Mancunian Blues
Created | Updated Jun 16, 2004
Not on My Doorstep
There are trailers on TV at the moment for a show where two leading pop managers are given a group of cleaners and some bin-men and have to turn them into 'pop stars'. Time to shudder!
Imagine, now, that a leading rock manager had plucked three randoms from a university computer cluster at 2.53am and given them instruments. By around 3.27am he realised that the idea was rather futile and gave up, going back home to his waiting 22 blond female singer who is just on the verge of making it big (and has been for the last 4 years since they met).
Whether or not this happened, the likely result is the band Land Ahoy, possibly the least inspiring act I've encountered. The bassist and drummer have the slight unreal air of being Jim Henson background creations (personally I think the drummer looks like my mate's sister, and that isn't a compliment to either). Fronting the band is a singer guitarist who loses out to a Tesco's own brand corn flake in the charisma stakes.
They make up for their lack of talent, creativity and verve by playing very loud. Credit should be given to them, however, for going up completely unprepared (the drummer didn't even have any sticks) just after Zinidine Zidane went Dick Turpin on the English, and playing to a crowded bar. The lack of nerves and vanity were quite refreshing.
Anyways, what I wanted to talk about was Manchester's regeneration. Manchester's Northern Quarter comprises a maze of former cotton warehouses and mills along the East side of the City Centre. Occipling these now are small fashion houses, odd beat shops and various branches of the sex industry. The hub of the Northern Quarter is Oldham Street, home to a number of the more popular bars in Manchester, reached by carefully avoiding the drunks, druggies and scallies that lurk at the bus stops along the road.
Manchester's regeneration has been monumental over the last few years; the Northern Quarter has played a big a part as any. Bars like Night and Day and Dry Bar kicked off the bar culture that has become the scene across the city, and up the far end Matt and Phred's Jazz club provides the bohemian atmosphere that the Quarter is famous for. This scene was attracted more bars and made it one of the place the places to be live.
Recently, somebody keen to be seen as in the trendy part of town moved into a duplex penthouse just off Oldham Street and suddenly realised that it isn't the tranquil setting they thought it would be.
Rather than adjust, learn to settle into the scene he/she chose to become part of, they have started to barrage the City council with complaints. Night And Day has been one of the biggest venues on the live music circuit for 14 odd years, always providing a big crowd, it has much support amongst the music loving community in the rainy city. However our new NIMBY thought it was a bit noisy so has complained enough to make the council think of closing it down.
In an area plagued by the disreputable, addicts and thieves, for the council to think that attacking a outlet for the creative side of the city (Night and Day also displays an array of pointless and pretentious art on its walls) is the best step forward then I am amazed.
If, as threatened, the entertainment licence is removed, what hope does that give to any music venue or club, no matter how established? Is this just a by product of the quick fix society where we want to show off the image of a thriving creative culture without having to put up with the people who actually made the scene in the first place?
Thanks for listening,
Love, peace and Blues
tjm
