It might be two decades since the ‘Madchester’ movement changed British music – with trailblazing bands such as The Smiths, New Order and the Happy Mondays emerging from the city’s working-class streets – but the unofficial capital of the North is still home to some of the best in British alternative pop culture.
“Cheers pal, see ya later,” says the train guard as I arrive at Manchester’s Piccadilly station. Chatty locals are noticeably friendlier here than their capital counterparts, and it’s this down-to-earth cheeky charm paired with a pioneering creativity that gave rise to the world-famous Haçienda nightclub and the Nineties ‘baggy’ scene.
Immortalised in Michael Winterbottom’s film, 24-Hour Party People, bands including Inspiral Carpets and the Stone Roses revolutionised guitar music, while the Haçienda – largely financed by Factory Records, in turn kept afloat by sales from New Order – popularised acid house and rave.
So it’s appropriate that I’m hooking up with Craig Gill, the Inspiral Carpets drummer who has launched his own music tour of the city that also gave us Joy Division, The Fall, and Oasis. Gill knows them all: his band turned down the infamously arrogant Noel Gallagher as a singer – instead offering him a job as roadie. “Then he broke his leg the day before our tour so it was us that had to carry him around!” Gill laughs.
Manchester was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and came to be considered the centre of capitalism in the late 19th century. As a result, the city centre is dominated by impressive buildings dating back to this time, which seem to me to speak of money and power.
One such building is the Free Trade Hall in Peter Street, of which only the façade now remains. It may have been built in the 1850s, but it too can claim a place in rock ‘n’ roll history. The Sex Pistols’ gig here in ‘76 has passed into punk folklore, inspiring a generation of Mancunian musos – including The Buzzcocks – to pick up a guitar. Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd also played here in the Sixties.
The Haçienda nightclub led the dance music revolution with its acid house nights, but, criminally, it’s now an apartment block. By a memorial, Gill tells tall tales – many not legally printable – of the excesses that eventually broke the unconventional Factory Records label.
However, the ‘Madchester’ legacy continues at FAC251, the former-Factory-HQ-turned-club, where Gill DJs. (Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder will also play here in November.) “It’s still a great night out in this city,” Gill says. And it has to be: this is the largest student campus in Europe, with 50,000-plus students packing the pubs and clubs.
Gill recommends clubs Sound Control and Deaf Institute on Oxford Road for gigs. “And in the Northern Quarter, Band on the Wall is great if you like world music,” he adds. “The pubs around Oldham Street all have their own music rooms too – it’s like a little Memphis up there.”
It’s not all shabby student chic though: Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney lives in the Dubai-style Beetham Tower – the tallest residential building in Europe, boasting 16 penthouse apartments – while the Cheshire set keep designer bars in business around Deansgate Locks.
I wish Gill the best for the Inspirals’ new material and stop off for a 90p beer in the city’s popular Gay Village, which attracts 20,000 revellers every weekend. I’m then meant to be heading for Cloud 23, a flash lounge bar frequented by one Mr Rooney, but instead I find myself waylaid in an earthier establishment.
The walls of the Circus Tavern – self-styled as “Europe’s smallest bar” – are covered in Manc-oriented sporting memorabilia. Before I can check them out, regulars haul me behind the bar to pose for photos. “You don’t need a guidebook round here mate, you just ask!” cries one.
Sometimes cheeky, always up for a laugh; that’s Manchester.
More on Craig Gill’s Manchester music tour at manchestermusictours.com
Getting there
Virgin trains (virgintrains.co.uk) travel from London Euston to Manchester in about 2hrs 10mins. Advance tickets cost from £11.50 each way.
Where to eat
Victorian period pub Mr Thomas’s Chop House does old-school British favourites, including Didsbury-bangers and mash, for about a tenner. (tomschophouse.com)
Try fancy ciabattas and upmarket salads for about £5 in Trof.There are branches in town as well as in the heart of student party land. (trof.co.uk)
Where to drink
Look down on this great city through floor-to-ceiling windows at Cloud 23, in the 47-storey Beetham Tower. Try out the signature cocktails, or you can even go really posh with High Tea. (cloud23bar.com)
A pint of bitter at the Circus Tavern on Portland Street, which claims to be “the smallest bar in Europe, with the biggest welcome in the world”, is well worth £3.60.
Where to sleep
Cool rooms (each comes with an Apple iMac); warm staff: Mint Hotel is bang in the centre of town with doubles from £79pn. (minthotel.com)
In the famously bohemian Northern Quarter, Hatters Hostel on Newton Street has dorm beds from £15pppn. The staff will throw in some valuable local knowledge for free – if you ask nicely. (hattersgroup.com)
