Tag: Manchester Maxwell Hall

Manchester Venues 212 to 215

Last month I returned to the vibrant Sounds From the Other City (SFTOC) festival in Salford for my sixth attendance, with my debut being back in 2012. The ticket collection point at the earlier festivals was Islington Mill, and even though this has now been replaced by Maxwell Hall within Salford University, it remains a central focus point.

The Mill is a Grade II listed, six-storey Georgian building located just off Chapel Street. It was originally purpose-built in 1823 and underwent a structural collapse a year later resulting in eighteen deaths before then being swiftly rebuilt. Like many of the dark satanic cotton mills of that era it was intertwined with the horrific slave trade.

As manufacturing industries declined in the 1960’s it evolved through retail and storage phases before falling into partial disrepair. It then moved into its current bohemian multi-occupancy arts status which has been greatly assisted by ample funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and they now trade under the name Islington Mill Arts Club.

Islington Mill. Image Credit Manchester Evening News.

They are ever expanding and a current example of this is that they own and are regenerating the adjacent Regent Trading Estate with the support of Salford City Council. Bands that have previously played the Mill include Acid Mother Temple, Ariel Pink, Boris and Peaches. There have also been one-off shows from the likes of Elbow, Grimes and Bjork.   

I have previously covered many of the venues in the building but was excited to see a new one on this year’s listing. There was an element of levitation and physical endeavour required to access the gig at Manchester Islington Mill 5th Floor. When I disembarked the metal stairs, I rewarded myself with a cold beverage whilst watching a rapper by the name of Cartier.

Back over on Chapel Street there is a small café originally known as GK Gallery & Tea Room when it first opened its doors in January 2016. As the name implies, they have an Art Gallery within where their mission is to support emerging artists by staging exhibitions. Many of these are graduates based at nearby Salford University. For me however their chief but dangerous pulling power is the ready availability of tasty homemade cakes!

Manchester ‘Beatz’ Cafe. Image Credit tripadvisor.com

More recently they have changed their name to Kith and Kin and for the first time were included in the SFTOC roster under the one day pseudonym Manchester Beatz Café. I saw an artist called Beatz Nails performing there.

As you progress back onto New Bailey Street there is a new bar called Manchester Tangerine which sits directly opposite Salford Central Station. The venue was opened in 2025 after a period of 12 months transformation work on two previously derelict railway arches and is modelled to a degree on other city centre venues, Diecast and Ducie Street Warehouse. It is owned by the existing team behind the Mala hidden garden bar and Want Studios.

It encompasses three individual areas, the first being Platform 1 which is the daytime Canteen Club which utilises seven independent kitchens including a bakery, in-house coffee roastery, florist and wine shop. Platform 2 then contains an art, dance and music performance hall, mainly used in the evenings, and the Grand departures bar is a specialist martini bar with a taproom with 40 taps. The building overall has a 300 person capacity.

Manchester Tangerine. Image Credit themanc.com

It is believed the colour scheme is a nod to Salford FC who are reverting to their original orange and black kit from the upcoming 26/27 season. This was their kit colour until the Manchester United boys of 1992 took over the club in 2014 and in a slightly narcissist touch changed it to red.     

Now, as a Preston North End fan I reacted in an allergic way when I first heard the name of the bar as it is the kit colours of our arch enemies Blackpool FC! But in the interests of ‘new venue’ research I took that on the chin and made an appearance.

I attended prior to heading down to the SFTOC event and my initial observations pertained to its unexpected size and a blazing orange hue everywhere. I had to admit grudgingly that it was quite impressive from a cocktail bar style viewpoint. Whilst I was there an act called Jazzy John was performing in one of the rooms.     

Whilst undertaking a rare foray to the Christmas Markets in 2025 and when traversing between St Anns and Cathedral Square, I noticed there was a pop up stage just to the side of Manchester M&S on Market Street where I saw a full band under the moniker of Dad and Lad playing.

Manchester Venue 139 – Maxwell Hall

I am returning this week to the tale of the 2024 Sounds from the Other City Festival (SFTOC). Within Salford University between 1964 and 2004 there was a thriving venue in the University grounds called Manchester Maxwell Hall. The Maxwell building containing the aforementioned hall was officially opened in 1961 by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. The upper hall staged the gigs with a capacity of 1000 seating and a balcony above of a further 220 capacity. I once sat in that very balcony area whilst attending one of my talented wife Gill’s many graduation ceremonies.

The opening band to play on the 25th of March 1964 was Dave Berry and the Cruisers at a cost of six shillings, they were so named based on the lead singer’s admiration of Chuck Berry. They are not to be confused with Marvin Berry and the Starlighters, the fictional musician and Chuck’s cousin from the original Back to the Future movie!  Other acts to play there include The Who, Black Sabbath, U2, New Order, The Kinks, James and of course The Smiths!

Marvin Berry and the Starlighters. Image Credit backtothefuture.wikia.com

One story goes along the lines that Paul McCartney and the Wings rolled up in a van in 1972 and asked if they could play as the band had just recently formed and were engaged on a practice tour. The tickets were priced at 50p with half going to the band and the other half to the University. Blondie also famously graced the stage in 1978 and there is an iconic picture that only emerged in 2017 with Debbie Harry draped in the actual poster for the gig.

In the 1990’s the allure of the venue waned due to the introduction of competing venues in the city with Charlatans having the honour of playing the final gig there on 20th December 2004. There then followed an utterly mystifying gap of fifteen years before an extensive refurbishment plan was touted within the £800m Salford Crescent Masterplan to restore the venue to its former glory but like many other schemes I assume it was then scuppered by the pandemic.

Debbie Harry embracing Salford Uni. Image Credit blogs.salford.ac.uk

Five years later the venue was belatedly chosen as one of the locations within the 2024 edition of SFTOC, which rekindled talk of possibly rebooting the venue. The layout of the venue reminded me of Whitehaven Civic Hall.

On the day we attended we saw a jaunty slightly surreal Welsh six piece called Melin Melyn (translates as Yellow Mill). They sing in their native language and have been cited alongside other artists in a movement named ‘Cool Cymru 2.0’. The driving force of the band are the original members Gruff Glyn alongside Garmon Rhys, who also double up as a pair of professional actors, the former garnering credits in Dr Who, Poldark and the Royal Shakespeare Company.  Their music I would describe as a pot pourri of folk and surf rock.

Maintaining the Welsh theme, we also caught the end of Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals) headline set who was promoting his latest solo album ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’. He is ambidextrous and somewhat bizarrely plays left-handed on an upside down right handed guitar. He has tried his hand at scripting opera and also provides vocals to the Mogwai track ‘Dial: Revenge’ off their Rock Action album. He curtailed his show with a nod to Bob Dylan’s video for Subterranean Homesick Blues via the usage of cue cards with audience prompts for applause etc.      

Maxwell Hall. Image Credit bbc.com

There has been a spate of other venues in the near vicinity including a former horse racing track at a site called Castle Irwell which was sold onto the University in 1960’s. It first evolved as a student village and then the old racecourse members stand was converted into the popular Pavilion Bar and Nightclub (known locally as the Pav) under the ownership of the Students Union.

Bands to have played gigs the Pav include Texas, Pulp and Atomic Kitten before its closure in 2009. The village at Castle Irwell subsequently closed in 2015 after a half of century of providing housing for approximately 40k students. Sadly, a year later there was an arson attack which created such a huge fire that at one point 50 firefighters were in situ utilising pumped water from the nearby River Irwell. Housing has since sprung up on that original site. 

Pulp flyer from their 1992 show. Image Credit pulpwiki.net

There were also events at the Student Unions Building in the 1970’s and 1980’s but the only recorded gig I could track there was a performance by Heart! I am sure there must have been other higher quality gigs there. The final one to note is the Salford College of Technology where local legends Joy Division once graced the stage in 1978.