Tag: John Peel

Manchester Venue 82 – The Castle Hotel

The Manchester Castle Hotel located at the top end of Oldham Street was built in the late 18th century and began trading as a public house in 1816 and it is estimated the grand olde world interior complete with Victorian tiles and mosaic floor dates as far back as 1897. It has had many previous monikers including The Crown and Sceptre, The Crown and Anchor and The Clock Face.

Manchester Castle Hotel. Image Credit Flickr.

There has always been a musical ethos within the pub incorporating the involvement of John McBeith who went on to launch the Roadhouse venue, fondly remembered by me as being the first venue I ever saw Mogwai. The Castle was also the site of a famous John Peel interview with Ian Curtis in 1979 and Fall’s Mark E Smith also chose the pub as a meeting point for some of his abrasive monologue interviews.

The pub fell on tough times and closed in 2008, before subsequently being refurbished and reopened with a linkage to its sister pub Gulliver’s across the road and has gone from strength to strength since that date.

Despite being a fairly small hostelry, they have incorporated an eighty-capacity venue off the corridor to the rear of the pub. Facing the small door entrance is the mixing desk and the stage is to the right, and I must say it is one of the most cramped areas I have encountered when a gig is sold out!

I have attended eleven gigs in total with only the first one being where I have paid a singular ticket to see the band, the others being part of other multi wrist band events such as Carefully Planned and Dot to Dot Festivals.

Thus, on 23/10/11 I saw Veronica Falls who were a four-piece formed in London in 2009. They formed from previous bands The Royal We and Sexy Kids and are still active though sadly their drummer Patrick Doyle died in 2018. They first came to my attention via their excellent debut single ‘Love in a Graveyard’ which was a combination of C86 meets the Raveonettes, and they were good fun in a live setting.   

Veronica Falls. Image Credit Clash

Three years later, Space Blood were in town, a two piece slightly jokey instrumental combo from Chicago and I would place them in the math rock vein, and they have a couple of albums on the books. The following year I witnessed bands called Face, Georgio Tuna  and The Stay Aways, an all-female four piece based in Brighton and London. 

In 2017 I saw a young rapper called Tobi Sunmola from Nigeria, who moved from the country of his birth at the age of 17 and is now living in Manchester. The following year I saw Grand Prix and Thyla, the latter being a four-piece dream pop band who all met while attending university in Brighton. When one of their original guitarists departed in 2021, they decided to call it quits and their final ever gig was at the Hope and Ruin in Brighton on 25/05/22.

In May 2019 I saw another four-piece band called SUN SILVA who initially got together whilst at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Six months later I witnessed Winnie and the Rockettes, a funk and soul band who have supported Chaka Khan and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and have also headlined the famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. My latest and only post-Covid visit thus far was in April 22 to see a Manchester band called Another Country $$$$.

Preston Venue 31 – 53 Degrees Main Hall

I have previously covered the Club venue and in this week’s blog I am going to concentrate on the 53 Degrees Main Hall. The venue’s opening in 2005 spelt the death knell to Preston Mill as a gig going concern as there was patently not room in Preston for two such singular locations.

The main hall comprised of a capacity of 1500 and had a sizeable bar facing you on entrance. There was a large, raised area before steps dropping down into a sizeable pit in front of the stage. In their time, they attracted some decent acts here but overall, I always felt it was a golden opportunity missed where they could potentially have attracted better acts, maybe that slightly biased perception gleans from certain fave bands that I thought would have great to see in that setting!

See the source image
53 Degrees Venue. Image Credit 53degrees.net

My first visit there was on 20/05/05 when I went to see Supergrass. They were in good form as they had a commendable back catalogue and played my two cherished tracks of theirs, namely ‘Caught by the Fuzz’ and ‘Late in the Day’. Our group was stood off to the right-hand side of the stage where it felt very draughty, but reasons for that became evident as I had an unpleasant bout of man-flu for about 10 days after. The lurgy nearly denied me the opportunity to watch PNE playing West Ham in the Championship play off final (I wish it had!)

Now I have never warmed at all to Blur, talented musicians, and all that, but for whatever reason their music grates on me. Whilst up in Scotland for Hogmanay we were listening to John Peels festive 50 and they featured a couple of half decent tracks from the bands lead guitarist Graham Coxon. This led to an attendance at one of his gigs in October 2006. Most of his set was based on his Ramones influenced latest album ‘Love Travels at Illegal Speeds’. He had his moments and with the shortness of the tracks swiftly whipped through more than 20 songs.

A couple of years later I saw my standout gig there when the Subways were in town. They had so much energy with lead singer Billy Lunn a whirling dervish on stage and his then girlfriend Charlotte Cooper a perfect ally to his antics. It was arguably one of the most joyous moshpits I have ever encountered when they played ‘Oh Yeah’ off their terrific debut album ‘Young for Eternity’. You could never fault these kids for effort! They were supported by Enjoy Destroy.

See the source image
The Subways in full flight mode. Image Credit buzzbands.la

In October 2010 a group of us headed into town to watch Half Man Half Biscuit, only to discover the gig had been cancelled at the last minute. It was rearranged for six weeks later on a Friday evening clashing with a North End game. We left the match early resulting in missing the first couple of songs of their set. They were very enjoyable, and they have such a devoted following that it always results in a cracking atmosphere.

In 2011, we went to see John Lydon’s combo, Public Image Ltd. I was far from an expert knowledge on their output but appreciated their intelligent songcraft which stood up well in a live environment.

When I was young whippersnapper at the tender age of 14, I went through a short Adam Ant phase and 30 years hence I was persuaded to go and see him again and this was my final gig there.

The place was packed to the rafters and access to the front area was tricky. There was an eejit and bully from my youth in residence who was blocking the accessway who I navigated past but who then somewhat predictably nudged me down the steps, but I maintained my footing and more importantly didn’t spill a drop of my beer! He was and obviously remains someone just not worth bothering with in any format! The gig was also a bit of a limp affair capping off a forgettable night.