Tag: Manchester Arena

2024 Gigs – Part 3

I always manage to catch some random performances in venues around Oxford Road train station prior to heading home. One such venue is Manchester Grand Central where in May I saw a band called Level Up, in September I witnessed Throwback, in October I caught Ben from the Block and a month later Warrington act Pray for Mojo. The latter combo provided a pleasing slab of psych rock in the vein of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.  

The other venue in that vicinity is the old stalwart Manchester Thirsty Scholar. I visited the Scholar in August and October where I saw a couple of double acts called Alvin and Rob and Sid and Benny. Jenny Jazz followed at the tail end of October.

My final attendance in December was part of the Year’s End Festival on a monsoon style rainy day where first up on stage were a noisy garage rock band called Redchecks. They are a Welsh act who are now based in Manchester, but somewhat confusingly formed in Glastonbury in 2021.

Scatterchild. Image facebook.com

The other performers were locals Scatterchild who had recently released their debut album ‘An Everyday Landscape’. It was possibly the busiest I have seen the pub in all my visits, and we snuggled into a spot perched on the bar. It turned out be my last gig there prior to the recently rebadging of the hostelry into O’Connells Irish pub, still thankfully staging live music.

Another venue of the Year’s End festival roster was Manchester Retro Bar Downstairs Stage. It was only my third visit to the cellar and as it transpired my last as the venue is now closed for good after a thirty-five-year tenure. It is due to be demolished soon to make way for the Sister regeneration project which aims to generate 10,000 jobs and 1500 new homes.  

Retro however are still aiming to relocate and set up in a new site and are apparently exploring possible locations in this regard. The band on stage were called Wren and they cut a very heavy presence with their noisy sludge metal and it is the kind of music your Granny may love!  

The final festival venue to reference was further down Oxford Road at Manchester Deaf Institute Lodge. The first act I saw was Meelik who were most definitely the first ever band I have seen from Estonia. I then undertook some research on famous bands from the northernmost of the Baltic states and the intriguing name that caught my eye was the punk band called Bedwetters!

Meelik. Image Credit escbubble.com

Meelik fall more into the indie genre and are literally a high school band formed originally by their guitarist, Rain. Confidence in their musical ability was initially gained after winning one of their school song competitions. They had a break from 2011 to 2022 before reforming and entering their national Eurovision Song Contest qualifiers where they obtained a fourth place. On stage they wore school uniforms though they avoided Angus Young comparisons by the virtue of them wearing long pants! They were rather quirky, and I enjoyed the portion that I saw of their set.

The other act was Nadia Sheikh who is a Spanish/British singer and songwriter now based out of London. She self-released a slew of singles prior to obtaining a coveted 19 date support slot for Stereophonics on a sold out tour including dates at Manchester and Cardiff Arena. She had a heartfelt expressive voice which was overlaid over an indie backdrop sound.

There were also acts playing in the Manchester Deaf Institute Music Hall. First up was Kynsy who was probably my favourite performer of the whole day. Outside of her stage non de plume name she is known by her family as Dublin born, now London based lass Ciara Lindsey. She gained her musical stripes as a teen in an all-female rock band before branching out as a solo artist and received many favourable reviews. I liked her soulful voice and heartfelt tunes, and she reminded me of Hatchie.   

Kynsy. Image Credit NME.com

The other artist playing was Orphan Boy, a combo from Cleethorpes but now based in Manchester. Upon sighting them, I had a sense of déjà vu which turned out to be justified as my annals informed me that I had seen them twice before, once at the Wickerman Festival in 2008 and the other at the Mad Ferret in Preston.    

There was one additional visit to the Music Hall in August when I saw Southall, who are sometimes also known as Read Southall, reflecting the founding member who hails from Oklahoma. The sextet is strictly in the country rock mould and have released four albums in total since 2015 and the lead singer also has a likeness to the old crooner Mick Hucknall.

Although I can never reference the latter named without casting my mind back to Mark and Lard’s infantile but humorous Ancient Customs CD in 2010 where the singer, actor and comedian Bernard Wrigley (nicknamed the ‘Bolton Bullfrog’) undertook ‘Two Ronnies’ style readings on top of musical accompaniments with titles such as ‘Humping the Hucknall!

Manchester Venues 168 to 169

Nearby to Manchester Victoria station and opposite the Next shop in the Arndale Centre you will find the Printworks complex. The large area was originally the Withy Grove Printing House which was established in 1873 by the Hulton family. It operated as a newspaper printing factory for over a century before finally closing in 1988. In its final days it was bought by Robert Maxwell who true to form then instantly sold it off for a quick profit.  

It lay unused for a decade and was in a derelict state before in the late 1990’s it was subject to a £110m transformation as part of the Exchange Square project. It was turned into an urban entertainment centre and was renamed as the Printworks to reflect the heritage of the location and it also retained some of the original features.

Manchester Printworks. Image Credit Visit Manchester

The four storey 33,900 square metre site concentrating primarily on nightlife was officially opened on November 9, 2000, with the special guests including Sir Alex Ferguson and Lionel Richie. In 2024 it underwent a major refurbishment which included the installation of the largest digital ceiling in Britain and its modus operandi is now geared more towards health and digital technology.

It now features a state of the art 20 screen cinema, gym with swimming pool but they still have the unhealthy option of over 20 bars and restaurants and also tenpin bowling and quirky modern pursuits such as Treetop mini golf! It is an area I have only sporadically visited over the years, and I remember visited the O’Neills Irish bar and also one visit to the Seven Stars Wetherspoons prior to a gig at the nearby Arena.

Also contained within this complex is the Manchester Bierkeller, which opened in 2013. It is a large venue over a couple of floors and contains within four individual bars. The first on entry is the Ski Lounge followed by their Around the World Bar serving 100+ beers. There is then the Shooters Sports Bar, which is allegedly the largest sports bar in Manchester.

In November 2015 Uncle George and I made a visit here prior to attending a gig at the much missed Ruby Lounge. We headed to the fourth bar, namely the Bavarian Bierkeller where we had identified before that there was daily live music taking place.

Manchester Bierkeller. Image Credit tagvenue.com

We purchased a stein of ale and grabbed a pew on the bench style seating and on a small stage an indie band from Stockport called The Instigators were playing. They regularly vary their size of their roster and can sometimes go up to eight members where brass is then included in the mix. On this particular day they were pared down to a three piece.   

In 2000 Gill and I made our thus far only visit to Italy where we backpacked around the country on their highly efficient trains. We commenced and also finished the trip in Florence and also stayed in  Rome for a few days. We also spent a week down in Sorrento where we took the opportunity to visit the enchanting island of Capri and foolishly imbibed a little too much Limoncello prior to a visit to Pompei the next day, a hangover in oppressive heat is not a recommended combination!

Whilst in Sorrento I sampled my favourite ever pizza in a restaurant off the main square. The nearest I have been to replicating that pizza quality within the boundaries of our fair isle is when we visited the Manchester Don Giovanni restaurant on Oxford Road near St Peters Square. It opened in 1984 and is the longest standing independent Italian eatery in Manchester.

Don Giovanni’s. Image Credit dongiovanni.com

It was originally located on the city side of the street located next to the now long gone Dutch Pancake House. It was a small, homely trattoria and that is where we had one of our finest meals. The restaurant then moved across to the Manchester Central side of the road, expanding in the process and also for a short time opening a deli next door. Unfortunately, I personally thought the quality dropped as a result though it just seemed to get busier and is a popular location for post-meals after nearby graduations.  

In 2024 they celebrated their 40th anniversary and also dropped Don from their name at the same time. In May 2015 we met up some old friends who Gill had undertaken her nurse training with many moons ago. We booked in the restaurant on the Saturday night, and we were treated to a set from the house pianist Antonio.