The battle to ‘save’ Manchester’s iconic Night & Day Cafe seems to have finally come to an end, with a lengthy court battle wrapping up last month.
The historic venue has helped launch the careers of countless bands and played host to intimate gigs from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Arctic Monkeys, Wet Leg, James Bay and Elbow.
A couple of years ago though, a ‘new resident’ in the neighbourhood filed a noise complaint.
And then Night & Day Cafe was slapped with a Noise Abatement Notice by the council.
And then they took the whole thing public, and the row rumbled on and on and on.
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The resident unwittingly at the heart of the media storm (some very famous faces were rallying behind the venue) said that the music was so loud it could ripple their toilet water, Jurassic Park-style.
In a lengthy piece recently published by The Mill, previous residents came forward and backed them up, saying that the flat was ‘uninhabitable’ and a ‘living nightmare’.
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That piece also revealed that Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, at one time came forward and offered to buy the flat for cash to put an end to the whole thing.
The 1975’s Matty Healy reportedly made a cash offer to buy the flat involved in the Night & Day Cafe noise row. Credit: Instagram
But three years after the noise complaint row hit headlines, Night & Day Cafe has been granted permission to continue operating as a gig venue and nightclub, with a few conditions that should end the back-and-forth between them and their neighbours.
Manchester City Council has maintained throughout the ordeal that it has had no intention of shutting down the Oldham Street venue, saying that the Noise Abatement Notice was issued as a ‘last resort’ after months of negotiating and compromising.
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After three years of public statements and court hearings and occasional celebrity endorsements, it looks like Night & Day Cafe can finally go back to what it does best.
And if you also got lost in the whole storyline along the way, here’s a little refresher of what happened and when (it goes back a full decade…)
Night & Day Cafe’s noise row as it happened
January 2014 – Night & Day is first hit with a Noise Abatement Notice, with thousands (including Johnny Marr, Frank Turner and Tim Burgess) signing a petition to have it removed.
September 2014 – Night & Day is allowed to remain in operation, on the condition that owners meet with residents every three months and to discuss any issues.
August 2020 – A man buys a Northern Quarter flat that neighbours Night & Day Cafe. The world is still under lockdown restrictions and live music is all-but non-existent.
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July 2021 – Restrictions lift and this iconic venue springs back to life with its first event. The noise is so loud inside the neighbouring apartment, the toilet water ripples, Jurassic Park-style. The residents file their first complaint, and meet with the owners of Night & Day to discuss a solution.
November 2021 – After multiple complaints, and multiple meetings with the venue’s bosses, Manchester City Council serves Night & Day with its Noise Abatement Notice. The council received hundreds of noise complaints that year – this was the only one that resulted in a NAN (the rest were sorted out by venues without council involvement).
November 2021 – Night & Day goes public with its Noise Abatement Notice and launches a petition to have the NAN removed. It gains almost 100,000 signatures and is shared by many famous faces in the music industry.
November 2021 – The resident at the centre of the row speaks to the MEN, saying their issue is with the club nights (not the gigs) and that he’s spent thousands of pounds trying to insulate his flat from the noise.
November 2021 – Local artist Paul Hallows, who works under the name himHallows, creates a series of tongue-in-cheek free posters about the whole situation.
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October 2022 – Night & Day pushes its petition to have its NAN removed again, as the venue says its future ‘still hangs in the balance’. It claims that complying with the requirements of the abatement notice ‘would effectively ruin Night & Day’s business’.
November 2022 – Night & Day heads to court for the first time, with celebrities rallying around the venue. Jeremy Pritchard from Everything Everything, Elbow’s frontman Guy Garvey, and Matty Healy from The 1975 all lend their support.
November 2022 – Manchester City Council confirms it’s had five complaints from four different flats – not just the one at the centre of the row.
December 2022 – Blossoms perform at the venue to mark one year to go until the opening of the Co-op Live Arena. They have #SaveNightandDay posters plastered to their equipment.
Summer 2023 – Matty Healy pops up to the flat and tries to buy flat for cash, according to reports in The Mill. The sale fell through because The 1975 were sued for a large sum, after Matty kissed his bandmate on stage in protest of Malaysia’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
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January 2024 – Night & Day heads back to court for a three-day hearing. There were several other court appearances over this timeline, but to be honest, we’ve lost track too. They said again ‘the source of the problem is that when the adjoining building was converted from warehouse to flats, no consideration was given to the pre-existing live music venue’.
March 2024 – It all wraps up quickly at Manchester Magistrates’ court, and the NAN is upheld. Night & Day can remain open, but will have to compromise.
Lorde to play massive Manchester gig later this year as part of world tour
Emily Sergeant
Lorde has announced she’s heading out on a massive world tour later this year, and of course she’s stopping off in Manchester.
The New Zealand-born singer-songwriter undeniably burst onto the music scene at the tender age of 16 with her runaway number one hit ‘Royals’ all the way back in 2013, and has been successfully cementing herself as a household name ever since.
Following her debut single, she has gone on to break several records with the releases of her first three studio albums.
She has also scooped up a handful of GRAMMYs and BRIT awards along the way.
Lorde is set to play a massive Manchester gig at the AO Arena later this year / Credit: Supplied
The 28-year-old – who is known and loved for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting – has recently delighted fans by confirming that she’ll be releasing her fourth studio album, titled Virgin, towards the end of next month, and not long after that highly-anticipated release is when you’ll be able to catch her taking to one of Manchester‘s biggest stages.
Fans of the critically-acclaimed pop star will be able to grab tickets to see Lorde when she performs at Manchester’s AO Arena on Saturday 15 November 2025 as part of the Ultrasound Tour.
Other major UK cities she’ll be stopping off at include London, Birmingham, and Glasgow – making this a somewhat exclusive ticket to get your hands on.
Tickets are set to go on general sale next week, following several pre-sales in the days leading up to it.
Support for Lorde’s Manchester gig is to come from equally-revered singer-songwriter and record producer, Dev Hynes – better known by his stage name, Blood Orange – who is believed to have lent several co-production credits to Lorde’s upcoming fourth studio album.
Fellow producer Jim-E Stack will also provide support in Manchester.
Lorde will be taking to the AO Arena stage here in Manchester on Saturday 15 November, and tickets officially go on general sale next Friday 16 May at 10am.
General sale follows two pre-sales – a Three+ Presale on Wednesday 14 May, followed by an AO Arena-specific Presale on Thursday 15 May, both going on sale again at 10am.
Find out more and get tickets when they go on sale here.
Featured Image – Thistle Brown (Supplied)
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Olly Murs at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more
Thomas Melia
The ‘Troublemaker’ himself Olly Murs is ready to cause some more chaos, and this time he’s returning to Manchester with throwback boyband, Blue.
X Factor and British star Olly Murs is embarking on his latest UK arena tour, which feels more like lads on tour with a helping hand from UK boyband, Blue.
Back in the late noughties, it was hard to escape the blazer-wearing, trilby-wearing popstar as he was dropping back-to-back bangers like ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ and doo-wop inspired ‘Dance With Me Tonight’.
Now, this cheeky chappy is embarking on the ’15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025′ tour, where he’ll be belting out all those classics as well as some more recent tunes too.
Olly Murs is coming to Co-op Live in Manchester this week.Credit: Marcos Moreno via Wikimedia Commons
Are there tickets left for Olly Murs’ Co-op Live gig?
There are just a few tickets left for Olly Murs at Co-op Live, so make sure you bag yours before your ‘Heart Skips a Beat’.
To see a range of tickets and prices in all sections of this impressive new entertainment venue, Co-op Live, tickets can be found HERE.
Plus, even if you miss out on the Co-op Live, we wouldn’t worry too much, because the British popstar is also coming to AO Arena later this month near the end of his tour with tickets HERE.
Olly Murs 2025 tour – ’15 Years Of Hits’ setlist
This Essex chap might have a solid setlist which he follows night in and night out, but he’s no stranger to being a bit ‘Unpredictable’ – I mean, he’s bringing a flamethrower on stage…
After being on our screens and airwaves for almost two decades, it’s no surprise that this setlist is lengthy, totalling at just over 20 songs, give or take the 80s medley weaved into the mix.
Who doesn’t love a bit of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ paired alongside Murs’ stacked setlist?
Troublemaker
Right Place Right Time
Please Don’t Let Me Go
Thinking of Me
Oh My Goodness
Heart Skips a Beat
Kiss Me
Army of Two
Hand on Heart
Up
Die of a Broken Heart / I Found Her / Dancing on Cars / I Hate You When You’re Drunk (Marry Me Medley)
Seasons
You Don’t Know Love
I’m Your Man / Never Gonna Give You Up / Livin’ On a Prayer / Beat It / Careless Whisper / I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) / I’m So Excited (80s Medley)
Dear Darlin’
Years & Years
Never Been Better
Wrapped Up
Save Me
Dance With Me Tonight
What are the stage times for Olly Murs in Manchester?
Olly Murs sporting his usual blazer and top-hat style back in 2013.
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning concertgoers can be ‘Wrapped Up’ in the Essex popstar’s hits without having to worry about getting home too late. It’s a school night after all!
Doors for Olly Murs’ ‘15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025’ are scheduled for 6:30pm, with a kick-off time of 7:30pm and support from 2000s UK boyband, Blue.
The BRIT Award winners, Eurovision-performing and one-time chart toppers, are back together once again and about to take us back to pop school as we re-learn the words to boyband textbook classics, including ‘All Rise’, Best in Me’, ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ and more.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, fortunately, it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre; they run until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there are limited parking spaces available at the venue but these must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are also designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Daisy Jackson -
10th April 2024 
