Four days ago, I wrote an article about the imminent closure to two of Manchester’s music institutions. In the article I talked about the losses to the culture and nightlife of the city. However, I also said there was hope. For once the hope was well placed.
My Original Article – Closure of Death Institute and Gorilla
Hope Restored:
Now it seems to be looking up for the two venues. As of the 21st of July, just 4 days after the closure announcement, it looks like they have been already been bought. Tokyo Industries, who are already responsible for many Manchester night life staples such as Factory and South, have bought both locations off of Mission Mars.
The new firm have been working closely with many parties to ensure a quick and easy transaction. Promoters SSD Concerts, The Charlatans Tim Burgess and Sacha Lord (Manchester’s Night Time Economy Adviser) have all been involved.
The plan is for both locations to remain as grassroots venues. Tokyo Industries wants to not just retain the old venues, but improve upon them. They also want to keep as many jobs as possible. They hope that all previous staff employed in the bars, restaurants and venues will be able to retain their jobs when the two sites can reopen.
Sacha Lord was extremely happy with the news. He and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had brought lots of attention to the closure. The people of Manchester had also played a huge part in raising the profile of the situation. Thousands of tributes and memories were shared about the two venues across social media.
Gigmouths Reaction:
Here at Gigmouths the news is huge. As mentioned in the previous article, Gorilla and The Deaf Institute made up 2 of the 12 venues we promote. This means losing them would’ve been a big blow for the success of the site.
Personally to me, it would have also been an immense loss. These were two of my favourite venues in the city to watch live acts. Both played a big part in me deciding to create the website in the first place.
Despite this brilliant news and success, we cannot reduce the current effort and momentum behind preserving the grassroots music scene. A battle has been won and 2 are now safe, but there are still hundreds of others across the country that need help.
How To Help:
At the end of the article about the venues shutting down, I mentioned 3 ways to help the struggling industry. One of these can now be removed but eh other two are still extremely important, so they will again be posted below:
- Post and share on social media about other grassroots venues.
Most of the small venues in the city don’t have much to spend on advertising for their venue and the acts they host. By posting about one of your favourite venues, or sharing a post the venue has published, you give them helpful exposure. - Donate to Save Our Venues
Save Our Venues is a crowdfunding campaign to help save struggling music venues across the entire country. You can chose to donate to a specific venue or just to the general cause. Donating just £20 will also net you a Save Our Venues shirt.
