.svg.svg)
Contact us
Whilst many only notice bands and artists once they grow and become unmissable, the incredibly fertile and beautiful Manchester music scene is built from the grassroots.
It is the small venues, the pubs and clubs that live and breathe music that keep it alive and make future headliners of the likes of the Manchester Arena, Victoria Warehouse, the Academy venues and Co-Op Live.
Much like how the legendary Hacienda featured early concerts of future megastars such as Madonna, there are many phenomenal music venues across the city that play host to live music almost each and every night.
With that in mind, here are some of the best underground music venues, what makes them special and some notable names they have played host to over the years, all of which make for a perfect walking tour.
Founded by Now Wave, one of the biggest independent music promoters in Manchester, YES, and its former Charles Street auction house building, manages to feel like the type of amazing underground venue that has always been there, and yet is less than ten years old.
A great venue for affordable drinks, craft ale, quirky food and even quirkier music, YES’ legendary Pink Room has been host to a similarly diverse group of acts alongside its much more intimate basement.
Notable Bands That Have Played YES
Formerly The Green Room, a venue of tremendous importance to the Manchester music scene in its own right, Gorilla is built into a railway arch opposite the Ritz and has built a reputation as one of the best underground bars, restaurants and music venues in Manchester.
With a striking arched aesthetic and incredible acoustics, Gorilla has become the musician’s music venue, often punching well above its weight in terms of the calibre of musical talent it has attracted over the years.
Add to this a range of great craft beers and music-themed cocktails, and Gorilla becomes an invaluable stop on any walking tour of Manchester’s hidden gems.
Notable Bands That Have Played Gorilla
If Gorilla manages to create a sleek but quirky music venue that attracts some of the finest bands around, Aatma is the ultimate underground venue; most people do not know where it is, the ceiling is missing, and the bar has everything you need and nothing more.
However, what it lacks in amenities it more than makes up for in raw character and being one of the most authentic homes of underground music in the Northern Quarter.
If your tastes include the obscure, the unknown and the eclectic, chances are they have either played Aatma or are going to play Aatma at some point.
As well as this, The Peer Hat downstairs is a similarly eclectic and unapologetically alternative beer house, club and record stall.
Based in a formerly derelict building of the same name, The Deaf Institute is three of the most unique music venues stacked into one utterly gorgeous listed building.
Originally opened in 1878 and reopened 130 years later, The Deaf Institute is a particularly striking venue, from its cavernous basement club to its extremely intimate middle floor and its ballroom-esque top floor, which have hosted a wide array of bands and artists in any genre you can consider.
Notable Bands That Have Played The Deaf Institute
Based on the far side of Oldham Street in the legendary Northern Quarter, Gullivers has been a lifeline for Manchester’s grassroots music scene with a history stretching as far back as 1865.
A welcoming, supportive venue with a particularly well-stocked bar, Gullivers is constantly full of life, love and impeccable creativity.
Part of what could be one of the shortest bar tours in Manchester, with The Sailsbury and O’Connell’s, Grand Central has been a fittingly named hub of Manchester’s music scene, garnering a particularly strong reputation for its support of grassroots rock and metal.
A strictly free entry pub, Grand Central has live acts each and every week, as well as people coming from and going to the wide variety of gigs nearby.
Typically, if you are a fan of alternative music, Grand Central is one of the first places you will be taken to when you visit Manchester, as it is the stepping stone to basically everywhere else.
Perhaps most famous for its precedent-setting victory against a noise complaint that threatened its very existence, it is such a positive for the Manchester music scene that it was able to continue.
Night And Day is another Northern Quarter gem that has spent the last 32 years enabling a wide range of eclectic bands from around the world to flourish.
