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Editorial 001: It Takes a Village To Raise a Venue

Updated: Jul 30


Before you dive in, massive love to you, the reader. Thanks for sticking around, subscribing, giving a shit. Let’s get into it, yeah?


Bag Factory is well and truly OPEN
Bag Factory is well and truly OPEN

The Bag Factory? What is it?


On the surface, it’s just another grimy gig space in Manchester. Nothing fancy. But scratch that gritty exterior and you find something beautiful and necessary. It's an unpolished chasm of creativity built from passion and powerful dreams. It shouldn’t work…but it does. For a Manc like me who’s seen the city gentrify into corporate towers and slick chains, preserving our cultural heritage and respecting our roots still fires me up.


We're bleeding out small venues faster than Oasis sellout gigs. The North West suffered 19 grassroots venue closures in 2023—more than any other region. Nationally, the UK lost 125 grassroots venues, wiping out thousands of gigs, jobs, and chances for local artists. Closures came down to a shit cocktail of rent hikes (averaging over 37%), unaffordable energy bills, and greedy redevelopment plans.

But while venues close, hunger grows and searches for grassroots music spaces surged by 70%. The underground isn’t dying, it’s just moving deeper underground.


After Our Opening Month & We’re Just Getting Started


After our incredible July opening month, which saw Deckheadz, Acid Rain, Mind Over Matter, Dankashire, Druids of Dub, Illuminox, and our in-house Grassroots Open Decks, we’re not slowing down. We’re coming back swinging for August.

Some events are already confirmed, some not (because that’s how real shit moves). But mark this: on 16th August, we want to host an Industry Mixer. That means anyone in or wanting into the music scene—from writers and DJs to photographers, radio nerds, and label dreamers. Come down. Chat shit. Make mates. Build something.

We want this place to be special. Not exclusive. Not polished. Just fucking special.


CHECK OUT OUR WHAT'S ON IN THE MENU!

The party is here to stay
The party is here to stay

Manchester Still Screams


Manchester is second only to London in live music power—real numbers, no fluff. In 2019–20, the ecosystem raked in £469 million GVA, backed 11,270 full-time jobs, and ran with 215 venues and 40 festivals. And that’s just Greater Manchester.

In 2024, the UK live music industry hit a record £10 billion. Manchester alone accounts for 7.4% of that. We pull weight. We always have.


And yet, the cracks are real...


Nostalgia’s Not Enough


Oasis in Heaton Park? Yeah, 400,000 people across five nights. A tsunami of bittersweet pride. But it tasted off—like forced foie gras: overindulgent, overly branded, and completely detached from its roots. I’m from Burnage (where the Gallaghers hail from), I should feel proud but instead, it felt like a sponsored funeral.

Meanwhile, small venues are left to rot. Even giants like Co‑op Live had early teething problems but still pumped over £1 billion into the regional economy in a single year.cough, cough.


And yet, we watch places like the Old Abbey Taphouse disappear...DISGUSTING. The underbelly gets sold to landlords and the highest bidders. This is war, and it’s cultural.

The Bag Factory: Our Little Revolution


Alyssa living the dream behind the bar
Alyssa living the dream behind the bar

I dreamed of this in my 40s, got it in my 30s. A proper fever dream that became The Bag Factory: a micro-venue with 60-cap madness, a heavy sound rig sponsored by the incredible guys from Big Tone Sound system, top of the range decks, and absolutely zero tolerance for industry arse-kissing.


We’re tucked behind The White Hotel, the iconic temple of MCR underground raving. Our spot used to be a literal bag factory. You can still feel that sweat-soaked industrial tension in the bricks. We want that energy. It is rough, honest, and more importantly…necessary.


We don’t want to be Berghain. We want you to know us—me, Will, Alyssa, Connie. Come to the bar, say hi, talk shit, plot your next idea. This space is yours. We’re for ravers, by ravers.



Platforming the Unheard



We don’t care about follower counts. We care about tracks that slap and moments that matter. We’ve got more nights coming—across techno, dub, jungle, ambient, experimental, punk, whatever you’ve got. The goal is simple: platform what deserves to be heard, no matter how deep in the underground it is.


We’re also filming a doc—MADE IN MANCHESTER. It dives into the past but looks dead ahead into the future. The Bag Factory’s at the heart of it. We want to prove that the impossible is possible. Even with no cash, no investors but just sheer stubbornness and a refusal to bow out. It couldn’t have been possible without you guys, and that’s a severe understatement.


This isn’t just about survival. It’s about building something different.

What Now?


Manchester still boasts 1,204 upcoming gigs, 116 active venues, and 380 homegrown acts. Parklife packs in 80k ravers a year, MIF brings in hundreds of thousands. We know how to party. But if we don’t protect the foundations, ie: the tiny rooms, the wild nights, the homemade sound system - we’ll lose the soul.


So come through. Bring a USB. Bring a camera. Bring your zines, your mixes, your weird ideas. Let's build something. Because if we pull this off… fuck me, this will be one great memoire to write.


As always, we will see you at the front.


Love,

Your Editor x



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Sources & Links


DJ Mag — North West had most venue closures in 2023: https://djmag.com/news/north-west-england-had-most-venue-closures-2023-report-shows


English Folk Expo — Manchester Music Economy Report 2022: https://www.englishfolkexpo.com/manchester-music-economy-report-2022








Manchester International Festival Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_International_Festival


Co-op Live Arena: https://www.cooplive.com



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