Tag: 10000 Maniacs

Manchester Venue 102 – Bridgewater Hall

Just down from St Peters Square whilst following the tram line back to Deansgate station you pass the grand building of Manchester Bridgewater Hall on the left-hand side. Nearby down some steps you would find the Piano and Pitcher which we used to occasionally frequent. This has in recent years adopted the contemporary trend by morphing into a large food hall called Society with various vendors and craft beers available, I visited there a couple of months ago and had a rather tidy but overpriced Tiffin Box. Your nearest hostelry on the Deansgate side is the ever reliable and olde-worlde Briton’s Protection.

Britons Protection. Image Credit pinterest.com

The earliest inkling of the concept of the Bridgewater Hall was when repairs were being considered to the nearby Free Trade Hall in the 1950’s following wartime damage. The Free Trade was at that stage home to the city’s Halle Orchestra and hosted concerts, and I visited there just the once in the late 1980’s to see a fabulous gig by 10000 Maniacs.

It was decided that a singular bespoke venue was required, and a site was chosen where the former bus station and car park used to be located. Architects were carefully chosen with the acoustic integrity being high on the requirements list. Construction started on 22 March 1993 with an overall resultant cost of £42million including a £1.2million pipe organ with an astonishing 5500 pipes and at the time of build was the largest instrument to be installed in the UK for over a century.

They adopted unusual building techniques in that it was formed from solid reinforced concrete and is built on around three hundred earthquake proof springs, both initiatives improve the sound and the second one protects the acoustics from all outside noise and vibration. These concepts are beyond my small brain to comprehend but I do know that the resultant impacts are highly effective as I have encountered some of the finest sound quality there of any venue I have visited.  

Image Credit Bridgewater Hall

The first concert there was held on the 11th of September 1996 and was officially opened by the Queen. Within the Hall there are food options in the Charles Halle Restaurant and the Stalls Café Bar, and they also serve ice creams at the intervals sparking childhood memories of Pearl and Dean music in the ABC and Odeon in Preston!  The main auditorium seats 2341 people and has been designed to be tiered in such a way for all attendees to be as close as possible to the stage.

They have around 250 events a year, mainly of a classical inclination but they do also undertake a smaller selection of carefully considered traditional gigs, often where the band’s sound matches the aesthetic of the venue. A friend of mine recently saw the Sparks there, of which I was rather jealous!

My first visit there was in May 2011 when Mercury Rev decided to play in full their timeless ‘Deserter Songs’ album. We were seated up in the balcony trying manfully not to do ‘Waldorf and Statler’ impressions. They played the record in running order even including the wonky ‘Happy End (The Drunk Room)’ track and then we were treated to a few bonus songs on top. The sound literally soared in all directions including vertically upwards to our box and it was a fabulous gig.

Bridgewater Hall. Image Credit meetmeinmanchester.com

My other attendance in 2014 was naturally to see Mogwai and was the 25th time I had witnessed them, this time we were sat in some exceedingly comfy seats at ground level.  I was envious of my pal Dave Dyson as it was his Mogwai debut, and they performed a stellar set with ‘New Paths to Helicon Part 1’ and ‘We’re No Here’ included in their encore.  

Manchester Venue 26 – Club Academy

The fourth and final venue within the Academy complex is Club Academy. The venue is located downstairs with stairs heading down to the venue to the right of the ground floor bar. In the 90’s the venue was called the Cellar nightclub before turning into a singular music venue in the early 2000’s.

I wish we had known of the existence of the nightclub at that time as we were often searching for a late bar before catching the 1.24am train home. I had seen those stairs many times but thought they headed down to another non-public area of the building complex.

At the point in time across the road was the now disappeared Jabez Clegg pub which we frequented regularly. I was unaware that they used to have the odd gig upstairs. I recall Gordon Gibson, proprietor of Preston’s legendary Action Records telling me that he once was very fortunate to catch a private set in that very room by Natalie Merchant, 10000 Maniacs lead singer.

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Jabez Clegg Pub. Image Credit manchesterhistory.net

The capacity of Club Academy is 650, slightly larger than Academy 3 and is the most academic type venue of the four with their school reminiscent corridors leading to the loos. The stage is at the bottom and bars to the left and it has been expanded since my first visit there.      

I have attended five gigs there in total and that brings the total across all of Academy venues to 88.About five years ago I thought it would be an absolute shoo in to achieve the century however despite a huge increase in my gig attendance my visits to the Academies have been sporadic due to so many other competing venues constantly opening in the city.

My first visit was on 26/04/07 was to see the mercurial Marie McKee, previously lead singer of Lone Justice. There was always a hint of the diva about her, but she has the most electrifying voice. She wandered on with her backing band including her husband and early in the set launched briefly into singing acapella which was compelling. Her recent recordings had a country tint about them, and it was an enjoyable gig.

On 09/12/11 Death in Vegas were back in town for their first tour for a few years. The pubs were extremely busy with Christmas do’s in full flow.

Around the time of their two seminal albums the Contino Sessions and Scorpio Rising at the turn of the century they were an utterly absorbing live act. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite kick it that night as they concentrated heavily on their more dance-oriented material. It was a sold-out gig and it had attracted many that I would quantify in the ‘undesirable’ category.    

There was a breakdown in communication post gig which resulted in us catching the late choo-choo which I think must qualify as the busiest train I have ever encountered and as a result we were very relieved to arrive home that night.

In 2015 I witnessed the young scamps from Dundee, The View. They were in equal parts frenetic, chaotic but always engaging and ‘Superstar Tradesmen’ was as ever the highlight. There are elements of their lyrics in that track that mirror the story in my most loved Iain Banks novel ‘Espedair Street’ which relates to a rock star making it big and the corresponding impact on his childhood sweetheart. He remains my favourite author with his stunning imagination and caustic wit and it was the cruel hand of cancer that took him from us far too soon.

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Iain Banks Espedair Street novel. Image Credit Wikipedia

The following year we saw Electric Six on their annual winter tour. They had their moments, but it was a diminishing return from the startingly good impression they made the first time I witnessed them.   

My last appearance was to see the old punk stalwarts Slaughter and the Dogs from down the road in Wythenshawe, who supported Sex Pistols at their famous Lesser Free Trade Hill gig in 1976. It was unfortunately a rather limp performance from them on the night that I saw them.