Manchester has a new Cloudwater bar in the unlikeliest of places – and this week it’s showing off its Manchester music credentials with a massive party.
Located at Low Four on Deansgate Mews, it’s also home to a music venue, recording studio and online music TV platform – proving that one venue really can be all things to all people.
The Mews, a stretch of indie bars, restaurants and bakers at the top of the Great Northern Warehouse is probably one of the most overlooked places in Manchester city centre due to its lack of passing footfall – but now we’ve got another reason to visit.
Image: Low Four
Quietly opened in September this year, the Low Four studio – previously based at Old Granada Studios – has worked with a host of impressive artists including the likes of Everything Everything, Alexis Taylor, GoGo Penguin, Dutch Uncles, the Halle Orchestra and Francis Lung.
Having launched earlier this year with a special performance from Francis Lung, who showcased six new songs from his second album Miracle in an intimate preview session, the venue is now gearing up for a big party – due to take place this Thursday, 18 November.
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Low Four alumni Francis Lung / Image: Low Four
Held in collaboration with Design Manchester, Low Four will host the closing DM21 party with a stellar line-up curated by Poppy Ro Jones of band Lovescene.
The night will bring forward sets from Manchester’s own Meme Gold and Jenna G (of Jenna and the G’s fame), alongside a performance from exploding soul scene, neo-soul collective Lovescene itself.
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Kicking off from 6pm, it will close off a week of limited series of real-world and virtual events focusing on local and global co-design by communities and creatives.
Image: Low Four
Those heading down can expect an evening of great beer, floor-filling beats and more as not-for-profit organisation Design Manchester/s 2021 festival draws to a close.
Throughout 2021, Design Manchester has focused on global collaborations, delivering hybrid projects with people and communities around the world, linking diverse communities, designers and artists.
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Partners include Nairobi Design Week, Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, SICK! Festival, 2NQ, MODA-FAD in Barcelona and universities in Manchester, Salford, Reading, York, Birmingham, Barcelona, Milan, Dortmund and Stuttgart, in a programme supported by the British Council and Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Featured image: Low Four
City Centre
A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Manchester Museum has been named European Museum of the Year for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum has been awarded the prestigious title of European Museum of the Year for 2025.
Congratulations are in order, because Manchester Museum – which is part of The University of Manchester (UoM) – has received one of the most prestigious museum awards in the world, the European Museum of the Year Award (EMYA), and has made history in doing so too, as it’s the first university museum to ever receive the annual prize.
It beat out 41 other cultural hubs across the continent to claim the coveted prize.
Operated by the European Museum Forum (EMF), EMYA recognises new or redeveloped museums that showcase the best in excellence and innovation in their field.
According to the organisation, the aim of the award is to shine a worthy spotlight on museums that promote inter-cultural dialogue and community participation, demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, and show creative and imaginative approaches to the production of knowledge.
Judges praised how Manchester Museum has ‘reimagined its mission’ since its £15 million redevelopment completed back in February of 2023, which was described as ‘the most ambitious museum transformation in a generation’.
The major bricks and mortar redevelopment introduced new galleries, partnerships, visitor facilities, and sector-leading work around repatriation, restitution, and indigenisation to what was an already-important visitor attraction in our city centre, as well as the top floor being transformed into an environmental and social justice hub for environmental and educational charities to address issues affecting communities within Manchester.
The museum was also praised by judges for acknowledging and addressing its complex history by redefining the role of its collections and public programmes, with its approach to co-curation cited as part of this, especially working with local and diasporic communities to bring new perspectives to collections and challenging traditional narratives.
Manchester Museum has been named the European Museum of the Year for 2025 / Credit: Manchester Museum
Judges also made sure to comment on the museum’s ‘thoughtful, informed, and impactful community engagement’ which helps to create a truly inclusive space where all individuals can see themselves reflected and represented.
Speaking on the prestigious award win, Esme Ward, who is the Director of Manchester Museum, said: “Museums have the power to be empathy machines, bringing generations and communities together to build understanding, while confronting the past with honesty and transparency.
Georgina Pellant -
17th November 2021 
