Manchester Liverpool area. Music fans
 

We're 2 adults and our 16 yr old son. We're planning an 11-12 day trip to England this July. Flying into Manchester and out of London or vice versa. We'll also visit family in Cornwall. Some interesting logistics involved, for sure.

Dh and ds are musicians and all round music nuts. We want to see the Beatles sites in Liverpool, and ds, being a huge fan of all the Manchester bands...Smiths, Joy Division, etc., wants to go to Manchester. I've come across one man via the internet who runs a business called Manchester Music Tours. Has anyone taken one of these tours? Any advice on music sites in Manchester in general?

Thank you!

Ahhhh, my kind of question!

Mates of mine from London have done the Beatles Tour in Liverpool & highly recommend. I haven't heard of Manchester Music Tours, but in my opinion, generally speaking, these are run by people who know what they're talking about and really need the money.

First, Echo & the Bunnymen are from Liverpool and they often play in the little clubs in and around Liverpool. They're touring the U.S. in May (I can't wait!). But you might want to check that out, and also check out in Liverpool where Will Sargeant spins his records -- he's the Bunnymen guitarist, and in his off time, is spinning in the clubs around town.

Second, Manchester is a hot bed of music, especially in and around the University of Manchester. Check out to see what's on when at the Manchester Academy or Academy 2. http://www.manchesteracademy.net/
You'll see that they will be hosting the Decemberists, the Stranglers, and Killing Joke at various times (not when you'll be in town). The Black Crowes will be playing on 7/11 there if you want to see them.

The big venue is the MEN Arena. (Stands for Manchester Evening News).
http://www.men-arena.com/
In July (so far) there's James Taylor on the 7th, Blink 182 on the 8th, and Iron Maiden on the 28th. If it were me, I'd wait and go in August, since Arcade Fire (brilliant band!) will be playing there on 8/31.

Of course, if you want to go to Manchester a month BEFORE, you'd get to see Duran Duran at the MEN Arena on June 3rd. My Chemical Romance would have already left the stage!

Other venues --
Mid-sized 02 Apollo (Uncaged Monkeys)
http://www.o2apollomanchester.co.uk/

Smallish Ruby Lounge (Bravery playing in February)
http://www.therubylounge.org/
(It's places like this you want to check out!)

And the FAC251 (Factory)
http://www.factorymanchester.com/
Which was opened by Peter Hook (formerly of New Order) about a year ago.

If you discover other little holes in the wall, let me know!

Thanks for all the info! Do you think we can take our 16 yr old into clubs? Do they do all ages shows like in the US? We saw Arcade Fire in 2008 during the Obama campaign. They played a last minute campaign rally in our town. Free too!

16? That won't be a problem at all, and certainly not with parents. They might check for id if he decides he wants to drink. It used to be just fine drinking beer at 16, but they upped the age to 18 now for alcohol and they check if you look under 21.

It's interesting, because our son, who never had a problem being offered beer when he was under 18 in pubs and music venues and clubs in England, suddenly starts getting asked for ID now that he's 21! But since the change, the pubs post this signs about being 18, must look 21 or they card at the bar. Not all places, though. Because if they're with their folks, somehow they figure it's ok. That happened to us this summer when we met up with friends at a pub in London -- one of their sons was 21 and their other son was 17, and he was served without incident. Might have been because it was my husband and my anniversary, so we had about 12 people and took over an entire room in the pub!

Remember, there are a number of students already at University at 16, 17. When there's an age limit at a club, it's usually under 14.

Check out 'I am Kloot' a Manchester based band. They may have some local gigs whilst you're in town.