Tag: New Order

Manchester Venue 193 – Castlefield Bowl

The Castlefield area of Manchester has an abundance of historical context within its borders. It was the site of the Roman fort of Mamucium/Mancunium that evolved into the later name of Manchester, and it contained the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal, the world’s first industrial waterway initially built in 1764.

Additionally, there is another world premiere with the first ever passenger railway terminating at Liverpool Road railway station in 1830, which is a Grade I listed building and was sold for a princely sum of £1 and is now part of the impressive Science and Industry Museum.

There is also the Castlefield basin which was where the old coal and yarn wharfs where located and which has gone through a major rejuvenation over the last couple of decades. Luxury flats, pubs and restaurants have appeared including the Wharf with its decent tucker and Dukes 92 with its huge outdoor seating area, the pub being named after Lock 92 where the canals originally merged. Castle Quay there now houses Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio.

Castlefield Basin. Image Credit Manchester Evening News

Castlefield was designated as a conservation area in 1980 and then the United Kingdom’s initial designated urban heritage park in 1982. There is the elevated and rather chilly Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, which was previously named G-Mex. There used to be a direct path that took you past the G-Mex (where 33 years ago I saw Madness) and straight into the Great Northern complex, but that has now been partially blocked off.

If you decline to take the steps down from the station you can then gain access to the Castlefield Viaduct. This was built in 1892 and there has recently been a roof garden created which can be seen from passing trains and trams and is open for visits in the summer months.

From that high vantage point there are a set of circular steps that drops you to a grassy area in front of the aforementioned fort which has been partially rebuilt. When I have traversed that route I have quite often noted that the area is home to a couple of what I shall coin as the ‘Castlefield Swans’ who own that patch. On one particular occasion I witnessed them having a fun day out as they strutted noisily down a busy Deansgate and as a result caused chaos during the peak commuter time!

There are a few more steps down from ‘Swan With Two Necks’ (not ‘Lake’ as there is no water feature!) which brings you into Castlefield Bowl. The site was rebuilt in 1993 by creating an amphitheatre with a semi-cantilever structure which became a natural home to stage gigs and events with a capacity of 8,450.

Castlefield Bowl. Image Credit ilovemanchester.com

The first show there was Ian Brown on Millenium eve 1999. Other bands to play there include Noel Gallagher, Arcade Fire and New Order and the site was utilised as a Fan Park during the 2010 Football World Cup. In 2017 it was decided to set up an annual event of shows across a couple of summer weekends under the banner of the Sounds of the City festival.    

I had always wanted to visit the arena after seeing it regularly when heading into the city on the train, and my first opportunity presented itself at the 2018 shindig. The gig on Friday 6th July was during the sweltering 2018 World Cup summer, and I recall our group watching the second half of the France v Uruguay quarter final in the Footage pub on Oxford Road before grabbing some tea in the nearby Hatch complex.

We then gravitated to nearer to the venue with a visit to the Deansgate pub. Upon arrival, I discovered it to be a well-designed area with a good view of the stage from any vantage point. The spur for purchasing the tickets initially was to catch the old troubadour Elvis Costello for the first time who was the designated support act on the night. However, he became ill shortly before and had to cancel a few dates including ours and he was replaced by the Buzzcocks.

The headline act was Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott who most certainly have the tunes including in my view one of the finest ever opening lines of ‘I love you from the bottom of my pencil case’. An entertaining aspect was that as the trains have a panoramic view of the stage, one stopped for a decent length of time on the overlooking bridge as the guard was obviously a fan. He was taking numerous photos resulting in cheers from the crowd alongside some highly bemused punters looking out of the other train windows!  

My other attendance was on the 5th of July 2022 where the pre-drinks and nibbles venue this time was Mackie Mayors. In the bowl, there are some seats set back in front of the stage, and I could hear my name being hollered repeatedly in the style of Dustin Hoffman in the Graduate. It turned out to be none other than my pal Ian ‘Milly’ Millington who was perched on the back row. I then navigated a route through the busy crowd to have a parlay, and my ascent resembled Pat Cash at the Centre Court at Wimbledon. Numerous punters asked me as I passed if I was Jimmy, before chortling to themselves!   

The Pat Cash clamber. Image Credit wimbledon.com

The support band were Slow Readers Club followed by the headliners Pixies. I decided for old times sake to drag my young 54 year old body into the vibrant mosh pit. One of the crew Tim accompanied me wearing his newly purchased Primark trainers that were in a sorry state by the end of the gig. There were appraising looks from one group of young whippersnappers due to my age before mosh pit etiquette was applied, and a respectful nod of the head was provided! 

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.