Canpubs, cafes, restaurants and their patrons be trusted during times of crisis?
By bringing last orders forward to 10pm, the government’s opinion on the matter is clear.
It’s a resounding ‘no’.
COVID is suddenly swarming all over Britain again – and the finger of blame is being pointed squarely at the pubs.
The virus enjoyed a fresh lease of life when the quarantine barriers came down in summer, gleefully trampling over the fragile Test & Trace system which folded at the first sign of pressure.
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Today, the UK is registering its highest case rate since May.
Yet just a few weeks ago, the government was urging the public to drink and dine out in droves – reassuring them all was safe and well with social distancing measures intact.
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Not anymore.
In a spectacular u-turn, it’s been decided that all hospitality in England must shut early from Thursday to halt the spread of COVID – a curfew that could be intact for six months.
COVID has turned hospitality into the black sheep of the economy.
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The food and drink sector has been treated like unruly troublemaker that repeatedly needs scolding, reprimanding and restraining in the current dangerous climate.
You can’t the trust the company it keeps, and if you give it an inch, it’ll take a mile.
This is the government’s attitude, but the sector sees things differently.
Pubs, restaurants and cafes have spent half a year trying desperately hard to tick off an ever-changing COVID-criteria checklist with two hands tied behind their back.
So far, they’ve gritted their teeth whilst spinning plates and redecorating.
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But the new law – shutting at 10pm – seems like it might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Exhausted, depleted and in some cases downright angry, hospitality is beginning to fight back against its ‘scapegoat’ label.
A social media movement – spearheaded by BarChick – is gaining traction as food and drink outlets argue that their industry “deserves better”.
BarChick has praised the fast implementation of new safety measures, “kick-ass teams” who have “pivoted the way they work”, and the “brave owners” of bars in Britain.
Their argument is that hospitality, by and large, is going above and beyond what is required – and is entitled to more respect.
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According to the campaign, less than 5% of new cases have been attributed to the hospitality sector (although it is unclear as to where these stats were obtained).
Martin Greenhow, Managing Director at MOJO – a popular city centre bar in Manchester – called the new curbs “unjust, punitive, illogical and irrational”, claiming there is no “evidence to support the assumption that hospitality is driving infection”.
“Only 35 cases reported in the sector and as of yet no sign of the threatened dramatic upturn in deaths,” said Greenhow.
“The move to curtail the operational hours of our already crippled industry seems unjust and punitive, not to mention illogical and irrational.
“Are people more infectious after 10pm?
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“Hospitality has slaved to work responsibly within the constraints laid out for us and now we are being thrown aside with scant concern for the impact these measures will have on our businesses and the wider economy.”
Carl Morris, a representative at Yard and Coop restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, reassured the public that the venue was still a safe place to visit, urging customers not to be deterred by the curfew.
“As a hospitality business we are finding all the ever changing restrictions extremely challenging and are urging all customers to continue to support our small independent business,” he said.
“We are also reminding everybody that we are a really safe place to come and enjoy a meal out and drinks with their families and households.”
Tonight (Wednesday 23) is the last time pubs will be permitted to remain open past 22:00 until possibly March – which would mark almost a year to the day they were all shut down.
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Probably the last time this sign means anything for a while…
Open until 4am in Manchester TONIGHT – come and show us some socially distanced love.
There are some small silver linings for hospitality.
So far, there’s been no second national lockdown, and the food/drinks industry can continue to trade.
Indeed, some other sectors have had it even worse.
Take live music for instance.
Musicians, venue operators and festival hosts have been left feeling abandoned since COVID came along – and would likely give anything to swap positions with hospitality right now.
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Some casino staff have been furloughed for so long they’ve probably forgotten the rules of Blackjack, whereas bowling alley workers are also struggling to find their feet again after being closed throughout much of the summer.
The ability to look on the bright side, though, is a necessary trait looking ahead. Hospitality needs to get into the right frame of mind and psych itself up for what is guaranteed to be a true test of mettle this winter.
The Old Wellington and Oyster Bar, pre-COVID
The logic behind the early bell is that closing pubs sooner will result in fewer drunken yobs breaking social distancing rules and prevent people from staying indoors too long – which is what can cause the virus to spread.
Night-time bars will now need to find a way to survive.
Do they open earlier? Do they open on their usual days off? Or do they change the menu to attract more customers during the day?
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Some experts have commended the government’s move as necessary, but others are sceptical – claiming the act will just see a rise in house parties.
Wales has already attempted to combat the prospect of gaff raves by banning the sale of booze in shops after 10pm.
Whether England follow suit remains to be seen.
For now, the government continues to keep a hawk-like eye on hospitality.
Only this time, the industry is glaring back.
Feature
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | May 2025
Danny Jones
Oh, hey, didn’t see you there. Come looking for more top Manc tunage, have we? You’re in luck, because Greater Manchester just keeps pumping out top bands and artists all the time, hence why we do this.
If you’re new around these parts, first of all, welcome and secondly, the whole thing is very simple: every month, we round up some of the best talents coming out of 0161 and talk about why we like them. I know, groundbreaking stuff, right?
They don’t have to be born and bred in Manchester, but they do need to have made this their music home – the first the correct career decision they made, the second being working their way into our ears.
So, now all the housekeeping is done and dusted, let’s dive into some delightful new Manchester music, shall we?
Five Manc bands and artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. IST IST
This month we’re starting off with one of those Manchester bands that may not be new but still crop up for us at regular intervals to remind us of two things: first of all, that they’re brilliant and secondly, that they should have featured on our regular round-up of artists a long time ago.
We’re talking about IST IST, who returned with another live, multiple LP-spanning compilation (plus some extras) this past March, which we’ve had on plenty over the past month. It goes without saying that they sound brilliant live, and we feel bad for only just remembering how good and prolific they’ve been.
You always get plenty of New Order, but also White Lies and Editors; Future Islands, The National and lots of other baritone-driven bands that bring that element of melodrama to layer over the instruments themselves. ‘You’re Mine’ might be their biggest track, but ‘The Kiss’ and ‘Exist’ are also favourites.
2. Robbie Cavanagh
Now, we all know that country music is having a real moment right now and we, for one, couldn’t be happier about it, to be completely frank. Though arguably simplistic at times, it’s soulful, often impressively pared-back, and when something does impress you lyrically or technically, it sticks.
With that in mind, we recently realised that award-winning songwriter Robbie Cavanagh has been on somewhat of a comeback since 2023, and we hadn’t noticed until painfully recently. Returning after a six-year hiatus – bar some little ditties during lockdown – his latest project has some of his best work yet.
Fully tilting from folk into country and folk, the stunning vocalist belatedly blew us away with the bluesy single ‘Helpless’ and a gorgeous new collaboration with solo artist, Abby Gundersen (equally talented sister of Noah), but please still start with his 2016 Mahogany Session, where it arguably all began.
Named after Manchester city centre’s famously eclectic indie emporium, Afflecks Palace have never quite blown up in the way they way we thought they would when we first came across them years ago, but there’s still plenty of time and we’ll be damn it if they don’t deserve more regular listeners.
You’ll also be glad to know that, despite the name, they aren’t one of those trite, overly performative bands who wear a stereotypical Manc-ness on their sleeve that we sometimes come across; they’re just good and deserve a lot more recognition for their contribution to the neo-pysch genre.
As for where to start, we’ll admit we prefer their first album; ‘Forever Young’ is noodley and catchy, ‘Everything Is an Attempt to Be Human’ has those shoegazey guitars, but it just doesn’t get better than the incomparable ‘Pink Skies’, which still makes us feel some type of way – we just can’t quite describe.
We just love it. ‘Nu-Madchester’, or whatever you want to call it, its distinct sunniness never fails to tickle a part of our brains.
4. Findlay
Next up is Stockport singer-songwriter Findlay, who released more new music this past February, and has been making indie pop that ropes in plenty of other influences for more than a decade now.
That being said, she’s always experimenting with her sound, as her collabs with Blossoms, Miles Kane, Bill Ryder-Jones, Joris Delacroix have shown, and this latest iteration seems to have her tapping into everything from almost 50s and 60s female soul singers to slow electronic and more.
We love the smooth sexiness and sheer ambition of her latest single, ‘Stay Kinky’ and ‘Waste My Time’ always feels like a late-night chiller fit for music video set in a dingey bar, however, we still have a soft spot for her debut, ‘Your Sister’, with the riff that’s almost reminiscent of ‘Blockbuster’ by Sweet.
Last but not least, it’s the second time we’re featuring a returning artist and it comes in the form of young Alex Spencer, whose journey from busking around the streets of Greater Manchester to sold-out headlines shows and featuring on the likes EA Sports FC 25 (yes, FIFA) is a truly remarkable one.
The charming and still fresh-faced local lad from Droylsden is nothing short of proof that hard work and determination can pay off, and those ‘Bucket List’ dreams really are within reach. Obvious talent aside, this teenager has grafted his arse off and we couldn’t be more proudof how far he’s come already.
He last featured in this round-up back in April 2024 but even in the time between then, he’s released plenty and developed even further as musician, so much so that we’re not going to suggest which songs to try; instead, you can watch our most recent interview with him and relive his last year or so with us.
I’m Alex Spencer and This is my journey so far!
8 years of my music journey summed up in 1 minute 55😅 Thankyou to everyone who’s followed my journey so far, to anyone new or to anyone who doesn’t know my story, I made this video to show where it all started and how I got here❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hi3W7MHMxX
So, the next time you hear someone foolishly complaining that the Greater Manchester music scene ‘isn’t what it once was’, you can go right ahead of show them these bands and artists.
In fact, you could just point them in the direction of this very page and Audio North, in general, as we do this round-up every month and plenty more every week, meaning you’re headphones never dry up.
For instance, you can check out which Manchester bands and artists we were listening to back in April, both new, current and old, down below. We’ll see you again very soon.
Bruce Springsteen’s unforgettable final night at Co-op Live in Manchester – just wow…
Danny Jones
It’s rare you get to see legends in real life, especially this up close and personal, but there’s still just one key word that keeps coming to mind when we think of seeing Bruce Springsteen in Manchester at the Co-op Live last night: surreal.
We still can’t quite believe that he was here in Manchester, in the flesh, for three separate nights, but we do intend to replay it in our heads over and over again until it fully sinks in.
Springsteen, ‘The Boss’, Brucey, whatever you want to call him, there really is something to be said for someone who’s been going this long and still exerts so much energy at 75.
That goes for his desperately loyal and dedicated crowds, too. The legions that marched down ‘Thunder Road’ and back down the CityLink walking route and the Ashton canal in supreme spirits after all was said and done gave as good as they got.
We can only assume Springsteen was as incredible on the first night at Co-op Live as he was on the last. (Credit: Audio North)
From singing back every chorus to the chants of “Bruuuuuuuce!” between every single song, it was more apparent than ever that being a Springsteen fan is quite literally a way of life for these people; they know every line, every call and response, every micro-dance move and regular on-stage ritual.
Each show is roughly three hours long, by the way – he does have an absolute treasure trove of discography to work through, in fairness.
Put simply, there’s no messing about, just non-stop rock and roll of the highest order. Well, there are some brief pauses, but for good reason…
As a passionate political and philanthropic person throughout a career which spans more than six decades, he took the time to talk about America and the turbulent times they are once again facing.
He spoke about the craven billionaire class, poverty, uniting through art and, just as he did on night one in Manchester, Springsteen railed against a particular tyrant who happens to have found himself in the seat of power yet again back over in the States. He made sure to do this every single night.
‘Born in the U.S.A.’ (which he did decide to play, along with a plethora of the other biggest hits) now feels more like a protest song than ever. The war may no longer be in Vietnam, but there is one raging back home, and he’s even more wary of it than before.
He thanked those in the pit and the stands for indulging him, as well as the “wonderful space” of the Co-op and its “beautiful sound” for hosting him, but we have a feeling the New Jersey poet could have said just about anything and he’d still have 23,500+ in the palm of his hands.
All that being said, it wasn’t like this was a pseudo-rally or anything like that, nor was anything of this being foisted upon the audience, but there was a real sense of a congregation gathering in the church of Bruce to take in his sermon.
His followers have often been referred to in this way, and despite only previously considering ourselves a very casual Springsteen enthusiast, having now been to a sell-out arena gig with one of the biggest Boss fans we know, we can understand why millions of people around the world idolise this absolute icon.
It goes without saying that a huge amount of applause must go to The E Street Band themselves, who are just as much a part of what makes Springsteen sets so special as he is.
From the ever-charismatic Steven Van Zandt (still hard not to see him as ‘Sil’ from The Sopranos) to Jake Clemons on sax – who has been part of the group since 2012 and shared a touching embrace with Bruce as tributes to his predecessor and uncle, Clarence, played behind them – these lot are a family.
Our only minor gripe is that we sorely missed hearing ‘Atlantic City’, but what the concert did confirm is that much like the effect the recent Bob Dylan biopic had on us, we’re now more committed than ever to working through the Springsteen back catalogue from start to finish and seeing how obsessed we get.
To end on one final thought and echo the words of the man himself: “peace, love and freedom.”