They flirted with fame when appearing in the Strokes ‘Someday’ video. Nobody sounds quite like them and ‘Under the Bushes Under the Stars’ is a fabulous album and comes recommended.
Unfortunately, the sound system in the venue didn’t assist on the night and despite moments of brilliance they struggled to convert their recorded output to the live setting, and it remains the only time I got to see them on stage.
They were ably supported by Beulah from San Francisco who created a sunny West Coast vibe and were excellent. Again, I only saw them once and they disbanded in 2004.
My next appearance was in May 2000 to see Grandaddy. They had first appeared on my radar when I was converted to them by their ‘AM180’ track featured on a Q magazine mixtape.
They had their own unique sound resultant in part by the incorporation of some homemade instruments and their wonky Neil Young beauty was superb live. A good time was had by all to the extent that I was somewhat hungover when performing my ‘Jimmy the Cat’ goalkeeper duties the following afternoon for the works football team.
Four months after that I saw the Melbourne instrumental trio Dirty Three. They were fronted by a charismatic Warren Ellis who had an interesting back story as a classically trained violinist, school teacher and a busker around Europe.
He proceeded to do a rambling but engaging monologue prior to each track and then turned his back at the commencement of each song and the band then created a cacophonous racket in an odd rock/jazz fusion. They were great fun and the nearest loose comparison could be Arcade Fire without any lyrics!
On 24/03/01 I went to see the Minnesota based Low for the first time. In my opinion, they have produced one of the three best festive songs. Their ‘Just Like Christmas’ sits alongside that lesser heard Pogues track and ‘Christmas Song’ by Joy Zipper.
They are quantified in the ‘slowcore’ genre and can be a tad too maudlin for some, but I loved their hushed plaintive harmonies and the exceedingly quiet respectful audience added to my considerable enjoyment of the gig.
On 09/06/01 we witnessed Rocket from the Crypt who weren’t as sharp as previous stellar performances. We had some significant train trauma on the return journey and didn’t land home until 4.07am.
In March 2002 we saw a woeful band called Vex Red from Aldershot. I just checked their website and am suitably astonished they are still on the circuit. Paul Bruzzese was at a gig downstairs so we left before the end of the set and endeavoured to shoehorn our way into the Tomahawk gig in the venue downstairs without success!
