Tag: Noel Gallagher

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 Venues 130 to 132

Levenshulme is a suburb south of Manchester, residing on the A6 equidistant between there and Stockport. If you drive out of the city centre past Manchester Apollo, you will then pass through this area. It is historically badged under Lancashire before falling under the Manchester borders in 1909. Levenshulme is situated next to the suburb of Longsight where the fabulous venues of Manchester Internationals 1 and 2 were located in the mid to late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

It has its own small train station, which is on the London Euston route. A quirky fact is that the 77-yard stretch of road the station is located on has never been christened. Thus, via lottery funding in 2007 an unofficial road sign was erected with the informal locally used moniker of ‘The Street With No Name’. Sadly, though I don’t think Clint Eastwood’s character ‘The Man With No Name’ from Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars Trilogy’ westerns has ever visited the road!

The Street With No Name. Image Credit flickriver.com

Close to the station is where the weekly local markets were held from 2013, but due to rising costs were closed in 2023. The old ‘dandy’ highwayman Dick Turpin used to frequent the old Blue Bell Inn, a pub which still stands to this day, now owned by Samuel Smiths brewery and an Italian restaurant named Cibus on the A6 has just been awarded the Good Food Guide of best local restaurant in the North West.

Nearby to there your nostrils are assailed by the fine aromas emanating from the McVities biscuit factory. Liam and Noel Gallagher’s mum Peggy used to be employed by them and bring home the rejects and broken biscuits to the two lads which Noel then used to increase his popularity to taking them into school earning him the nickname of ‘Gallagher the Biscuit’.  I became very animated when I discovered they had a shop on site, but then instantly distressed when I subsequently uncovered that it is only open to employees! I think I may need to raise this ultra important anomaly with my local MP!

McVities Factory. Image Credit themanc.com

Levenshulme alumni include actors Arthur Lowe who played Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army, and Gwyneth Powell who was headmistress Bridget ‘The Midget’ McClusky in Grange Hill. From the musical spectrum you have Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll and Wayne Fontana who fronted the Mindbenders.  

When it became apparent this year that my accumulation of gigs could feasibly result in attending 200 singular venues in Manchester, I have begun to make a concerted effort to achieve this aspiration by invoking Project 200. In this regard I took advantage of the fact that Levenshulme is the key Irish enclave in the city, therefore they had events on and around St Patricks Day that I could advantage of.

In July 2023 Aunty Ji’s restaurant closed and was taken over by an Irish and Scottish establishment called Manchester Bia Café Bar. They apparently excel with their fried breakfasts and also commendably provide ‘free porridge breakfasts’ every morning for school children where the need arises. They are also licensed and have periodic live music acts.  On the Sunday afternoon of my visit there was an Irish duo called Grace Kelly & Debbie Garvey playing in front of a packed venue.

The Manchester Union Inn is a traditional sports and music pub where on the same Sunday I saw a Manchester University student violinist Coleen Langan perform. As of today’s date, I am now sat on 192 Manchester venues, so a remaining 8 required for my double century!  

The East Levenshulme district was original known as the Talleyrand, allegedly named after the French statesman of that name who was in exile there during the French Revolution. Respecting that tradition there is now an establishment on the A6 called Manchester Talleyrand.

It is a very homely establishment as you initially enter into a dimly lit continental style beer café, and then encounter the in-house STOCK art gallery. They also utilise the small back room as a multi-functional arts space which includes live gigs in its schedule. The establishment is owned by pals Tom Hughes and Dean Brocklehurst, who met when they were working together at HOME.  

The Talleyrand. Image Credit creativetourist.com

I became aware that they were hosting some interesting eclectic sounding bands, and previous acts who have performed are John Otway, TV Smith and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab. In April 22 we decided to make our debut visit with my pals Paul Catterall and Mark Barry in tow. The latter named is a fine fellow, highly knowledgeable muso and a serial gig goer back in the day but alas now only a very sporadic attendee, so I had to coax him out of semi-retirement!     

The band playing was the Flatmates who were formed in 1985 and part of the C86 scene. The guitarist and songwriter Martin Whitehead formed his own record label The Subway Organisation and were based in Bristol. They are best remembered for their No 2 indie chart single ‘Shimmer’. They disbanded in 1989 but subsequently reformed in 2013 and provided an enjoyable set on the night. They were supported by a fuzzy guitar band from Leeds called Nervous Twitch.