Up the wall as iconic venue is expanding
MANCHESTER music venue Band On The Wall is preparing for a major rebuild – bringing one of the city’s unused historic buildings back into life in the process.
The derelict Cocozza building – part of the old Victorian Smithfield market – will be transformed into two new performance spaces that will almost double capacity at the Swan Street venue.
It’s a world away from the venue that opened as The George and Dragon in 1900 – eventually taking its name because the bands performed on a tiny stage high up on the wall in the 1930s.
A regular band of accordionists, piano, drums, singer and sometimes saxophonists would play – including the ‘Elvis of Ancoats,’ Dominic Rea.
The band played six nights a week and the venue became known as a services pub during the war when Americans, Canadians, Australians, French and British soldiers would mix with market traders, factory workers and shoppers.
Often the band carried on playing during air-raids, according to local legend.
At that time, Band on the Wall shared the Ancoats street with a hat makers, a herring and egg merchant and an oyster dealer – as well as pawn shops and banks. The new space at the back of the existing venue, on Oak Street and Foundry Lane, will be paid for thanks largely to a £1.6m Arts Council grant – meaning more gigs and a bigger line-up of bands, as well as improved learning and education spaces on the upper floors.
This is where the venue’s archive will be housed.
The capacity will increased from 340 to 550 when the work is done.
The Picturehouse Bar will also be remodelled with a bigger external terrace.
The outside facade of the Cocozza building will also be saved and restored – but will have digital artworks in place of windows.
Band on the Wall reopened in 2009 after a £4m revamp that took four years. Since then, the area around the venue has been revitalised as food and drink operators have piled in to Ancoats.
The former Mackie Mayor building next door was taken on by the owners of Altrincham Market and has become one of Manchester’s hottest food and drink destinations.
Gavin Sharp, CEO of Inner City Music, which runs and will eventually own the building, said: “The funding will help transform Band on the Wall into a world-class space for music performance, education and cultural engagement for the people of Manchester and further afield.
“The expanded building will be a space for the public to experience both music from around the world, and participate in programmes that explore and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the local area.”
Band on the Wall has played host to some of music’s biggest acts over the years – including Billy Bragg, Dr John, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Jimmy Webb and local bands Joy Division, who first played there in 1978, and The Fall, who made their first appearance the year before.