Category
5 articles
The first band on the bill is no longer background music while you find your spot at the bar. Across Greater Manchester, opening sets have become the reason people leave the house on time — here are six acts making 25 minutes count, and the people who build those sets with them.
A familiar song filtered through a Manchester lens can say more about the scene than another original — and in 2026, the city’s cover culture is both a creative playground and a commercial lifeline. This is the case for the rendition, from warehouse reworks to acoustic tributes, and the pushback that comes with it.
Waiting lists, shared amps and £15 hourly lock-ins: the rooms where Greater Manchester bands actually become bands. We spoke to studio owners and emerging artists about the quiet infrastructure behind the city’s next wave.
A six-pack of self-released EPs from Greater Manchester artists shows how bedroom producers, tiny tape runs and postcode-specific scenes are feeding the city’s live circuit. We speak to the artists and ask what DIY release culture actually reveals about Manchester’s next wave.
Forget the tribute-act treadmill. In Salford arches and Northern Quarter cellars, a handful of bookers are building nights around strange bills, proper sound and crowds that actually listen. We spent a month in three of Manchester’s most interesting small rooms to find out how they do it.