Tag: Dot to Dot

Manchester Venue 74 Soup Kitchen – Part 1

The Soup Kitchen which has recently been rebranded simply as Soup resides deep in the Northern Quarter on Spear St, within stumbling distance of the Night and Day venue. During the Covid apocalypse an eminently sensible decision was made to pedestrianise the nearby Stevenson Square area to create a European style outdoor seating vibe and thankfully this ethos has been retained post-pandemic.

Manchester Soup Kitchen. Image Credit Pinterest.

The upstairs room is laid out in a canteen style with long wooden benches to create a communal atmosphere. It has decent but slightly overpriced tucker available and has a plethora of craft ales to imbibe. Downstairs resides the venue with a small bar to the right and stage to the left with a 150 capacity. When approaching the room limit, it can get very busy down in the slightly damp cellar setting.  The unisex toilets would be best quantified in the ‘basic’ category, but it all adds to the grungy allure of the place. They have a lot of upcoming bands and DJ’s who frequent their busy live roster.

I have attended Soup fourteen times in total and first heard of the venue when the much-hyped Milk Music from Washington DC played there on 17/05/12. They had only released a couple of early singles by this stage, and they had an engaging slacker vibe about them, despite the venue only being half full. There was little audience participation until they somewhat oddly woke from the slumber on the last song to create an impromptu mosh pit!

I must say since this gig the band completely dropped off my radar until I began researching this article and was surprised to find they are still in existence. I am just now listening to their debut album ‘Cruise Your Illusion’ which has shades of Neil Young, Dinosaur Jr and Meat Puppets therein which sounds like a tidy combination to me. They were supported on the night by an appearance from Eagulls who I cited in last week’s Beacons Festival review. They were my only two viewings of the Leeds based band, coincidentally within a couple of months of each other.

Milk Music. Image Credit VICE.

Many of my attendances have been part of multi event wristband events such as Dot to Dot or Off the Record festivals and one such appearance was a couple of years later to see Remember Remember. The Glasgow band was initially the brainchild of Graeme Rowland who released a 2008 album with participation from other collaborators. By the time I witnessed them in 2014 they had morphed into a seven-piece band and had just released their third album ‘Forgetting the Present’, before they subsequently split the following year.

They were on Rock Action roster run by Mogwai, with whom they had supported. They were also in the fully instrumental post-rock genre, but they were of a gentler variation than their label counterparts and I enjoyed their show.

A year later I saw Worriedaboutsatan from Bradford, their name deriving from a track by Belgium band Deus. They were formed by Gavin Millar around 2006, before being joined by Leeds College of Music pal Tom Ragsdale. They have a crossover post-rock/electronic template and have supported luminaries such as 65daysofstatic and Maybeshewill. They garnered considerable radio airplay, and their music has also somewhat bizarrely been featured on Coronation Street!  

Manchester Venue 70 – The Attic

Manchester Oxford Road train station opened in 1849 and was built in the renowned local slum area of ‘Little Ireland’ and was initially a single platform station. Over the intervening period the station expanded to five platforms, and I have caught trains from them all!

When I first used to commute over to gigs in Manchester from Preston in the mid 80’s we always needed someone to drive as the only alternate was an hourly train into Manchester Victoria. The opening of the 700m Windsor Link between Salford Crescent and Deansgate in 1988 vastly improved the situation as it connected lines to the north and south of Manchester, opening up routes from Preston into Oxford Road, Piccadilly, and the Airport. The train then became the chosen mode of transport for gig nights.   

I have always been fond of Oxford Road station it as it has been my most regular arrival/departure point for nearby venues Sound Control, Ritz, and Gorilla or to the four Academy venues a short walk away down Oxford Road. Some of this allure has waned slightly as it has now become my work commute point since moving to Manchester. The station is a Grade II listed building and as a result needs a little bit of love and constant repair and it can be a draughty place. It is still listed for expansion if the Northern Hub plans ever reach fruition. 

Oxford Road station. Image Credit manchesterhistory.net

There used to be an old piano near Platform 4 where you could occasionally hear drunken punters trying to embrace their inner Mozart! I also read somewhere that on a Motown tour including a very young Stevie Wonder in the 60’s, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas once stepped off onto the platform and played a set, which I am sure would have been a sight to behold.  

The station is built on a hill and as you exit the station there is a road that slopes downwards to the left bringing you out where the Cornerhouse Cinema used to be located and opposite the Palace Theatre. Years ago, I saw West Side Story there and recently saw School of Rock, which was superb fun and recommended. Just outside the entrance they have replaced the newsagent kiosk with a new vendor called Slice Pizza and Bread Bar, and you may be unsurprised to discover, I have already partaken of their wares prior to the last train departing.

If you head marginally right this takes you to the 56 steps (I have counted them!) leading down to a trio of pubs and Oxford Road. Many times, there has been a cheeky very late beer necessitating a scramble up these steps, then the incline and then up and down a further two flights of stairs and an additional 64 steps on to Platform 2 for the last Preston train. A couple of times, it was missed, and I recall one other time when I was holding the train doors ajar much to the platform staff’s chagrin as Gill and Uncle George flew down the stairs behind me!

At the bottom of the aforementioned steps immediately to your left is the grungy Salisbury pub, which has been a meeting point for many years, and they do support the local music scene by offering a reduction on the price of your pint via producing evidence of a gig ticket for that evening, for any venue.    

Directly opposite the Salisbury at either 50 New Wakefield Street or 50 Oxford Road (the official address is unclear!) are a set of spiral stairs taking you up to Manchester Attic, which sits adjacent and upstairs from the Thirsty Scholar pub. This venue fascinated me for many years due to its location, but we had never had a chance to visit as its primary function was a late-night dance club. However, good things come to those who wait as the Dot-to-Dot festival included it on their 2013 roster.

Myself pictured recently outside the Attic venue. Image Credit John Dewhurst.

Next to there but at a lower level is the Zombie Shack which I have never visited but it was included in the roster for the recent Neighbourhood Festival held in that area encompassing thirteen local venues.  

Thus, we finally headed upwards to the Attic venue though to be fair it was fairly nondescript as a small one room setting with a bar on the right and an alcove stage at the end of the room, but it was nevertheless a huge tick in the Jimmy gig roster! Searching the internet, it remains unclear whether the venue is still operational.

First on stage were the Rivals followed by the Thumpers (often known as THUMPERS), a London indie pop duo. One of their member was previously a drummer in Noah and the Whale. They subsequently split in 2018 with their final show taking place at the Lexington in London.