Social Avenue: The Manchester promoters throwing safe parties in a pandemic
Superstar record spinners Eats Everything, Darius Syrossian, Alan Fitzpatrick, Judge Jules and Skream have all signed up to feature on the bills for the socially-distanced events at Trafford Park, which have - against all odds - proven to be a huge triumph.
There’s some amazing footage doing the rounds on social media right now showing thousands of people packed inside a pool party – floating on top of inflatable dinghies whilst electronic music buzzes overhead.
But what’s most striking about these images isn’t the colossal crowd or the pounding soundtrack. It’s the fact that they’re broadcast from Wuhan.
Yes, that Wuhan – the same place where coronavirus first reared its ugly head before ravaging the world.
Just a few short weeks ago, scenes like this were utterly unimaginable. Most of the people in the video were confined to their homes as recently as April – with the city severed from the rest of the country.
But this part of Hubei, once a terrifying picture of sickness and panic, is back partying like COVID never happened.
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Seeing the return of the festival in Wuhan has stoked feelings of surprise, astonishment and even envy in the western world.
But these images also offer an optimistic glimpse into the future.
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One day, that will be us again.
We’re not there yet, sadly. But, hopefully in the months ahead, full-scale raving will return.
And in the meantime, Social Avenue – the safe dancing event series based right here in Manchester – is helping us get there, one step at a time.
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Social Avenue founders, Brian & Jorge
Whilst the UK continues to try and shake off the lingering symptoms of coronavirus; bars, restaurants and exercise centres have all cautiously returned to action.
But parties and festivals have remained largely banned.
Between the loud volume, close contact and big crowds, experts consider music events to be some of the most likely gatherings to cause an outbreak.
However, Social Avenue’s ‘dance at a distance’ series has found a way to tick the safety boxes whilst treating electronic music lovers to their first live raves since March.
Superstar record spinners Eats Everything, Darius Syrossian, Alan Fitzpatrick, Judge Jules and Skream have all signed up to feature on the bills for the socially-distanced events at Trafford Park, which have – against all odds – proven to be a huge triumph.
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Social Avenue
Social Avenue events see people partying in their own little pockets at allocated tables – with drinks and grub available to order from start to finish.
One-way systems are in place around the car park – as well as hygiene stations and social distancing measures.
Face coverings are also encouraged and handed out to every person on arrival.
The pair behind the promotion, Brian and Jorge, thought about the idea shortly after events stopped completely in March. They couldn’t help but wonder if there was another way for live music to continue.
“We slowly started to work more on the idea of a socially distant event series which seemed very ambitious at the time,” the duo said.
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“But once Boris announced that outdoor social distancing events could go ahead, we immediately pushed forward with our planning.”
Two weeks later on July 25 – Social Avenue was born, and summer was saved.
Social Avenue
Whilst the first few events were challenging, the promotion soon found its feet.
The team found a way to welcome 500 people into Trafford Park by working closely with local authorities; investing in a health and safety team to go above and beyond the guidelines set by the local council and government.
Brian and Jorge said: “Our Health & Safety Officer, Brian Cleary has taken no shortcuts on our site and has made sure that every possible guideline and more has been covered for everyone’s safety.
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“It’s been stressful and the hours have most definitely been excessively more than any other project but our full team at JBM Music have been amazing throughout!
“We are definitely happy with the current outcome, the feedback we are getting from attendees is very positive. We hope to carry on this same momentum and keep building the blocks to the safest socially distant event series in the UK. “
Brian and Jorge say the events industry “has been left in the dark in regards to guidance and help”, and they’ve had to think outside of the box to ensure maximum safely for all ticket-holders at Social Avenue.
Extra measures include hand sanitiser being on tables and toilets – as well as site supervisors and door staff handing out extra masks out in case someone loses theirs.
But of course, all of the measures in the world are still utterly ineffective if the public don’t follow the rules.
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Fortunately, so far at Social Avenue, the crowd has been compliant.
“The general feeling and way people have acted have been absolutely brilliant,” explained the promoters.
‘Those who have attended Social Avenue have really embraced the new measures in place, and this really helps us do our job safely and even better.”
Despite the major success of Social Avenue so far, the future still hangs in the balance. Brian and Jorge know everything can change in an instant – which is why they’re doing everything they can to ensure the series continues for as long as possible.
Social Avenue
“We want to keep our JBM Music staff in work as well as provide work for bar staff, site crew, security, cleaners, lighting/audio engineers etc,” explain the promoters.
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“The whole entertainment industry itself has been turned upside down with no real vision still to how it will return or what measures are going to be in place for the return in the future.
“Lots more events are beginning to pop up with social distancing in place. Whilst these will not be to everybody’s taste, it is really crucial to urge people to support small businesses, as the amount of people it benefits within our industry is huge. Where possible we urge people to hang onto tickets for postponed gigs, too.”
“If social distancing events are something we have to carry in to next year due to the pandemic we are ready to do so.
“We’re also ready to build on our current idea to create something much bigger for Manchester!”
Find out more about Social Avenue and grab tickets for their parties here.
Audio
Five Greater Manchester-based artists we’ve been listening to this month | December 2025
Danny Jones
This is it: the last Greater Manchester music round-up of the year, only a couple of days late due to a mix of the post-NYE 48-hour hangover and quite possibly still being in a largely mince pie-induced food coma.
In all seriousness, 2025 has been an absolute belter not just for music but the North, in particular, and especially here in Manchester.
We know we say it all the time, but we really are blessed and well beyond lucky to live in one of the creative and audio capitals on planet Earth.
So, for one last time (an Audio North encore, if you will), please give it up for the amazing musicians based in and around Greater Manchester that we were listening to in December.
Five local artists we’ve been listening to this past month
1. Concrete Club
First off is some deeply satisfying British indie in the shape of Concrete Club – a fitting name for a band based in an ever-growing metropolis, swept up in a sea of cranes and never-ending construction. Intentional? Unsure, but given they formed in 2022, it makes sense and sounds as good as they do.
Vocally, it can take a minute to get used to frontman and bassist Jonny Brewster’s approach, as it swings between everything from Fran from Red Rum Club, Brandon Flowers and White Lies’ Harry McVeigh. There’s some serious range on show, and it makes seeing where each track goes next exciting in itself.
Not only is it extremely impressive, but once you get used to the minor whiplash, it can often feel like you’re getting an ever-so-slightly different singing style each time. In terms of tracks to start with, we’d recommend ‘Relentless’, ‘Jackie Don’t Mind’ and ‘Electric Sunrise’, but there’s plenty of breadth to enjoy in their easily-digestible discography. They even got the nod from the late, great Mani. RIP to a legend.
This one's for Mani. Our mentor, our champion and our friend. We can't describe how much we'll miss him – and we'll leave it at that.
Next up is some unapologetic girl rock, which may have been born in the West Midlands, but solo artist Lissy Taylor is fast taking her music all over, with the ride so far taking her across the UK, Europe and even the United States, before posting up here in Manchester.
We’ll admit that seeing any musician donning a Stoke City shirt whilst performing live on BBC coverage was always going to catch our eye, but after we learned she had also become the first woman from the area to ever be signed by Universal, she held our attention. She might not be the finished article just yet, but you can tell she’s a woman on a mission.
More than a decade into her career, and now based in our fair city, you can tell that Taylor has more confidence and conviction than ever: you can hear it in her music. It started in 2023 with our fave, ‘Feel For Me’, and has spread into tunes like ‘Life Changing’ and her latest single ‘Jealous’. Give them a go.
3. Plastic Heart
They say three is the magic number, and judging by what we’ve heard so far from Manc alternative rock outfit Plastic Heart, they just might be on to something. Even with just a few properly studio-produced and finished tunes on the internet, they already have a very well-defined sound, and it’s got us hyped.
A five-piece from in and around Greater Manchester, these lot look like they’re off on the right foot, as they’re not just getting themselves about on social media but, most importantly, they’re clearly busy at work writing, rehearsing and recording a solid first batch of material.
In terms of what is out there so far, you’ll get hints of Vukovi/PVRIS in ‘Hear My Call’ and ‘Tension’; plus, based on their little teaser on Instagram, we’re looking forward to the fully-fledged version of another as-yet-unreleased song, ‘Ashes’. Get on board from the start and thank us later when that first EP drops.
From yet another female-led group to another fun, albeit very kind of vocalist, but one that we have been left very intrigued by, to say the least. We’ll begin by assuring that, yes, this is their name, and no, there are no typos in the spelling; this Manchester-based project isn’t like much you’ll have heard before.
We came across them via their show alongside equally unique poet and musician Edward Barton, as they joined up with the veteran artist and all-round eccentric at The Yard, as well as having written with each other earlier in the year. At first glance, they seem just as idiosyncrantic, charmingly unserious and entirely singular as he is, but we suspect there’s more to come.
The lyrics are arguably even more anecdotal and amusing, and rather conveniently, we can only find two tracks on Spotify, so you can similarly get up to speed on this very intriguing concept before falling into what we can only imagine will go on to be a pretty wild Bandcamp wormhole.
5. Chloe Slater
One more fantastic artist doing wonders for women in music, for good measure, shall we? Plenty of you will have no doubt heard of Bournemouth-born singer-songwriter and 0161 adoptee, Chloe Slater, but we’ll confess it’s taken us far too long to dive deep into her full catalogue.
It was probably one of the biggest musical mistakes we made this past 12 months, but we will be rectifying it as one of our first New Year’s Resolutions. Going from a somewhat disaffected uni dropout to an opinionated, outspoken and politically charged lyricist – she’s been a Northerner in spirit, alright.
Touching everything from regional and generational challenges, we struggle to play favourites, but sod it: ‘Price On Fun’, ‘Harriet’, ‘Nothing Shines On This Island’, ‘Death Trap’, ‘Tiny Screens’. Just trust us and listen to every second of this up-and-comer who’s already supported fellow rising alt-pop star Role Model and, coincidentally, is a dead ringer for actor Daisy Edgar-Jones…
So that’s it for another year, only the best part is we’ll be keeping this show on the road all throughout 2026 as we hunt for more local music legends in the making.
With that in mind, if you’ve got suggestions for Manchester-based bands we should listen to next or know a native who you believe is the next best thing, please do drop them in the comments.
Oh, and if you want even more of our favourite artists over the past year, why not check out the list of what The Manc, HootandThe Sheff team named as the top albums of 2025?
Sankeys shares sneak peek at new venue as legendary Manchester nightclub gears up for return
Daisy Jackson
Sankeys has given Mancs a glimpse inside its new venue as the legendary nightclub gears up for its return.
The club was one of Manchester’s top nightlife spots for years, before shutting down seemingly for good almost a decade ago.
Set within Beehive Mill in Ancoats, Sankeys was a true icon of Manchester’s global nightlife scene.
And while the old Sankeys Soap nightlife space is now full of co-working spaces, the spirit of Sankeys is about to be reborn.
The exact location of the new club is still being kept under wraps ahead of its reopening at the end of January, but new renderings have been released to give us a glimpse of how it will look.
Sankeys is promising ‘A reimagined space. New energy. Same legendary nights’.
The new Sankeys Manchester will be a 500-capacity venue, designed to ‘capture the raw underground energy that made Sankeys one of the most iconic club brands in the world’.
It will feature an LED matrix grid installation that will immerse clubbers in ‘light, sound and atmosphere’.
Sankeys Manchester officially opens on 30 January – you can see a glimpse of how it will look below and grab tickets HERE.
The Manc -
20th August 2020 
