Tag: Manchester Dot to Dot Festival

Manchester Venues 219 to 220

In 2017 a new variation of the ‘Mackie Mayor’ food hubs, or perhaps more so a mirror of the BoxPark in Shoreditch, was opened by Bruntwood Property Group on Oxford Road which was named Manchester Hatch. It is situated just beyond the old BBC buildings and lies underneath the Mancunian Way motorway bridges.

My first memory of those bridges was in 1985 as part of a very early morning trog back into the city centre from the Manchester International venue after a fabulous seminal Husker Du gig. The reasons behind that particular march were there that there no late trains in those days and the walk was followed by a restless kip in Manchester Victoria station waiting rooms before subsequently catching the 6am train home.  

Hatch complex. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com

Hatch lived up to its name as it was comprised of a suite of around thirty colourful repurposed shopping containers which housed various local and independent food and drink traders including Kongs, Parmogeddon, House of Habisha and OL Brewery. There were three separate bars and in the middle of the central space there was a large food courtyard where I once grabbed some tea prior to a gig at Castlefield Bowl.

The name also implied that it was specifically for small pop up businesses to then be able to grow into more bespoke bricks and mortar sites. It was open seven days a week from 12 noon, and the contracts stipulated that each trader was required to be operational when the overall venue was open and their retention was desirable to endeavour to create favourites for footfall to return regularly. Due to their close proximity to the universities, they were a key component of Freshers Week.  

At one stage the overall business was achieving a £3.5m turnover, however in the summer of 2023 it all came to an abrupt and inglorious end. The traders were initially given a very short notice closure period, which was subsequently extended after an understandable backlash to October 2023 and this then transpired to be its final closure date.   

It was then scheduled to be taken over by STACK who already have existing sites in Leeds, Middlesbrough and Newcastle, the latter directly outside St James football stadium.  Initial plans were for it to open by the end of 2024 after a full refurbishment with the original Hatch traders being given first refusal within the revamped site, but to this day the area remains closed.

Venue nightclub. Image Credit Manchester Evening News.

They also incorporated a small stage where live performers would play on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday whilst you were dining or imbibing and I saw two such acts there on different occasions, they were namely Reggae Collective and The Events. At other times a DJ was employed from a local record shop to provide the tuneage which apparently included ‘non-offensive hip hop’ which instantly reminds me of the Parental Advisory label initiative instigated by Tipper Gore in 1985.

I will then move across the city to take you to the Manchester Venue nightclub located at 29 Jacksons Row just above Deansgate. It is a student based establishment that first opened its doors in December 2006 and has no dress code apart from an aversion to football tops and has a 400 capacity.  

It is open from Wednesday to Saturdays with a theme event each night, namely Jam Wednesdays (including live gigs), DISORDER Thursday, Live Forever on Friday and Independence Saturday. To be honest, I was barely aware of its existence until it became a surprising addition to the 2019 Dot to Dot festival roster, so naturally I had to make a visit alongside the other twenty one gigs attended that day, it was a proper shoe leather erosion event!  

We arrived there about 5.30pm on a sunny day and headed down the stairs into the sparsely populated dimly lit basement with the obligatory sticky carpeting. I recall a large poster on the wall with a musical version of the Usual Suspects picture including David Bowie and Iggy Pop amongst others.

Stanleys kitted out. Image Credit facebook.

The band on stage was The Stanleys, a four piece from Wigan and they are supporters of their local footy team, so much so they appeared in the recent 26/27 home kit launch. They have released a slew of singles and appeared on the Strummerville stage at Glastonbury in 2025. It is refreshing that on their upcoming tour they are supporting their local venues by performing two nights at the Snug in Atherton, unsurprisingly both already sold out.

It is always very odd attending nightclubs in the afternoon, thus after their set we re-emerged from the dingy den looking like vampires squinting into the bright light!  

Manchester Venues 206 to 208

Affleck’s Palace (now simply Affleck’s) is indelibly ingrained into Manchester culture. It first opened in 1982 with the utterly commendable ethos of providing low cost rentals and valuable week by week licences to support local entrepreneurs to take their first precarious steps into business ownership. Affleck’s is embedded in the Northern Quarter and has a unique maze like design set over several floors.

It evolved into a haven for alternative culture and survived two fires and had a golden period in the 1990’s ‘Madchester’ period where you could purchase your latest set of baggy flared jeans for Happy Monday gigs! It nearly closed in 2008, but it is now thriving again and remains busy to this day with all 73 units occupied but has perhaps now fallen into the touristy price trap. I once also had the novelty of watching a noisy garage rock band called Bright Young People in a coffee shop on the top floor as part of the 2016 Dot to Dot festival.

Afflecks Palace. Image Credit hotels.com

In the mid-19th century, a drapery business opened on Oldham Street called Affleck & Brown and was so successful it grew into a full department store and was dubbed ‘the Harrods of the North’. It suffered a downturn in the 1950’s and was bought out by Debenhams before finally closing in 1973. Hilary Mantel, the author of the Wolf Hall trilogy drafted a short story ‘The Third Rising’ which was based on a mother and daughter who were employed at the store.

In 2015, a bar naturally called Manchester Affleck & Brown was opened on Hilton Street in the Smithfield building and located on the original site. I am not a regular visitor but when passing at one point last year, I could hear live tuneage so obviously had to go ‘beyond the threshold’ as Husker Du once stated. Upon entry I discovered they had a little acoustic stage right next to the door and a chap called Johnny was performing.   

In 1989, the Dry Bar nightclub opened and was located next to Night and Day on Oldham Street. The owners were Factory Records and Tony Wilson placed it under the auspices of the Project name FAC 201, and it was a smaller sister to their other most renowned establishment, the Hacienda.

Affleck & Brown. Image Credit useyourlocal.com

The surrounding area was a tad disreputable at that stage but the two door to door venues resulted in sparking the regeneration of the suburb. During its lifetime, it famously barred two lesser known musicians called Shaun Ryder and Liam Gallagher. I recall decamping there in a huff after we had got stung by missing the first portion of an astonishingly early set from Mogwai at nearby Planet K in 2001.   

In 2017, it was sold with planning permission for a boutique hotel which never happened. Then in March 2025, after an eight-year fallow period it morphed into Manchester New Freemount. I have inserted the ‘new’ to distinguish it from the other Freemount branches that exist further down Oldham Street. It contains all the traditional hallmarks of the brand with a large inviting space, open brick interiors and a bonny old fashioned wood panelled bar. They have live music 7 nights a week followed by DJs at the weekends.

After having an excellent meal at the Home Chinese restaurant for Gill’s birthday we gravitated over to the new bar for a couple of drinks. We grabbed some seats and whilst we were in attendance we saw sets from two local musicians, Steph and Gordon. It transpired the timing of our visit was apposite as it got very busy as the evening progressed, even though it was a Sunday and there are regularly queues out of the door on other evenings.  

Nearby Manchester Stevenson Square dates originally back to the 18th century and at that stage it was a waste land with numerous daub holes, which are apparently boggy clay pits. In the latter half of the 19th century, it was hugely popular for open air speakers with its high point being in 1877 when 50,000 people gathered to celebrate the opening of the Town Hall.

Stevenson Square. Image Credit manchesterwire.co.uk

The residential properties surrounding the square were converted to busy commercial units, but that period ended when the city’s main shopping area moved to reside around the new Arndale Centre, which was opened in 1975.  

Nowadays the area contains a plethora of bars and food outlets, many with pedestrianised outdoor al fresco spaces. One night last year I was traversing through there and this is the only time I have witnessed it, but a pop up stage had been erected in one corner and a lass called Vancouver Val was performing.