If like me, you had resided in the fact that you’d never see the day that you’d be dancing with your pals and enjoying live music again, then you’re probably breathing a sigh of relief seeing the mass of gig and event announcements that are flooding your timelines.
But one person even more excited than us is Tom Kingham, co-founder of Open Beat, whose inaugural music event has been nearly two years in the making now.
Back in April last year, Open Beat were forced to wait it out like the rest of the music industry, after their launch night at Hatch was of course cancelled. Now, they’re full steam ahead with organising monthly live showcases of some of Manchester’s best unsigned talent.
And we’re finally allowing ourselves to get excited over the prospect.
Live music at Hatch. Credit: Hatch/Mike Garry
But lockdown wasn’t all bad for Open Beat – as Tom recalls it was almost a blessing in disguise. It gave them the unique chance to refine their idea and widen their circle of contacts. “We’d kind of planned [the first event] pretty quick last year and didn’t think long term,” he said. “But now we’ve had a good year to plan it, it’s kind of worked in our favour because we’ve managed to get so many more acts on the cards.
“That’s how big the expansion has gone now and we’re not just looking at the indie bands now, we’re also looking at the Manchester grime and hip-hop artists, too.”
In the beginning, Tom admits there were worries over the longevity of Open Beat, wondering, “are we going to be able to keep it up? Are we going to be able to find more and more acts to bring through? Or is it just going to be the same people?” In the end, lockdown forced the guys to take it slow and make careful decisions – and the result is more focused and determined.
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One thing at the forefront of Open Beat’s ethos is promoting the city’s up-and-coming musicians. The idea for the event first came about in the summer of 2019, when Tom and fellow co-founder, Miftah Ali, realised there was little in the way of a big platform for up-and-coming artists to play live.
With a history in organising music events, Tom has experience with some of the biggest events in Manchester like Warehouse Project and Parklife. But he shares humble beginnings putting on student nights at the old Tiger Tiger in the Printworks back in the day. So, he understands how these things work on multiple levels.
But even after working with such big events, Tom likes to go back to his roots with intimate open mic nights and showcases every now and again. Simply because of the connection you get with a smaller audience. “It’s the intimacy – you get emotionally connected to it because it’s just you and them,” said Tom.
“Of course, there’re other people around you. But it’s not another 60,000 people – it’s just you, them, their guitar and the same appreciation of that act as you in the same room.
“These [acts] are really, really good – they’re good enough to make it and sign a deal. It’s just them not being in the right place at the right time – and we want to get them in the right place at the right time.”
So this ended up being the driving force behind Open Beat – to give these amazing artists the large platform they deserve, whilst bringing likeminded music lovers together at the same time.
Tom believes these kinds of opportunities are limited for unsigned artists. “[Music] is sort of like a pyramid system, like there would be in football. There’s a lot of money at the top but the further and further you go down, there is less and we kind of want to even the odds as much as we can.”
Open mic night at The Whisky Jar. Credit: Jason S Kenny
Tom and Miftah have already managed to grow the Open Beat team. Joining them are two members of the music scene. The first being DJ and Unity Radio presenter, Jermaine Lee, who has made appearances at Parklife, Warehouse Project and Victoria Warehouse. The second being singer Joe McAdam, who has also ran the legendary open mic night at The Whisky Jar for seven years. Together, they make up a solid team with tons of industry knowledge.
With this growing team, expansion is more likely. So, aside from soon becoming a recognised and well-respected Manchester promoter, naturally there are plans take the concept to other cities. In doing this, the guys hope to jump into the festival scene and host their own small stage as a platform to do what they do on an even bigger scale. Still using the same local and unsigned talent, but giving them opportunities that really don’t come along all too often.
Now that we’re allowed to play out again soon, the thought of hearing live music again makes us want to burst. To get ourselves prepared, The Manc Audio will be partnering with Open Beat over the next few months to bring you even more of Manchester’s unsigned music. So, you’ll be hearing plenty from them in the near future as they finally get to live out their summer 2019 masterplan.
No-phones nightclub Amber’s has announced it is relaunching its second room
Danny Jones
Manchester’s famous no-phones nightclub, Amber’s, is preparing for a relaunch of its second room, just over half a year on from the venue’s opening week.
The smash hit, semi-censored space, which enforces a strictly no-device policy to ensure those in attendance maximise their amount of in-the-moment enjoyment without any risk of distraction, has just announced that they will be reworking ‘Room 2’.
Confirmed just in time for the rest of summer ‘season three’, where plenty of people will be opting to rave instead of splash their cash on Oasis and/or festival tickets, the soon-to-be-refreshed space will partner with audio specialists to provide an experience set to rival the main room.
Sharing a post featuring blueprints for the fixtures and some of the top-end equipment, new-look second room opens its doors early next month.
Writing on social media, the venue wrote: “Amber’s is proud to announce the relaunch of Room Two, featuring a brand new custom soundsystem designed by Norwegian pro-audio specialist NNNN and OJAS, and installed by Neuron Audio Visual.
“The collaboration between Amber’s and NNNN is the first time that the Oslo-based company, which specialises in innovating the future of audio, has created a speaker system for use in the UK. Amber’s will be the first venue in the country to house the state-of-the-art system.”
“The partnership furthers our commitment to world-class sound and creating a truly unique club space in the heart of Manchester. Room Two also now boasts a brand new lighting system and has received bespoke acoustic treatment.”
Reacting to the news, plenty of punters and artists alike are already stoked to see what they have in store; promoters ABB Events simply said, “We can’t wait to test this out 26 September.”
Speaking to The Manc, a regular visitor of Amber’s Manchester told us: “Room Two at Amber’s always felt a little forgotten – a space with potential, but lacking the same pull as the main room. With this new Soundsystem they’re putting in, it finally feels like it’s getting the love it deserves.”
While we understand the urge to document those ‘unforgettable’ gig moments – that does kind of go against what we build them up to be, hence why the Amber’s concept has gone down so well.
Teasing a lineup of “the best in house, techno and groove”, Amber’s Room Two 2.0 will debut on 2 August, and regulars are buzzing for it.
As always, the headliner remains unannounced to keep that allure, as well as that further added feeling of anticipation and excitement.
‘No ticket, no entry’ – Council urges ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park
Emily Sergeant
Ticketless Oasis fans are being urged not to make the journey to Heaton Park this week.
With three concerts still to be played by as part of Oasis Live ’25 here in Manchester this week, following the iconic band’s two hugely successful concerts at the weekend, Manchester City Council has now reissued its repeated request – and warning – for fans without tickets to the shows to not travel to the park.
The warning comes after it was discovered that the so-called ‘Gallagher Hill’ viewing area inside the park, that went viral on social media, has now had large steel fencing erected around its perimeter.
After taking stock of how the first two shows went, the Council says additional measures have now been deemed ‘necessary’ to protect the environment of the park, ensure areas of parkland and nearby livestock are protected, and maintain public safety.
These additional measures will be in place for the next three concerts, taking place tonight (16 July), and Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July.
The Council says its decision to erect steel fencing around a large area of the hill within the cattle field in the main park is because the area is currently being developed as a new woodland for the park and has been recently planted with around 300 young trees, as well as being a measure to protect the livestock in the field, which include both expectant and nursing cows, and a bull.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there,” the Council said in a statement released ahead of tonight’s show.
There are also no facilities for ticketless fans at the park, the Council confirmed, and they will not be able to see the concerts or get into the event arena – which is double-walled with solid high-security fencing all the way around.
The Council has urged ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park this week / Credit: The Manc Group
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will be on duty around the site across the next three dates to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticketholders, and to make sure that only those who have official tickets can access the concerts.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure at Manchester City Council, commented: “As you would expect, given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimised.”
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead,” Cllr Hacking continued.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Hannah Starkie -
15th March 2021 
