Tag: Manchester Ruby Lounge

Liverpool Venues 11 to 12

I am returning this week to the ‘Beatles influenced’ musical haven of Mathew Street in the centre of the city. One of the establishments even goes so far as to name itself after one of their albums, namely Liverpool Rubber Soul. There are a suite of bars that line the street, and they are badged within the ‘Rubber Soul Complex’ and located within the Cavern Walks area.

Rubber Soul Bar. Image Credit go-eat-do.com

I surmise that the bar has been open for many years but can find no detail of this apart from the fact that it unexpectedly closed in 2009 before being extensively refurbished and reopened in 2013. One of the two bar rooms incorporates an exhibition pertaining to its history as a former fruit market and the legendary Liverpool Eric’s nightclub that is situated in the downstairs space.  

Additionally, TP Molloys the site of the previous Tutti Frutti nightclub which was originally behind the venue was changed into a carvery and grill restaurant. That building which dates back to the 1930s had lain empty for many years but this was also restored and is now called Yesterday. Rubber Soul is a fairly basic sports bar showing big screen sports and has DJ’s playing every Friday and Saturday. On one particular night I saw a singer called Callum play there.

The afore mentioned Eric’s opened on 1 October 1976 in the basement of the Fruit Exchange building in Victoria Street. Shortly after they moved to their new location of Mathew Street opposite the Cavern Club. The local promoter Roger Eagle was the driving force and used his experience from previously hosting nights at the Stadium in Liverpool and the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.

He was joined in the enterprise by Ken Testi, who managed Deaf School and Pete Fulwell who was the owner of the ‘Inevitable’ record label and latterly manager of local bands It’s Immaterial and The Christians. The choice of Eric’s name was a tad tongue in cheek and its particular plainness was in response to the trend at that stage of naming disco clubs with funky names such as ‘Tiffany’s’!

The original Eric’s in the 1970’s complete with intriguing graffiti! Image Credit pinterest.co.uk

A lot of life’s successes and failures can come down to timing of ‘sliding doors’ moments and they were very fortunate in this regard as the opening of the club coincided with the explosion of punk. Thus, in the opening month the Stranglers played and there were huge queues for The Runaways.  The Sex Pistols also performed which transpired to be their one and only Liverpool gig.  Other acts to play there include The Clash supported by The Specials (a fine double bill!), The Ramones, The Slits and X-Ray Spex.

They also had the novelty of staging two shows on Saturday’s, one a matinee set in the afternoon for the under 18’s and then a more regular gig in the evening. There was apparently one famous afternoon show when Iggy Pop played a storming set to a posse of school children who took him by surprise by singing a full rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ back to him. He finished the performance with ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ though due to his star quality the price of the show had doubled from the usual price of £1 to £2!

The mention of matinees makes me reminiscent of those days where bands would not arrive on stage before 11pm. It has now gone so far the other way that due to club nights following the gigs in some venues, the event can be finished by the very early time of 9.30pm. There were also in those days’ gigs taking place all year round and I recall Blondie once playing Glasgow Apollo on New Years Eve in 1979 which was recorded for Radio 1 and Old Grey Whistle Test.

Talking of timings and also the recent onset of spring makes me recall when my brother and I were young lads down in London on a weekend when the clocks changed and were heading back to Preston on an early train on the Sunday morning. When we got on the train back into the city, we both commented that it seemed remarkably quiet, little wonder as we had tangled up on our spring forward/fall back understanding. Thus, our thinking was that we were on an 8am train, but the real time was actually 6am, what a couple of plonkers!   

Iggy Pop on stage at the infamous Eric’s gig. Image Credit liverpoolerics.blogspot.com

The club survived until March 1980 when it was raided by police for drugs offences, and the last band to play there was Psychedelic Furs, I never visited in that era as I was far too young. The club was then briefly Brady’s before closing again shortly after. There was a significant time gap after that before the original venue reopened in 2011, with OMD playing on the opening night. I once recently visited the pub at ground level and saw a chap called Teddy playing.   

In 2009 Eric’s history was covering extensively in the tome titled ‘Liverpool Eric’s: All the Best Clubs are Downstairs, Everyone Knows That’. An ethos I can readily attest to as I have found that many of the most atmospheric venues are in cellar spaces, The Ruby Lounge, Roadhouse and Peer Hat in Manchester, EBGB’s in Liverpool and the 13th Note Bar in Glasgow to name but a few!

Manchester Venue 68 and 69 Gullivers NQ – Part 2

I have encountered many free bonus gigs at Gullivers NQ when visiting before and after attending another scheduled gig in the local area, it is also a useful ten-minute easy jaunt from Manchester Piccadilly station for the trains to and from home.

Upstairs via some cramped stairs leads you to Gullivers NQ Ballroom with a capacity of 110.  It is a windowless room with a raised stage at the end and can be very warm and a tad claustrophobic when busy. When less populated a gap on the side walls can be located to lean and sway upon.  I have attended fourteen gigs there in total.

My first visit prior to a gig at the Ruby Lounge on 21/10/10 was to see a local band called Blackjack Boys. Eighteen months later I witnessed Manchester trio the Onions who were in the Talking Heads mould, they garnered some attention in the following couple of years with a suite of 6 music sessions.

I visited three times in 2014, the initial one to watch Young Mountains, a six-piece post-rock band from Atlanta, Georgia who I surmise were named after their compatriots This Will Destroy You’s debut album.

Young Mountains. Image Credit listenherereviews.com

The second was a slightly anomalous one as it was the only time, I have paid for a singular gig there and not as part of a festival. The band in question was History of Apple Pie from London, a shoegaze act in the vein of Pains of Being Pure at Heart who I had seen previously at Salford Arms. They weren’t quite as good as that debut performance as the sound was a bit muddy prior to asking the audience ‘do we need to turn our guitars up?’ which received categoric assent from myself.    

History of Apple Pie. Image Credit NME

The final piece of that trilogy was Walton Hesse, another Manchester band who produced a fine slice of Americana with pleasing harmonies, reminding me of a country version of Nada Surf. Next on the roster was a double bill of London three-piece Mayors of Miyzaki and Personal Best, a punk band from Bristol. The latter acts initial line up having future members of Attack! Vipers! and Caves in their ranks.

At the 2016 edition of the Dot-to-Dot festival I saw the mod band Pleasure Beach, somewhat appropriately deriving from Blackpool formed by two schoolmates from Carr Hill High School in Kirkham. That school bizarrely being the first team we played at football when I was goalkeeper in the fifth year for Cuthbert Mayne High School in Preston.

Next on the list was a post-hardcore band from Leeds called Unwave, who were a very bracing challenging listen. At the tail end of 2017 another Leeds act called Mush were in town, they had an enjoyable off-kilter sound reminiscent of alt-rock luminaries such as Sonic Youth and Pavement. The band are currently about to go on a British tour.

Continuing the Yorkshire theme at the 2018 Dot-to-Dot I saw KAWALA who met originally whilst studying in Leeds but now reside in London, they were a tad limp for my tastes. Later that year I see roots singer Debra Ohalete who had African influences within her music.

Next on the Gullivers roster was Brighton based folk singer Bess Atwell. She was prolific from a tender age and started writing her own songs at the age of thirteen. My penultimate attendance there was to witness local post-punk four-piece Springfield Elementary. They reminded me a little of Stump of C86 fame.

My only post-covid visit thus far in April 22 was at the Fair Play Northern Quarter festival to see YAANG. Originally a Manchester duo called YANG they added a third member Ben White, previously of Working Mens Club during lockdown resulting in adding an extra A to their name. They were difficult to quantify but perhaps an apt description might be an electro doomy Joy Division, am I selling them well?