Tag: Dot to Dot

Manchester Venue 47 – Ruby Lounge

One of my favourite venues in Manchester was the Ruby Lounge situated on High Street opposite the Arndale Centre and backing onto the Northern Quarter. The venue opened in 2007 and sadly closed in 2018 as it was hoovered up in a £79m city centre development.

It was housed in a somewhat dilapidated seven store block and behind the unprepossessing metal doors were stairs carrying you down to the venue. It was one large room with battered sofas and a games machine to the left, bar facing and a stage to the right. It had a scruffy charm, and the capacity was 375 for live music and 600 for club nights. It had a thin access to view the stage that could be a slight inconvenience when it was busy.

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Entrance to the Ruby Lounge. Image Credit Britannia Hotels.

I attended there nine times in total and they always had a sonic sound system and as a result I have seen some astoundingly loud gigs. A case in point was my first attendance in 2009 to see A Place to Bury Strangers, a noise rock combo from New York. Remarkably the support band Dead Confederate outdid them on the decibel count. They hailed from the birthplace of REM in Athens, Georgia. Prior to the gig I had explored for the first time a selection of the plethora of bars located nearby in the Northern Quarter. Another regular pre-gig pub was the English Lounge which is only 100 yards from the venue.

My second and third visit also continued in that vein, first up were Rock Actions shoe gazers Twilight Sad. The next was to see Pelican, a post rock four piece from Chicago, Illinois. We were chatting to some punters prior to their set who advised us not to leave our beers on the wooden shelfs as the sound check was so loud, they had knocked a couple of glasses off. They were totally instrumental and ear splintering, and I would quantify them in my Top 5 loudest list, and they were also fabulous as it is so good to hear bands as uncompromising as they are!

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Pelican. Image Credit en.wikipedia.org

In 2010 I saw the grungy quartet Dinosaur Pile Up from Leeds. They did not stay long in the memory and it was one of those gigs where their friends and family were in attendance which I always find in equal parts odd but endearing.

In 2014, I saw Pains from Being Pure at Heart for the fourth time and it was by now unfortunately a case of diminishing returns as their output for me gradually depreciated after their stunning debut album. They were not a patch on their electrifying set in Chorlton 5 years earlier which I will cover in a future blog. They were supported by Fear of Men.

Later that year I saw again the perennial London punks Snuff who were in fine fettle and their cover of the Likely Lads propelled me as ever into the mosh pit! The following year I went to see Preston’s Evil Blizzard due primarily to support them on a Manchester date. Despite them putting on a show I couldn’t warm to their musical output. They were supported by Creature Comforts.

My penultimate gig there was a terrific double bill of Ex Hex and Jacuzzi Boys, both bands I had seen before. Jacuzzi Boys are a highly accomplished garage rock band from Miami in Florida. Ex Hex are all female three-piece hailing from Washington DC and are in the mould of the Go-Go’s and had an effervescent presence. My final gig there was on 28/05/16 to see an Australian band called the Rubens as part of the Dot to Dot festival roster.

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.