A brand new gig venue with a late-night bar and restaurant and a plunge pool is opening in Manchester city centre next month.
Canvas will throw open the doors to its ‘next-generation’ music venue at the new Circle Square development just off Oxford Road.
The new three-storey hangout will have live music, club nights, a members’ lounge, and a bar and restaurant open until 4am, seven days a week.
It comes from the team behind two legendary London venues, The Pickle Factory and Oval Space, as well as the MAMA Group, which operated Lovebox and Wilderness festivals as well as the Manchester Ritz, G-A-Y and Hammersmith Apollo.
Canvas comes from the team behind Oval Space in London. Credit: Supplied
Canvas will also welcome creative music, art, wellness and technology programmes.
The 600-capacity gig space itself will host live concerts, album launches and listening parties.
It will be kitted out with cutting-edge technology to deliver a world-class sound and visual experience, with video mapping and projectors enveloping audiences.
Canvas will host panel talks for members. Credit: Supplied
It hopes to create a ‘blank space’ for emerging and underground talent.
The Canvas members’ lounge will invite members to participate in events, panel discussions and wellness classes, and will host some of Manchester’s most enterprising young professionals.
Later this summer, a plunge pool and sauna will be added for members to find their own serenity in the city.
At Your Beat dance classes will take place in a dark room filled with colourful lights and pumping tunes.
Memberships will be held in the form of a Canvas token (an NFT) which will include benefits like free access to gigs and club nights, discounts on food and drink, and part-ownership of the members’ club platform.
They’re priced at £15 per month for under 30s, with a different option for older members.
A food and drink lounge will serve global small plates – curated by Miam Miam Glou Glou – all day, before switching to a late night bar after 10.30pm.
Diners can expect breakfasts like the Persian (Merguez sausage, hummus, spinach, harissa and poached egg) and the Cali (avocado, chilli, lime and egg) with sides of fresh juices, breakfast cocktails and health shots.
The rest of the day, small plates will incorporate dishes including sumac lamp chops, disco fries, and Korean barbecued chicken, plus slow-cooked chicken thighs, steak bavette, and road plum duck leg.
It will also serve sandwiches between 12pm and 5pm every day.
Cocktails will champion ‘a new breed of bartending’, like the Jasmine Margarita (El Jimador Blanco, Muyu Jasmine, silver needle and citrus), the Jungle Bird (Bacardi Cuatro, Appleton 8, Campari, pineapple, galangal and tamarind cordial) and Cafe Torino (Mr Black Coffee Amaro, Martini Rubino and soda).
Dean James, co-owner and co-founder, said: “We’re thrilled to finally open our doors at Canvas. With authenticity at the forefront of everything we do, our key ambition is to provide the most innovative space where emerging music and new talent can grow.
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“We’re incredibly proud of our diverseness; in both what we do and who we are – from our growing Canvas community, right through to our teams.
“By giving people a platform to share and collaborate, Canvas has a really unique way of bringing together artists and audiences from underrepresented backgrounds. We try hard to avoid being polarised – I think it’s this passion that keeps us ahead of the curve and relevant to what our communities actually want adjoin to.
“Through the development of Canvas membership programmes, our long-term vision is to forge an environment that young creatives and grass-roots talent are not only excited to be a part of, but we also hope that they share in a sense of ownership with us too.”
Featured image: Supplied
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Beloved British boy band Five are BACK in FULL for the first time in 25 years
Danny Jones
No, your eyes don’t deceive you: all five members of the beloved British boy band Five are set to reunite for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Formed way back in 1997 and dominating the charts throughout the period in and around the millennium, the iconic pop group was the UK’s answer to the Backstreet Boys and NSNYC, as well as a much-needed replacement for Take That just after their split.
And they did exactly that for a number of years, with hit tracks like ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Keep On Movin”, ‘Everybody Get Up’, ‘If Ya Gettin’ Down’ and more still firmly stuck in our memories.
It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, we still remember all the words and the dance moves to go along with them – and we’ll be able to prove it when the Five UK reunion tour comes to Manchester.
Although the London-formed group has reformed every now and again in different configurations over the years for special occasions, anniversary events, etc., this is the first time that the original lineup has been together for 25 whole years.
That’s right, Abz Love, J Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon will all be reuniting on stage for a limited UK arena tour – because anything less simply wouldn’t be enough to mark this throwback celebration.
More importantly, if you don’t think every single one of these massive rooms is going to sell out in a flash, then you clearly can’t count to five.
As for the Manchester crowd, fans will be welcomed inside the equally legendary AO Arena for the ‘KEEP ON MOVIN’ 2025’ Tour later this year and we can’t wait.
Fellow domestic DJ and producer Naughty Boy will also be joining them as the main support act. We’re rolling back all the memories this autumn.
You can see the rest of the tour dates below, including equally massive shows at The O2 in London, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, a First Direct Arena date in Leeds and more.
We really can't wait to get back on stage together and see you all in person, it's gonna go OFF!! Let's goooooo! International fans, make sure to sign up there so we know where in the world you are too 👀
Scott says: “This has been a long time coming and it really does feel right for all of us now – 25 years on and we’re so ready for it. Reconnecting as a 5 over the last year has been special and I know I speak for all the boys when I say we can’t wait to do this all over again. Hope you’re ready!”
Another fifth of the throwback boy band, Abz, added: “We really can’t wait to get back on stage together & see the fans, it’s gonna go OFF! Buzzing to have Naughty Boy on tour with us too… 5 bad boys and a naughty boy, that sounds like a lot of fun. Let’s gooooo!”
General admission for Five’s 2025 UK reunion tour goes live on Friday, 7 March from 10am but die-hards can access the exclusive pre-sale window on Wednesday, 5 March by signing up for the mailing list.
2000s indie rock icons The Enemy continue comeback trail with must-not-miss UK tour
Danny Jones
For fans of old-school indie and noughties contemporary rock, you do not want to miss the one because The Enemy are not just back making music but they’re heading out on a pretty big UK tour and, of course, they’ll be stopping right here in Manchester.
The Enemy first reformed back in 2022 for a limited run of shows, but it turns out the Coventry-formed trio were satisfied with a one-off reunion and a fifth studio album officially being worked on, the fierce Brit rock throwbacks have announced a series of pretty large UK tour dates.
Following on from some hugely successful comeback performances at TRNSMT, Isle Of Wightand a headline slot at Godiva Festival 2023, not to mention the instantly hit ‘Indie Til I Die’ shows last year – including an absolute stormer at Victoria Warehouse – they returning for more.
One of the few bands to make their way back to the live music circuit fully intact, with all three members still performing together, nothing has changed other than a few more grey hairs.
If you weren’t there at the outset, The Enemy’s debut LP We’ll Live And Die In These Towns (2007) was one of the most seminal domestic releases of its time, with songs like ‘You’re Not Alone’ going on to become indie anthems of the era.
To be honest, we’d argue their sophomore outing Music For The People just two years later is the better album, with tracks such as ‘Be Somebody’, ‘Elephant Song’ and ‘No Time for Tears’ still in plenty of our playlists to this day – but, you know, each to their own.
The point is, we’re very glad these lads are back and having played with everyone from Oasis and The Killers to even The Rolling Stones, we’d wager lots of other music lovers are too.
Set to play New Century Hall in Manchester as well as the legendary Leadmill in Sheffield, Beckett Students’ Union in Leeds, Rock City in Nottingham and more, it’s going to be a big tour.
We're absolutely buzzing to be back on tour & in some of our all time favourite venues.
We'll be trying out new material for the first time in years ahead of the new album we're making, we're all really excited to try some new tunes and see what you think whilst we finish it!
Frontman Tom Clarke, who has put out two solo records of his own in past years, said of the announcement: “We’ve been working long days in the studio recording new material, so we’re really excited to get out on the road again.
“The plan is to experiment with some of the new tunes, maybe different ones on different shows to see how the crowds react and which ones connect with fans, and let that guide the track listing on the record which is nearing completion.”
Co-songwriter and bass player, Andy Hopkins, added: talking about the upcoming tour: “My favourite part of being in a band is having those nights with the fans where the atmosphere is electric – I think this tour is going to be really special for the 3 of us.
“It’ll be the first time we’ve been back to some of these cities in a long time, in venues we absolutely love and have been really important to us on the way up – Electric Ballroom was the first venue we ever played in London supporting The Fratellis, I drove us there with all the amps & guitars in my Fiesta!”
The Enemy come to New Century, one of our favourite live music venues in all of Greater Manchester, on Saturday, 1 November.
Pre-sale has already been snapped up in the blink of an eye, which is no surprise whatsoever, but general admission will go live from 10am this Friday, 28 February.
Daisy Jackson -
12th May 2022 
