Tag: Sounds from the Other City

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 The ticket collection point at the earlier festivals was Islington Mill, and even though this has now been replaced by Maxwell Hall within Salford University, it remains a central focus point.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.

2024 Gigs – Part 1

After a slow start to the year due to some ill health my numbers then increased exponentially to reach a personal best figure of 143 gigs for 2024. My current total for 2025 suggests I have a decent chance though of surpassing that figure this year. As with all previous annual updates I will cover only the venues that I have already reviewed in previous blogs.

Where shall we start? I guess a good as place as any is the old stalwart Manchester Academy 1. I visited there in February for the 32nd time and as a result also reached another milestone as it was my 100th visit to the entire Academy complex (includes also 42 gigs at Academy 2, 19 at Academy 3 and 7 at Club Academy). My century being achieved a small matter of 36 years and 7 days since my first attendance at Academy 2 in February 1988 to see Wedding Present.

Slowdive. Image Credit NME.

I also had the veritable bonus of finally after a few years of correspondence meeting the music aficionado and musician Andrea for a quick drink prior to the event. The gig itself was my first ever sighting of the now revered shoegazers Slowdive. The band formed in Reading in 1989 and subsequently broke up in 1995 after the release of their third album ‘Pygmalion’. Some of the members formed a splinter group called Mojave 3 before Slowdive reformed for Primavera in 2014 and have since released two albums, the latter ‘Everything is Alive’ achieving a Top Ten placing in several countries.    

The venue was as busy as I have ever witnessed it, and I managed to snuggle into a spot about halfway in on the left-hand side. There was a considerably more youthful crowd than I had anticipated, and it has now become apparent that shoegaze is now being heard by a fresh new generation. The band had a compelling presence, and it was an enjoyably immersive experience.

They were supported by some newer kids on the block, Whitelands, who have been playing since 2017 and had just released their debut album on the legendary Sonic Cathedral record label.  On the night, I also made the inadvertent discovery for the first time of the infinitely quieter upstairs bar!

There was a sojourn in June with my brother-in law Phil to Manchester Old Trafford Cricket Ground as a wingman to see the Foo Fighters on Day 2 of their residency there. We had a couple of scoops prior in Chorlton whilst dodging the rain showers and en route to the ground made a virgin visit to the old Holts brewery pub The Quadrant.

The Quadrant pub. Image Credit flickr.com

There were some painfully slow ticket queues reminding me why I very rarely attend stadium gigs. We sallied about and stood in different spots for their near three hour set. Dave Grohl always cuts a charismatic presence and his swear box was overflowing by the end of the show!

There was a visit to Stockport Rock Salt Café in Moor Top in August where I saw a chap called Eddie performing and just before Christmas, I watched the oddly named Liffey St featuring Eoin Griffin & Mixi Toal at Stockport Cassidy’s in Heaton Moor.

I made another pilgrimage to the Sounds from the Other City festival (SFTOC) in Salford. First port of call was the Manchester Pint Pot Upstairs where I witnessed the Manchester three-piece Shell Company. They had a brooding electronic sound topped off by spoken word poetry from their vocalist Rosebella Allen and have released records that were recorded at the White Hotel venue.

In Manchester Pint Pot Downstairs we could barely scramble through the door to obtain a sighting of Thraa, a Manchester drone duo consisting of Sally Mason and Andi Jackson. They were both in other bands before forming this one and have garnered support slots with Lorelle Meets The Obsolete. They were intriguing as they employed two guitars and threw away traditional song structures to produce shards of sounds, sometimes minimalist and sometimes rather joyously noisy!

Just around the corner in Manchester St Phillips Church we caught a singer called BEATRICE, which I cannot find any information about. Further down the A6 brought you to the vibrant communal area and the Manchester Bexley Square Live Tent where Meme Good were noisily cooking up a storm on the stage. In the nearby fine hostelry Manchester New Oxford, I saw a combo called Fellowship.

St Phillips Church. Image Credit manchesterhistory.net

We then pottered over to the busy hub of Manchester Islington Mill Courtyard where in the outside area alongside the bars and pizza huts, we saw and heard the synth sounds of local musician Sarah Bates. Her career commenced as a solo vocalist and at one stage worked with the legendary producer Nile Rodgers.

Back under the roof in Manchester Islington Mill Mirage Bar we witnessed a portion of Chermonseg’s set. Down the corridor in Manchester Islington Mill Partisan Bar we saw Zolatec who is a drum and bass artist. She was born in Leicester with the name of Ayeshah but is also known under the stage name of Zola Steelpan, reflecting the influence of that particular instrument in her repertoire. She is a festival stalwart and has performed at the Notting Hill Carnival.