Be it the food and drink, leisure and shopping facilities old and new, bands like Blossom putting the town back on the map, or its growing nightlife scene, the regeneration of Stockport over the last few years has been wonderful to watch — and amongst it all, one place is shining bright: Bask.
Having only just celebrated its first anniversary after opening back in June of 2022, located right outside the train station, Bask is a bar, cafe, music venue and many more things all rolled into one and in the 12 months it’s been open, it’s arguably become the one of it not the best night out in Stockport.
At least for our money, anyway.
So, what makes this spot where people step out of the station to enjoy a coffee, a pint or something to eat so special? Well, it’s partly because of the fact that it never stays simply that place to grab a quick little something for very long — be there long enough and something is always happening.
If you do happen to find yourself stepping out of the station and making the two-yard trip from the doors onto the ever-developing Stockport Exchange, you’ll see Bask’s instantly recognisable orange sign outside a modern glass-panelled unit which used to be a coffee shop with about three people in it.
Cut to today and you’ll find a large and lovely room lined with bar stool window seats, big speakers, two screens showing sport; plenty of tables as well as comfy booths and wooden benches sturdy enough to support your weight when you clamber on top of them hours later (we’ll get to that).
But before you get to that, you have plenty to choose from when it comes to food and drink in the daytime. Whether it’s a big breakfast to start the day, a steaming hot pie from local favourites Ate Days A Week, fresh butties or a luxurious meat and cheese platter to feel all cultured or just a pint of their house lager, you really spoilt for choice.
As you peruse the healthy bar selection — stocking lots of booze including their house lager and two custom brands of Stockport Gin — you’ll see a glorious selection of cakes from Manc music legend Clint Boon’s wife, Charlie, who drops off fresh batches of baked goods every week and even hosts regular bottomless brunches and her already legendary
Credit: The Manc Group/BaskThere’s some seriously top scran.
Bask’s live gigs and mega music nights
Speaking of the Boons, the Tea Party isn’t just about scranning cakes and posh coffees: it’s a jumping-off point for what is an absolutely stellar monthly schedule that is regularly packed out with live performances, themed music nights and all-round partying.
From Inspiral Carpets, Reverend & The Makers, The Lottery Winners; The Sherlocks, Ruby J and all manner of massive music names from the North have taken to this stage already over the last year, and it won’t be long before more acts from all over the country cotton on to how mint a venue Bask is to play.
You’ll also find many members of staff like barman and musician French Coriandah, as well as co-owners Simon Silcock and XS Manchester DJ Gareth Brooks on stage, playing guitar or spinning tracks on the decks — they even had This Is England‘s Thomas Turgoose doing a set the other week, as you do.
They also do their best to promote up-and-coming artists with their weekly Acoustica event every Monday, where aspiring musicians can rock up every week and it’s free entry for the punters. Even when there isn’t live music or, say an 80s-themed night on the cards, they still regularly belt out the best bangers from throughout the ages every weekend and, believe us when we tell you, it’s a vibe in there.
Credit: Bask/Thomas Edwards(via Instagram)We’ve had some absolutely belting nights out in Bask.
Bask Bingo, comedy nights, matchdays and more
And it doesn’t stop there — not even close. From the ‘Baskmaster’ pub quiz to their sellout Bask Bingo and ‘Bask in Laughter’ comedy nights which have seen the likes of Justin Moorhouse, Haley Ellis, Smug Roberts and countless others cracking up locals, they will literally have a stab at anything these lot.
The most impressive part, at least from our experience anyway, is that they always seem to pull it off. This place was originally supposed to open up as just a restaurant but after extraction issues set those plans back, they had to readjust and boy are we lucky they did.
Whether it’s inviting along spoken word artists every month, hosting FIFA tournaments or the Stockport Social Creative Culture and Music Mixer (a bit of a mouthful, we’ll admit), Bask isn’t happy to just be one thing or another and that’s why it’s so good.
It’s even become a regular haunt for the Stockport County faithful week in and week out (having a few mad Hatters in-house doesn’t hurt), serving pies and pints pre-game, right up until late after it’s finished. While many pubs and bars keep footy fans at a distance, this place welcomes them in with open arms — they were even flying the flag for both teams at Wembley earlier this year.
Credit: BaskThey thrive on two slogans: ‘Stockport isn’t sh*t… it’s forever being beautiful’
It’s been a while since Stopfordians had a place like this. The town centre’s Underbank has gradually been rejuvenating under the Old Town revival and Foodie Friday now seems bigger than ever, but there’s something about having a spot that does all of this right on your doorstep that feels special.
We’re happy to go on record by saying that Bask is not only well worth swinging by at any time during the day but beyond just being the best night out in Stockport, it’s also currently one of the best times you’ll have anywhere in Greater Manchester.
If you’ve never been before, it’s worth heading over and giving it a try — you’ll most likely end up doing what we did the first time around: nipping in for ‘one drink’ and end up staying till 2am. Go on, why not?
Louder for those at the back: ‘Stockport isn’t sh*t’.
It’s a good little crew this. Pop in and say hello.Credit: Bask/@thomasedwardsphotography (via Instagram)
Featured Image — The Manc Group/Bask (via Instagram)
Feature
Drake at Co-op Live, Manchester: Forget ‘One Dance’ – we had many
Thomas Melia
Canadian hitmaker Drake graced Co-op Live in Manchester for the final night of the ‘Some Special Shows 4 UK’ tour with PartyNextDoor.
First song in and multi-hyphenate Drake is already feeling sentimental with ‘Gimme a Hug’ as he admits, “I appreciate the fans rockin’ with me / This is really just a small token.”
‘Marvin’s Room’ played out right after, and although the song prior references it as a favourite of “Durk’s boy”, this same love was shared between 23,500 fans in the crowd at Co-op Live last night.
Shortly after, the Toronto-born rapper began the usual minute-long introduction of his gigantic single ‘Passionfruit’ with fans roaring as soon as he sang the long-awaited ‘Listen’.
Drake played out to 94,000 fans across four sold-out nights at Co-op Live in Manchester (Credit: Audio North)
Less than halfway through this stacked setlist, and it was time for the holy trinity of the night: ‘God’s Plan’, ‘In My Feelings’ and ‘Nice for What’ – nothing short of back-to-back bangers.
Fellow Canadian artist PartyNextDoor joined the self-proclaimed ‘Champagne Papi’ on stage to perform a medley of hits from their collaborative album ‘Some Sexy Songs 4 U’ next.
This R’n’B act made sure to play out his murky trap-fused number ‘No Chill’, and he squeezed in the equally melancholic melody ‘Somebody Loves Me’, too.
The pair may be promoting their joint LP but they took a second to squeeze in a throwback, matching each other’s energy while executing the 2016 collaboration ‘Come and See Me’.
Drake’s career is timeless, and the setlist proves just that as he delivers a rendition of one of his most recent successes, ‘Girls Want Girls’, followed by a track that laid the foundations of his career, ‘Fancy’.
Drake and PartyNextDoor for the ‘Some Special Songs 4 UK’ tour(Credit: The Manc)
Almost 30 songs deep and Drake still had fans reciting bars, verses and everything in between, and this continued as the two-time Brit award winner started 2023 anthem ‘Rich Baby Daddy’.
St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red wasn’t present for her renowned chant, but Manchester stepped up to the occasion, professing: “Hands on your knees, hands on your knees / Shake that *ss for Drake / Now shake that *ss for me”, verbatim.
It was only fair that the global rap titan finished with the setlist with two cellular-themed tracks, starting with the “You used to call me on my cell phone” number ‘Hotline Bling’ before the “Who’s callin’ my phone?” viral smash ‘Nokia’.
The setlist follows a very cyclical structure, as although Drake is known for his comical and cheeky persona on stage and online, deep down, the chart topper is very attentive.
Ending on the ever-emotive ‘Yebba’s Heartbreak’ with lines like, “How much can I show my love for you?”, it’s safe to say this international act is feeling pretty grateful after seeing 94,000 fans show up and show out for him across four non-consecutive nights.
Drake may refer to himself as the ‘Champagne Papi’, but it’s the 23,500 fans who were popping bottles and raising a toast to the rap champ; the support for this musical act is ‘Nonstop’.
Co-op Live really is booking all the big names now.
Kendal Calling toasts 20 years of unforgettable memories with Audio North’s best visit yet
Danny Jones
Kendal Calling 2025 was always going to be special: it was yet another sellout edition of a live music and cultural celebration that impresses every year, shifting its ticket capacity in record time.
Even after two decades of success, genuinely getting ‘bigger and better’ each time, the local event that started off as a cult favourite for roughly 900 people somehow remains one of the most underappreciated festivals not just in the North but in the country.
To be honest, there were so many factors that went into making this our best visit to Kendal Calling to date, but we thought we’d rattle off some of them in our review of 2025’s 20th anniversary year, in what was a truly momentous milestone weekend.
Here are just a few.
Kendal Calling 2025 review
The sun shines down on Lowther Deer Park
For starters, 2025 was comfortably the best weather we’ve ever had at Kendal Calling, as the rays beamed down on the valley pretty much all weekend long.
In fact, the only bit of rain we had came overnight/in the early morning during the final 24 hours, and while there was a bit of showering later that night, we got to enjoy the bulk of the daytime making the most of dry ground – by which we mean jumping up and down every chance we got.
As much as there’s something very romantic about the inevitable wet and muddiness of a UK music festival, this particular tree-encased corner of Penrith is just so pretty set against pure sunlight and clear blue skies. Just gorgeous.
The next big plus may come down to bias, but it gave us a buzz nevertheless. Cue Friday night’s headliners:
It’ll surprise none of you to hear that the Greater Manchester music scene was flying its big festival flag high, wide and handsome at Kendal’s 20th anniversary.
Tell me something I don’t know, right?
From youngsters The Guest List, and fellow indie up-and-comers like M60, to now established main stage stars like The Lottery Winners and, oh, you know, a little-known band called The Courteeners, we had plenty of top-tier representation this time around.
This is not to say that we haven’t in the past, by the way. Everyone knows how prolific and influential our city is when it comes to the arts, in general; nevertheless, it felt like this year, extra eyes were on us.
We’d be fools not to surmise that some of this may have been down to Oasis fever still firmly gripping the nation by the neck with both hands (a sea of their adidas merch was certainly a tip-off), but seeing acts we’ve featured in our artists of the month to look out for felt affirming.
Another thing we can never get over is just how much fun we have after the headliners walk off around 11pm…
Beyond the nine stages located around the sprawling festival site, there are so many little nooks and crannies we are still finding three years in, such as a cosy tea tent with cushion seating and low lamplight, the new ‘Green Room’, which serves as a little taste of VIP, and tonnes more.
The best part about all these bits is that they usually get better the longer the night goes on, and as we found from our two nights dancing until 3am to the silent disco over at the Woodlands stage amidst a trail of fairy lights and flashing headphones, Kendal has endless stamina.
Even on the walk back from the technicolour forest full of ravers, those warming their hands by open fires, or simply lying back and gazing up at the stars in the night sky, you’ll see the big Ferris wheel still spinning, food traders slinging out late-night scran, and people still dancing.
As for some of the names that really impressed us this year, Keo, Sports Team and The Big Moon were up there for some of our favourite sets of the weekend, but we have to say that Sheffield’s very own Reverend and the Makers were truly brilliant.
We’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jon McClure and co. live on a number of occasions over the course of our lifetimes, and while they’ve never quite been as massive as we feel they should be, Kendal Calling 2025 proved they deserve not just main stage but headline slots.
Barring arguably Fatboy Slim on Saturday night, they got the biggest energy and movement of the crowd we’d seen since we got there – and it came as no surprise, either, as the case was very much the same last time.
They acknowledged themselves that they’re having a bit of a ‘Rev-naissance’ and we couldn’t think of a more deserving group of musicians.
Honestly, at this point, we’d say we were getting tired of trying to convince people to give Kendal Calling a go if they haven’t before, but we’re not sure we’ll ever be able to put into words a review that’s fitting enough of how much we adore this festival.
Happy birthday to one of the best. Thanks again for having us back, and here’s to 20 unbelievable years.
As ever, we cannot wait until we’re back on the fields again soon.
Danny Jones -
14th July 2023 
