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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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
Ofcom says tech and social media platforms ‘must enforce’ their minimum age rules
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has issued an urgent warning, calling on major sites and apps to enforce their minimum age rules with highly-effective age checks.
As it examines continued failings by these services, the online safety regulator says it has this week written to the major sites and apps that young people use the most – including Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube – requiring them to prove to parents a ‘genuine commitment’ to protecting children online.
Since the UK’s online safety laws came into force last year, Ofcom says it has been investigating nearly a hundred different services.
The regulator has taken enforcement action, secured changes to disrupt the sharing of child sexual abuse material, and seen high-risk services either get in line or block access to the UK altogether, as well as ensuring that millions of daily visits to porn sites now require highly effective age checks.
Major platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, Discord, and Reddit have also introduced age controls to prevent children accessing adult or harmful content.
Four ‘clear’ demands for further action have been set out by the regulator this week – effective minimum-age policies and reinforcement of these, strict child grooming protections, safer feeds and algorithms for children, and an end to product testing – particularly AI tools – on children.
Ofcom says tech and social media platforms ‘must enforce’ their minimum age rules / Credit: Robin Worrall (via Unsplash)
Ofcom says it has given the aforementioned platforms a deadline of 30 April to report back to it on the action they will take, and then the following month, the regulator will report on how the companies have responded and announce any next steps for regulatory action.
Speaking on the warning issued this week, Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said: “These online services are household names, but they’re failing to put children’s safety at the heart of their products.
“There is a gap between what tech companies promise in private, and what they’re doing publicly to keep children safe on their platforms.
“Without the right protections, like effective age checks, children have been routinely exposed to risks they didn’t choose, on services they can’t realistically avoid. That must now change quickly, or Ofcom will act.”
Featured Image – Julian Christ (via Unsplash)
News
Derelict Manchester office block to become ‘vital’ accommodation for homeless families
Emily Sergeant
A derelict former office block in Manchester is set to become vital accommodation for homeless families in the region.
Manchester City Council has announced that, subject to planning approval, new temporary accommodation for dozens of homeless families will be created on the site of a derelict former office block in south Manchester, off Nell Lane in Chorlton.
The Council acquired the 1.1 acre site last month with the support of the Government’s Local Authority Housing Fund.
The initiative – which is part of wider plans to boost the city’s stock of quality temporary accommodation – will see self-contained two-bedroom accommodation created for around 55 homeless families built where former NHS offices, Mauldeth House, currently stand.
Mauldeth House has been empty for several years now at this point, and had become somewhat of a ‘blight’ on the neighbourhood, attracting anti-social behaviour along the way and being targeted by squatters – but with the plans for the new accommodation, this could change for the better.
The site, and therefore the new accommodation, is said to be ‘ideally located’ for families, as it’s close to shops, schools, public transport, leisure facilities, and Chorlton Park.
The new accommodation will see families supported by a specialist team based on site to help them move on as quickly as possible into permanent settled tenancies, which is, of course, the long-term goal for many.
The Mauldeth House initiative is cited as being one example of the Council’s drive to increase its temporary accommodation stock across the city to reduce the number of out-of-area placements.
Other successful examples of this initiative include Mariana House in Whalley Range, and The Poplars in Rusholme.
It also comes after it was announced last month that homeless children in Greater Manchester, particularly those who are placed in temporary accommodation out of area for their school, will now get free bus travel to and from school.
“Mauldeth House is a great example of how we can put derelict properties to good use to benefit those experiencing homelessness, as well as making our neighbourhood look better,” explained Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Joanna Midgley.
“We are tackling homelessness on many fronts, the most important one being prevention, but we also need an increased supply of good quality temporary accommodation within the city so that if people do become homeless they are not uprooted from their social support networks.
“One of the ways we are doing this is through the innovative use of existing sites whether they are council owned or we are able to acquire them, as in the case of Mauldeth House.”
Georgina Pellant -
12th January 2022 
