Going out guide: Manchester
Here are the city's best club nights, record shops, rappers, DJs, pubs and morning after breakfast spots, all recommended by a local.
Life
Words: Kyle MacNeill
Kyle MacNeill is a Manchester-based journalist and a good friend of THE FACE.
Best club night
Planning a Friday night veg out? Get yourself down to Meat Free. A legendary, inclusive party started in 2013 by mates and DJs Blasha & Allatt and aalice, Meat Free usually takes place at former MOT garage The White Hotel or just down the road at the ravey boozer The Derby Brewery Arms (which THE FACE described as “Early Doors meets Berghain”). Expect techno lovers in a lot of adidas dancing all night to heart-palpitating bangers. You’ll need Mitchum for your face.
Three local DJs to look out for on flyers
Local rapper who could blow up
RenzNiro. He regularly links up with local legends Space Afrika, creates vital visuals as PNA Quaye and is manufacturing some of the coldest rap in MCR.
Legendary artists you need to have listened to
It’s Manchester, so there’s too many to mention, but you at least need to get familiar with Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order, 808 State, The Fall, Magazine, The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Future Sound of London, Ruthless Rap Assassins. And, yes, Oasis…
Nightlife photographer who you want to be snapped by
Kitwah‑K
Best boozer
Peveril of the Peak, affectionately known as The Pev. It’s a proper pub. There’s darts, green tiles, a pool table, a jukebox and coasters which get stuck to the bottom of your pint glass (how come that never happens in posh pubs?).
Beloved takeaway
Golden Tandoori. But we’re all hungry for something new.
Cafe for the morning after
Koffee Pot for a fry-up. What hangover?
Shop to get records for you DJ set
Specialising in “techno, drum & bass, house, jungle, broken beat, electro, dubstep, ambient, disco, soul, funk, hip hop, Latin, Afro, reggae and jazz” – so that’s pretty much everything, then – Eastern Bloc is the city’s coolest record-shop-nightclub crossover.
Hyperlocal fashion trends
Drama Call tees, Afflecks market’s scene kids, Norah Store girlies in Ancoats. And, yes, the Liam Gallagher look.
LBGTQ institution
Homoelectric, the cult party for “homos, heteros, lesbos, don’t knows and disko asbos” popping up in the city’s best clubs.
Coolest local radio station
CROP, live and direct from the Stage & Radio venue.
What not to say to a local
“Manny”
