{{{ MANCHESTER'S SCENE}}} ================== Supposedly the home of house music in the North of England, if you ask people about Manchester, they are likely to come up with one or more of the following: the Hacienda, New Order, Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, 808 State, etc. The whole 'Madchester' scene really took off in 1989 (as I moved up, by coincidence). But that was five years ago - has time stood still, or is there more than just the hype? At the moment, you can't seem to move in Manchester without coming across another new night starting up. This seems like a tradition, since the city has a massive student population, which enjoys clubbing as much as the locals do. However, the recent mass of 'student nights' seem to rely on cheap beer, unknown DJs, and promoters who know nothing about dance music. However, the venues stay the same, even if promoters come and go. Perhaps the most famous is the Hacienda, which became arguably the focal point of northern clubbing in the late 80s when Mike Pickering and Graeme Park were residents at 'Nude' on Fridays. Graeme Park now takes control of the Saturdays along with Tom Wainwright (with the eclectic John McCready downstairs in the Gay Traitor Bar), while Mike Pickering plays just about everywhere BUT manchester when he's not being a pop star with M-People. Fridays is now called 'Shine', and has guests most weeks (eg Todd Terry, Farley Jackmaster Funk, etc). Every last Wednesday of the month is 'Flesh', the north's biggest gay night, which goes on 'til 4am (as do Fridays and Saturdays most nights). However, the Hac has had its share of problems, being closed down by the police and closing itself on more than one occasion, as the result of gang and gun violence (which happily, is the exception rather than the rule these days). It also has a cafe which serves meals during club nights, at reasonable prices - the food's quite good too! 'Flesh' is only one of the many nights which serve the gay community. In fact, Manchester has its own Gay Village in the heart of the city, with clubs and bars that are part of the clubbing scene. Perhaps the best known is the Paradise Factory, which was formerly the headquarters of the now- defunct Factory records (which had New Order, Joy Division and Durutti Column on its roster). With a dancefloor, balcony level and the infamous loft, this venue has seen some of the best nights in Manchester since opening, including LuvDup's 'Jolly Roger' in 1993. At Equinox on Bloom Street, Manumission rose from nowhere to DJ Magazine's number One club in the UK at the start of this year, before heading to Ibiza this summer (with a secret new years eve bash planned back in Mcr). For a drink and a chill-out rendezvous, Manto bar is open all day and from 03:00-07:00 on Saturday night/ Sunday mornings. Other clubs worth checking out if you're up here include Home and Sankeys Soap. Home is on Ducie St, about 100m from Piccadilly station, and hosts LuvDup, Foundation, Seconds Out (next one's seeing the return of Sasha to Mcr - with a 4hr set rumoured!!), and Discovery. Most of these are house and derivatives, but the odd jungle night takes place, as well as hip-hop and all things phat via the Fat City crew. If the last is more your thing, then check out Hoochie Coohchie's nights, currently at Sankeys Soap on Fridays, which are now done in association with JockeySlut magazine. This venue is a converted mill just outside the city centre, with a rather cool open-air forecourt and a long main covered area with stage at one end - this club has some good bands coming up,including A Certain Ratio and Boots Collins. It also has a cafe serving world food, but I don't know what it's like. Perhaps one of the most under-rated places is the Boardwalk, again just out of the city centre (but only 250m from the Hacienda), but well worth finding. Dave Haslam hosts "Yellow" on Fridays (funk, disco, soul, etc) and "Freedom" on Saturdays - recent guests include Jon Marsh (the Beloved - the only time he's DJ'd in Manchester), Slo-Moshun, Pete Heller (Boys Own), etc. It's only 5/6ukp on Saturdays, making this the best value in Mcr on a Saturday night! There are also plenty of places to buy the records you hear in the above clubs: the most famous is probably Eastern Bloc on Oldham Street - across the road is Vinyl Exchange, which stocks the best range of second-hand music in Manchester, wirth some bargains as well as some very rare collectors material. Also check out Manchester Underground on Fennel St and Fac City records in Afflecks Palace, Oldham St. (I think Spin Inn has re-opened just off Market St, but I'm not sure - they were very good for hardcore/jungle). Also good for all non-commercial stuff is Piccadilly Records on Brown St, as well as all the major record superstores on Market St. Radio stations: Piccadilly Key 103 is the biggest, but plays commercial shit - avoid (even Stu Allen's 'rave' show is crap). Kiss 102 came on air in October, and is still finding its feet, but has some very good shows in the evenings. There are also some very good pirate stations, eg Soul Nation 104.6, but these come and go - just keep checking the radio FM dial! I've lived here for over five years, and, as you can probably guess, I love this city. If you're not a UK resident and make a trip to the UK, you should make the visit if you enjoy clubbing and dance music in general. It's about 2 1/4 hours by train from London, easy to get to from most of the UK, and well worth the visit. {{Andy S - Manchester, England}} 25th Nov. 94