It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since we last gave you a list of New Year’s Eve parties, but time marches on and it’s already time to ring in another new year.
As is usual with Manchester, there’ll be lively celebrations going on in all corners of the city, from the tiny club nights that go til dawn to the world-famous series drawing tens of thousands into one room.
Some of the city’s biggest parties – like The Warehouse Project’s New Year’s Eve club night at Depot Mayfield – have already sold out, but there are plenty more events to sink your teeth in to.
There’s loads going on in Manchester on 31 December, with tickets still available for a lot of the city’s biggest parties.
One of Manchester’s best-loved club nights will be taking over the newly-reborn New Century for an almighty New Year’s Eve party.
Homoelectric’s NYE party promises ‘an evening of cosmic grooves, street soul, slo mo dance, boogie, black heart disco, us garage, house, technoid outerspace sonic science and bass buggin’ rawness’.
They say: “It seemed perfect timing to host a very special Homoelectric at this venue on New Years Eve and do something completely different from our normal dark basement back street affair.
“This our last Homoelectric party of the year. To say we are excited is an understatement.”
Famed for its all-in lavish parties, The Refuge won’t be holding back as it rings in 2023, promising to ‘turn up the heat a little’.
They’re promising to add a dash of tropical energy to Manchester, with afro-latin music, deep house and disco, explosions of colour and immersive performances.
Artists will include Hannah O’Gorman and Isaac Williams a.k.a. DJ collective, Nossa, and Levi Love.
Dine and Dance tickets are sold out but you can still get Let’s Dance tickets £30 here – including a glass of prosecco if you rock up before 9pm.
Dance into the Future at Ramona
Credit: Ramona
Fast becoming a fan favourite for a night out is Ramona and the Firehouse, located in an old MOT garage just of Swan Street.
By day it’s pizza and margaritas, but by night, it’s glitterballs and catwalks.
31 December will be their ‘biggest party yet’ in the Ramona festival tipi, featuring live performances including Age of Glass, guest DJs and dance tents.
Tickets cost £27.50 and are available through See Tickets.
One of the city’s longest-running club nights is getting stuck in to all the New Year’s Eve action, right through to 4am on 1 January.
Funkademia has been running since 1995 and is heading back to its spiritual home Mint Lounge with disco and funk bangers all night long.
From Michael Jackson to Aretha Franklin to James Brown to Chaka Khan to Stevie Wonder to Snoop Dogg to Prince to Diana Ross to Chic and Sister Sledge and everything in between, you’ll absolutely not want to leave that dance floor.
Tickets start at £6.60 if you’re quick – visit Skiddle for yours.
Disco Dancer at Bundobust Brewery
Bundobust Brewery. Credit: Supplied
Bundobust Brewery, easily one of Manchester’s coolest restaurants and bars, is keeping the doors open and the vibes going until 1am on New Year’s Eve.
Their Disco Dancer event – theme is Bundobust Brewery goes to Bollywood – will have entertainment, projections, and a party soundtrack from Andy Votel.
Starting the party will be Niamh McGuinness from Angel Meadows Soul Club, one of Manchester’s rising clubnight heroes. Expect rousing Northern Soul, Motown, and R&B selections 6-9pm before Andy takes over the decks.
Tickets are just a tenner, which includes two drinks. Would be rude not to. Get yours here.
Keep It Unreal Nye: Mr. Scruff + Mc Kwasi at Band on the Wall
You know it’s going to be a good Manc knees-up when Mr Scruff is on the bill, and especially when that bill is taking place at the legendary Band on the Wall.
Alongside MC Kwasi, they’ll bring in the new year with a six-hour DJ session of jazz, soul, hip hop, funk, disco, deep house, reggae, afrobeat, latin, electro, techno, new wave and ‘plenty of goodies that don’t fit into any category’.
Band on the Wall stresses that all are welcome to party, ‘regardless of age, nationality, mobility, gender or sexuality’ – which is what we like to hear.
More 90s vibes now – because why not – as the beautiful Albert Hall is turned into a nostalgic dance party.
90s Baby will feature a wide range of the decade’s biggest live acts and DJs, from Alex Party (best known for her massive hit Don’t Give Me Your Life to Baby D (Let Me Be Your Fantasy).
Rounding off the star-studded line-up is N-Trance, Phats & Small and K-Klass with some throwback DJ sets.
Final tickets, priced £28.00, are on sale now through Skiddle – and there’s a group discount of four tickets for the price of three if you round up some mates.
Hidden NYE at Hidden
UK Garage will be the order of the night at Hidden, one of Manchester’s most-loved clubbing venues.
Explore the four rooms, from the courtyard through to the graffiti-covered walkways that lead to the basement den, a Blue Room and Hangar Space, while you count down to midnight (and beyond).
Legendary DJ John Digweed will be rocking up at Joshua Brooks with his even more legendary club night Bedrock.
John has been a pioneer of electronic music for more than three decades thanks to his technical mixing style, while Joshua Brooks has cemented itself as one of Manchester’s post popular nighttime venues.
Featured image: Photography by Rob Jones (www.instagram.com/hirobjones)
Feature
Review | Snow Patrol roll back the years at Co-op Live for a mini-Manc’s first gig
Danny Jones
This weekend we enjoyed a new kind of live music experience: rediscovering the joy of listening to a childhood favourite by watching it through the eyes of the next generation – that was how we witnessed a fully-fledged arena return to Manchester for Snow Patrol at Co-op Live.
And it was special for lots of reasons.
Taking a little one to their first gig is something you’ll never forget and sharing a new-found connection with a band that you loved when you were their age is one of those magical things about music that we’re eternally grateful for.
You might assume the Snow Patrol crowd one skews a little older for the most part but we were pleased to see there were more than a few kids and teenagers donning tour tees, looking wide-eyed at the sheer size of the Co-op Live arena, and singing the words back better than Gary Lightbody at times.
Sees the sign: ‘Race you there!’ (Credit: Audio North)
Yes, the Belfast-born frontman made a few mistakes on the night, but it did add a rather laid-back quality to what many acts might have found a daunting performance: playing a sell-out night to around 23,500 fans inside the enormous state-of-the-art venue.
But, obviously, there wasn’t even a whiff of nerves from these lads.
You don’t get to have been around for this long and become as successful as they are without being able to relax on stage and lean into those idiosyncratic perfections that feel more like private moments shared between the artist and the crowd.
The young lad sat watching it with us certainly got a kick out of it and though we might not have been able to cover his ears in time to censor some light but ever-charming swear words (it always sounds better in Irish, don’t you think?), it made for some nice banter between him and the crowd.
Big props must go to Johnny McDaid on the keys too, who besides having written for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Biffy Clyro and countless others over the years, also managed to impress by playing the majority of this entire tour after having trapped his hand in a train door. OUCH.
Credit: The Manc Group
Not only was that little interlude up there with one of the most applause-worthy parts of the entire show, but we were always pretty blown away by what we saw, as we all as what we heard.
Be it watching a digital tree come to life, shed its leaves and then fall as petal confetti, two sheer semi-opaque paper-thin screens swirl to create the album cover art for their latest album, or kicking the gig off with ‘Take Back The City’ as a multicoloured skyline appeared behind them, it was all pretty incredible.
We even got to hear a personal favourite of ours, ‘Set Fire To The Third Bar’, complete with a virtual performance from the voice that truly makes the song: Martha Wainwright.
It was in moments like this when we turned to see a 10-year-old’s face not quite sure of what it was seeing but an open-mouthed expression confirming they were finding it as stunning as we were.
We thoroughly enjoyed going through the back catalogue and working our way right up to plenty of the songs from The Forest Is The Path – which Gary himself firmly believes is their best work yet when we interviewed him – but it was as visually stunning as it was to the gorgeous sonically.
Both proved to be a brilliant way to see the contemporary rock, indie and alternative veterans, but there’s something about giving them a stage as big as this that reminds you of just how much they deserve it.
Up there with one of the prettiest gig snapshots in our memory.Not quite a hologram but very cool nonetheless.The production levels are always top-tier at Co-op Live but the Snow Patrol set was much more impressive than we expected.
Last but not least, thanks to Co-op Live not just for having but for creating a little boy’s memory that he’ll never forget.
Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
Daisy Jackson -
21st December 2022 
