One of the continuing delights of Manchester is the proliferation of different and unique venues that continue to spring up on the gig circuit. One such venue is Manchester AATMA, which when I first visited it was known under its previous moniker as Kraak Gallery. It is literally buried deep in the back streets of the Northern Quarter and was once a derelict former textile mill. It is arguably comparable to Islington Mill with its commendable DIY ethic and industrial vibe and is a multipurpose event space with a 150 capacity.
I first became aware of its existence in 2012 and I have visited eleven times in total. The first challenge I faced was finding the venue, it is located at 14-16 Faraday Street off Stephenson Square and is accessed via an unmarked door in an alley off an alley! You then climb up to the first floor to find the venue and as you enter you find the stage to the right and a pop-up bar down to the left with a battered old sofa providing the sparse seating area.
AATMA entrance. Image Credit youtube.com
The act that night was the Jacuzzi Boys who are an excellent three-piece garage/surf rock band from Miami. Their debut album in 2009, ‘No Seasons’ caught the attention of none other than Iggy Pop who invited them to be opening slot on his tour. They have been quiet for a few years but have just released a new EP.
My next visit was in December of the same year when there was a punky bill taking place that we on the hoof decided to dive in to watch the noisy Canadian opening band called Sounds of the Swarm. Due to the warehouse setting the room was icy cold and the can of Boddingtons Bitter purchased nearly moulded itself into my hand!
The old sofa! Image Credit headbox.com
We then headed to our scheduled gig at Academy 3 to watch God is an Astronaut before returning to Kraak to see the headliners Victories at Sea who provided a sonic outro to complete an aural assault of an evening. My only one regret with the venue is that I was unable to attend when the Nottingham noiseniks Cult of Dom Keller played as I had thoroughly enjoyed them when I had unexpectedly caught them in Brussels when visiting the Belgian city.
Many of my visits here have been part of the numerous Northern Quarter multi venue festivals. On one such visit in 2014 I saw the Leeds post-hardcore trio Unwave. I then witnessed Tacetmusic there and the following year caught a singer songwriter called Sarah Walk from Chicago who was a former graduate of the Berklee College of Art.
Victories at Sea. Image Credit withguitars.com
In 2016 I saw some doomy hardcore from Berlin band Rope. A year later a caught a London three piece called False Heads, who had just released their debut EP. They were discovered and subsequently mentored by the former Ramones manager Danny Fields who has form in spotting a good un! Support slots followed with The Libertines and Queens of the Stone Age before releasing their debut album in 2020.
In 2018 I witnessed the punky sounds of the Nectars who thoroughly embraced the sound from their home city of New York. Later that year I saw an enjoyable set from the all-female three-piece Peaness from Chester who had originally met at the University in the town. Next up was a lo-fi soul singer from Manchester called Darcie. My latest attendance last year resulted in seeing a band called Hup and a Latin tinged artist with the memorable moniker of Carlos Loverboy.