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A bring-your-own booze music venue is opening in Manchester

'Make the night as expensive as you want it to be'

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 2nd September 2025

A brand-new nightlife concept offering bring-your-own-booze is coming to Manchester this month. 

XLR will be the very first BYOB licensed music venue in Manchester, and it’s set to open on Wilmslow Road later in September.

Club-goers will pay for a ticket, then can bring their own beers and alcohol inside the club.

They say they want people to be able to make ‘the night as expensive as you want it to be’.

XLR owner Chris said that clubbing has lost its way from the early 2000s heyday and become ‘very corporate’, so it’s hoped that this new concept will break down those money barriers.

Tickets will be priced between £10 and £20, with lockers provided inside so that you can safely store your booze.

XLR will open on 24 September with appearances from Yung Singh and Bushbaby.

Owner Chris said in a teaser snippet today: “We’re bringing a really new and exciting concept to the venue this year, where customers can bring their own alcohol into the venue. 

“Clubbing has come so very far away from what it used to be, sort of back in the early 2000s, and the early 90s as well. 

“Clubs were meant to be about the music, whereas now it’s become very corporate, very money grab. 

“The clubs used to be cheap and the bars used to be expensive. 

“Clubs now, they’re just run very commercially. 

“We don’t want people feeling like they’re being priced out of venues anymore. 

“It’s very important that anyone can come to a club. We all know the crisis that’s going on with clubs and hospitality this year. 

“When you pay for your ticket, you know you’re paying for the DJ, you pay for the promoter, you’re helping the venue to survive, you’re contributing to the culture. 

“So the tickets will be £10 to £20, you can bring your own beers in, bring your own alcohol in, we’ve got lockers in place so that you don’t have to leave everything out on the dance floor. 

“That’s the way that we’re gonna go this year. We hope that you get on board with the concept.

“We hope that you drink responsibly, because that’s really important as well. 

“We’ll see you in September.”

See the latest from XLR Manchester on their Instagram HERE.

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Featured image: Unsplash, Alexsandr Popov