Iconic Manchester music venue Band on The Wall is preparing to reopen its doors this spring following an extensive £3.5 million expansion project that has transformed the 200-year-old venue into a ‘bigger and better’ version of its old self.
As part of the refurbishment, the 40-year-old scaffolding that’s long concealed the dilapidated adjoining three-storey Cocozza Wood building behind it has now been removed – and new CGI images give a picture of how the new and improved music venue will look once it reopens its doors in two months’ time.
Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the deteriorating old building has been restored and joined together with Band on the Wall to form a larger ground floor venue space, which also features a new ‘grand and ambient’ bar area.
A second, newly created bar space, meanwhile, now boasts a new stage, perfect for smaller capacity performances of up to 80 people, and will serve a menu of hot and cold food throughout the day from March 2022.
The new-look ambient bar is one of many impressive new additions to the iconic Manchester music venue. / Image: CGI supplied by PR
Both the bar stage and main stage are designed with step-free access, with the venue now more accessible than ever before.
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The work, which has been ongoing for nearly two years now, sees the adjoining Cocozza building brought back to life after nearly 50 years of neglect.
It has extended the main room’s capacity to 500 and helped to create a whole floor dedicated to its innovative learning programme, World of Music – a broad and integrated programme of heritage, music, learning and research projects.
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This means that local and grassroots community projects working out of the space today now have a dedicated space on the first floor, where previously they were working out of just two rooms.
Purpose-built to deliver community-based learning engagement that celebrates Manchester’s migrant communities and their musical legacies, the first floor is now a dedicated learning space with one large main group space, two breakout group rooms and a state-of-the-art AV suite where budding creatives can record music, interviews, podcasts and film.
The main room has been expanded to a new capacity of 500 / Image: CGI supplied by PR
As a registered charity since 1984, the driver for the transformation of the venue is to create a collaborative hub for young people, the local community and Manchester’s creatives, and to celebrate the cultural diversity of Greater Manchester.
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Speaking on the new and improved look, Gavin Sharp, CEO of Band on The Wall, said: “Band on the Wall has always been bigger than just a venue, and over the last two years we’ve been very busy working on our expansion project […}
“We are delighted to open our doors once again this March, and we look forward to welcoming guests back to our newly improved venue.”
Band on The Wall itself has been a hub for Manchester’s music scene since 1803 and takes its name from its time as The George and the Dragon pub, when performers would literally play on a stage situated halfway up the wall – put there to ensure there was more room for dancing below.
The venue, which has a very impressive history, was at the epicentre of Manchester’s punk scene in the late 70’s, welcoming early performances of the likes of The Fall, Buzzcocks and Joy Division as well as hosting a young Björk, Nadine Shah and Sun Ra Arkestra.
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The refurbishment is made possible thanks to designs by Manchester-based architects OMI and funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, who supported with a £1.4million grant.
Further support came from the Arts Council England, Foyle Foundation, Oglesby Foundation, DCMS, Charities Aid Foundation, Carlsberg, Ticketline, Lloyds Bank and Manchester City Council.
Jennifer Cleary, director, Combined Arts & North, Arts Council England, said: “Band on the Wall is an iconic music venue with global recognition. It has been a wonderful journey seeing the venue modified and modernised, whilst keeping its historic charm, and we have been pleased to support this redevelopment with National Lottery funding through our capital programme.
“We look forward to seeing the new possibilities that the re-opening of the venue will continue to bring – both locally and internationally.”
David Renwick, director, North of England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund added: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we are proud to support Band on the Wall and its growth as one of the UK’s leading creative and cultural venues – with an important and diverse heritage that dates back from 1803. We are really excited to see its programming unfold – and especially to see new talents from their learning programme, World of Music.”
For Band on the Wall’s much-anticipated reopening, fans of the venue old and new can expect a jubilant celebration of Manchester’s international musical heritage.
The reopening season features shows by Binker & Moses, Ibibio Sound Machine, Balimaya Project, Emma Jean Thackray, Jazzanova, Bill Laurance, Asian Dub Foundation and much more. To see the full line-up and purchase tickets, view the full listings for reopening here.
Feature image – Band On The Wall / Google Maps
News
Oasis finally confirm ‘private ballot’ ticket information for reunion tour
Daisy Jackson
Oasis have just announced more information about how tickets will be sold through a ‘private ballot’ for their extra reunion tour dates.
The group added two additional shows at Wembley Stadium after their initial 17 gigs across London, Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff generated huge demand and sold out in a day.
Oasis and Ticketmaster came under fire though for the use of dynamic pricing, which saw ticket prices shoot up by hundreds of pounds by the time people made it through the online queues.
For these additional reunion tour dates at Wembley, ticket sales will look a little different.
They’ll be using a ‘private ballot’, which will give first dibs to those who missed out on the first ticket sale.
You’ll only be invited to register for the sale if you signed into your Ticketmaster account on Saturday 31 August, and joined a queue for a specific show.
And you’ll only receive an invitation if you DIDN’T manage to bag tickets the first time round.
THEN you’ll be able to register for the actual ballot, which still doesn’t guarantee you a ticket but does at least get you into a (hopefully less lengthy) queue.
“Invitations to enter the private ballot will be sent overnight tonight (Saturday) to eligible fans we have been able to identify.
“If you signed into your Ticketmaster UK account on Saturday, 31st August, and were able to join a queue for a specific show, but didn’t get a ticket-then you may be eligible to take part and will receive an email on how to register for the ballot.
“Keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Ticketmaster account, and don’t forget to check your junkmail.
“Once successfully registered, you will be entered into the ballot for a code for access to the final Wembley on sale.
“Due to the demand for the shows and to avoid last week’s long queues, codes will be strictly limited. Entry to the ballot does not guarantee you will receive a code.
“The ballot is only open to invited fans. You must register with the email to which your invitation was sent and which is registered with your Ticketmaster account.
“All other entries will be discounted. If you do not receive an email then unfortunately you will not be eligible for the ballot.
“You will be automatically discounted from the ballot, even if you go through the registration process.”
Featured image: Simon Emmett
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Manchester Airport named UK’s worst in annual Which? survey for third year running
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has officially been declared the worst airport in the UK, according to a new survey by Which?… yet again.
The summer travel season may be drawing to a close now, with hundreds of flights having taken off and landed in our region over the last couple of months, but for any Greater Manchester holidaymakers who are still yet to jet off, an annual ranking by consumer choice group Which? has proved to be pretty grim reading.
That’s because several terminals at the UK’s third largest airport have found themselves at the bottom of the list in Which? latest findings.
Manchester Airport has hit back at the survey and defended itself, saying its own passenger surveys suggest people are “much more positive” about the airport, adding that it was “proud to give people in all parts of the North easy and affordable access to nearly 200 different destinations across the world”.
For its annual survey, Which? spoke to nearly 7,000 passengers to gather feedback about their experiences of flying from UK airports over the last 12 months, and asked them to score the airports across 11 categories.
Manchester Airport has been named the worst in the UK for the third year running / Credit: The Manc Group
Some of these categories including seating, staff, toilets, and of course, the queues we all dread at check in, bag drop, passport control, and security.
And just like in both 2022 and again in 2023, it was Manchester Airport Terminal 3 that ranked right at the bottom, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction score of 37%.
Manchester Terminal 1 ranked one place above that with a score of 40%, while Manchester Terminal 2 was a little further up the the list with a score of 51%, and just saw Luton Airport, London Stansted, and Belfast International Airport sandwiched in between it.
According to Which?, some of the complaints it received about Manchester Airport from passengers who responded to the survey this year was that older people struggled with long walks due to travelators being broken since 2021, difficulties with finding a seat, and “horrendous” queues with people apparently being “corralled like cattle”.
As mentioned though, Manchester Airport has slammed Which?’s findings in a formal statement.
The UK’s third largest airport has hit back at the survey results and defended itself / Credit:
Describing the survey as “disappointing to see”, Manchester Airport’s statement reads: “We understand not every experience is perfect and want all passengers to feel able to raise their concerns directly with us. That is why we speak to them on a daily basis, surveying hundreds of people a month to get in-the-moment feedback from a full range of perspectives.
“That is in stark contrast to Which?, which conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago, asking them to recollect airport experiences that could have been as far back in time as April 2023.
“Which? fully understands that its readers form a narrow group of passengers whose views cannot in any way be taken to represent those of the travelling public at large, but chooses to promote its survey findings as if they do.”
Manchester Airport says it’s disappointing see Which? “chase cheap headlines” with its “sensational and over-simplified characterisation of airports” and the different roles they play, adding: “To make matters worse, it has printed inaccurate statements about our facilities and security waiting times that paint a more negative picture than reality.