Written by:
Julia Bloch
Photographer:
Marketing Manchester
» Order
this Issue of Curve:
Vol. 13#5
I’m teetering on the edge of a black parapet as Heidi, a musician, tells me how she met her girlfriend. The music in here is as thick as the smoke; I occasionally shrug to signal I can’t hear a word and she leans in to shout in my ear. Between installments I look up and watch a slender, collared boy scan the crowd. Even though tonight is Fussy Pussy night, there are plenty of guys for him to choose from.
As Vanilla Bar’s star DJ Sara Furey spins something delightful in the corner and the girls continue to pour in, texting each other on their mobile phones, I have to agree that the basement of Cruz 101 epitomizes what anyone who’s caught an episode of — heck, anyone who’s heard of — the hit BBC drama Queer as Folk can unequivocally tell you: Manchester knows how to party.
I’m still on California time, I’m nursing a virgin screwdriver in deference to a flight-induced cold, and I’m cursing myself for choosing tonight to break in a new pair of high-heeled boots. But even I have to admit: The scene here is very, very cool. And will no doubt be tons cooler this August when Manchester sets the stage for Europe’s biggest party: EuroPride.
AN UNRULY MECCA
Manchester is a city of diversity — economic, cultural, ethnic. It is also a mass of contradiction. The city’s extensive web of 17th-century canals made Manchester’s waterways accessible to all parts of the country, and by the early 19th century, Manchester had fully transformed from a small mill town into the world’s first teeming, unruly, diverse, industrialized city. Manchester had become home to scores of immigrants and laborers, “self-made men” who were something of a thorn in the side of legislators in Manchester’s slightly better known neighbor to the south. Activists founded the free trade movement here, and mill owners invented the “Manchester week,” one of the first pro-labor efforts to cap working hours.
Yet Manchester’s populist roots suffered under the decimation of the manufacturing and cotton industries in the 20th century. Out of the depressed, unemployed, post-industrial ashes rose a young, disaffected music scene that made Manchester the gritty “engine room of British pop,” as documented in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People. Post-punk faves Joy Division and New Order got their start here, and the city offers Smiths tours for drooling fans of the dour-faced boys. And who could forget Tony Wilson’s notorious Hacienda nightclub? The legendary venue revolutionized clubbing in the late ’80s and spawned everything from acid house to warehouse parties to rave fests throughout the city until it was shut down amid scandal.
Rapid growth in the last 15 years has revitalized the city’s shopping and cultural centers and made Manchester a major retail destination. The Hacienda has been bulldozed to make way for loft apartments (of course). Frou-frou boutiques and top-line department stores now line Manchester’s cobbled streets.
In the city’s center, it’s all about the glass. Manchester rocked in a different way in 1996 when a 3,000-pound IRA bomb (the biggest in U.K. history) detonated outside the tony Marks and Spencer department store, injuring more than 200 and devastating hundreds of thousands of square feet of the city. Scrappy Mancunians promptly rebuilt with as much glass as possible, giving birth, says tour guide Jonathan Schofield with a wink, to a kind of “new school of Manchester realism.” The new footbridge between the new Marks and Spencer and Arndale Centre on Cross Street, a twisted tube of steel and glass, hangs defiantly over the bomb site.
Some describe the tension between Manchester’s revitalization and its working-class roots as uneasy. It’s true that changing economics have softened some of Manchester’s public edges for the tourists. But look a little closer and you’ll find a persistent defiance in London’s cousin to the north, along with what most agree is the most welcoming, vibrant gay village in Britain.
A BREAST-SHAPED HILL
Dykes and drag queens cheerily point out that when Manchester was established by Julius Agricola in A.D. 79, it was known to the Romans as Mamucium, or “the fort near the breast-shaped hill.” Snickering aside, Manchester is home to the single largest concentration of gay businesses and interests in the United Kingdom. Appropriately, the source of Manchester’s rich history is where the queers have set up shop. Hundreds of gay businesses have converted the economically depressed Canal Street from a seedy backwater into a thriving queer mecca that includes not only a sprawling, diverse bar scene but also the Queer Up North arts festival (the country’s oldest queer arts festival), fierce HIV/AIDS activism (and Britain’s first AIDS memorial), the Great British Bear Bash, a jammin’ activist Lesbian Community Project, and, for theater fags such as myself, a cultural smorgasbord to drool over.
But National Lesbian Beauty Contests aside, is it a boys’ town? In other words, did BBC get it right?
Mancunians are somewhat tight-lipped when it comes to discussing Queer as Folk, somewhat like San Franciscans’ love-hate relationship with Tales of the City. EuroPride co-coordinator Claire Turner stays neutral when asked, but does allow that the most frustrating aspect of the show has been the prurient crowds that descended upon the city when the show, and Manchester, became a major hit.
Turner says that despite being a big draw for the boys, Manchester has a decidedly powerful girl factor. Like many gay villages across Europe, the scene here is firmly integrated. For girls tired of navigating boys’ clubs and a shortage of decent dance spaces for women, that’s a very good thing. Turner adds that some boys even prefer the girlcentric spots; one night, chickhub Vanilla drew more men than a neighboring bar where Boy George was performing. That’s entertainment.
Andrew Stokes, managing director of Marketing Manchester, tells me that for all its ground-breaking history, Manchester largely has yet to be discovered, and that EuroPride will place it definitively on the map, giving the world the chance to discover Manchester’s unique place in the history of liberation: “Manchester is a great city of firsts … a whole belief in you can make a difference.”
THE SCENE
First, forget everything you’ve ever heard about British food. England has worked hard to dispel its image in this department, and has emerged triumphant. Check out Velvet, an opulent basement bar café with restroom televisions tuned to the shopping channel (how campy). After making your way down a plexiglass staircase filled, curiously enough, with live goldfish, you’ll find a plush, colorful Bohemian dining room whose curry fusion menu is almost as impressive as the drink list. There’s also Choice, a classy restaurant overlooking the canals and within walking distance of the gay village (the route is Venice-worthy); order the savory Irish oat crumble if you like leeks. The “British fusion” fare at Gaia is extremely decent, as well.
And then there are the bars. Begin your evening at historic Vanilla, a low-slung women’s bar packed with girls, smoke and chatter, as well as a steady scent of, yes, vanilla (they pump the essence into the bar). Host to over 12 events a month, including VanillaPop, Sappho (for mature lesbians), and the edgy Fussy Pussy, Vanilla should be your first and last stop. Curiously, the drink of choice often seems to be Budweiser, but Vanilla also famously offers 99p shooters and the village’s only doubles bar. Come back on Sunday to watch football (the dykes go mad over Manchester United).
If you return to Gaia for drinks, check out the basement bar, with a cool, stone floor, house music, and comfy, roomy leather couches. Housed in a former cotton warehouse, Gaia offers gay poetry slams and is easy on the eye, just as an earth mother should be.
At good-looking Bar Below you’ll find jazzy house music; blond wood; sleek, black leather upholstery; and lots of glass — this tiny gem feels a bit like Ikea (complete with yuppies), but so pretty. Smirk at the improbable sign reading “Dance Area” on the wall facing the door and come back for two-for-one drinks on Sunday.
Via Fossa (Latin for “Canal Street”) is like a Catholic schoolgirl’s dirtiest fantasy. Once you make it past the stern bouncers (it’s largely a boy’s club, so go in a mixed group and be prepared to wait) you’ll gape at an astonishing array of Gothic furnishings and fixtures, all appropriated and nailed up all over the many levels of this bump-and-grind club. Repair to the wood benches in the cool stone basement or a pulpit if you need to sit a number out; otherwise, be prepared for some serious boogie worthy of “Like a Prayer.”
If you’re lucky enough to be here in time for Fussy Pussy, save the best for last: this event promises to “change the face of lesbian clubbing forever.” As anyone knows, lesbian clubbing until recently was, well, nondescript. Vanilla owner and veteran club promoter Steph Kay set about to change that, and managed to persuade Manchester’s premier gay venue, Cruz 101 (a former textile mill), to host her dance club on the third Saturday of each month with camp tunes on the main floor (think Kylie) and award-winning DJ Sara Furey on the lower level.
Hung over? Head over to Lead Station, aka “Les Station,” for Sunday brunch (pop an aspirin if you’re really hurting; there are lots of noisy kids around). Primarily a wine bar, this comfy café is housed in a former police station and serves up contemporary art as well as a robust brunch and dinner menu. If you’ve always been curious about the traditional English breakfast, give it a whirl here — they even have a veggie option (minus the black pudding).
>> IF YOU GO:
Begin your trip by visiting http://www.gaybritain.org or calling (877) UK RAINBOW for free destination information and guides to gay Britain.
> EuroPride
Mancunians host Europe’s biggest Pride event August 15–25. Organizers expect upward of 300,000 visitors; the spectacular 10-day fête includes arts festivals, workshops, a Mardi Gras parade, and sports, health and youth events. For all its ground-breaking history, Manchester remains relatively unknown; EuroPride will give the world the chance to discover the Northern village’s unique place in the history of liberation.
http://www.europridemanchester2003.com
> Travel
Virgin Atlantic offers flights to Heathrow and Manchester. Feel like splurging? Upper-class perks include in-flight beauty treatments. Economy is nothing to sniff at, either. Naturally Virgin offers outstanding in-flight entertainment (including a super-cute safety video).
(800) 862-8621
http://www.virginatlantic.com
> Sleep
The Lowry Hotel
Named after Manchester’s famed painter, the Lowry lies just across from the shopping district, right on the Irwell River. Prime example of “new school of Manchester realism”; Kylie Minogue slept here.
50 Dearmans Pl., Salford
0161 827 4000
http://www.roccofortehotels.com
> Eat
Choice
Castle Quay, Castlefield
0161 833 3400
http://www.choicemcr.co.uk
Gaia
46 Sackville St.
0161 228 1002
http://www.mantos.co.uk
Lead Station
99 Beech Rd., Chorlton
0161 881 5559
Velvet
2 Canal St.
0161 236 9003
> Drink & Be Merry
Bar Below
34 Canal St.
0161 923 4720
info@barbelow.com
Cruz 101
101 Princess St.
0161 950 0101
http://www.cruz101.com
Vanilla
39-41 Richmond St.
0161 288 2727
http://www.vanillagirls.co.uk
contact@vanillagirls.co.uk
Via Fossa
28–30 Canal St.
0161 236 6523
> Also Stop By
The Royal Exchange
“Northern England’s biggest room” once controlled over 80 percent of all the world trade in finished cloth and over 80 percent of the world’s cotton. Now a stunning testament to Manchester history and a shopping center, antique market, arcade and acclaimed theatre company.
St Ann’s Square and Cross Street
Theatre: 0161 833 9833, http://www.royalexchange.co.uk
Manchester Art Gallery
Featuring Charles-August Mengin’s Sappho (1877) and a rousing interactive gallery.
Mosley Street
0161 235 8843
http://www.manchestergalleries.org
Lowry Museum
Set on the waterfront of the Salford Quays, the architecturally spectacular Lowry features works by its namesake and a wide variety of contemporary visual and performing arts.
Pier 8, Salford Quays
0870 787 5780
http://www.thelowry.com
info@thelowry.com
Imperial War Museum North
If you visit only one museum in Manchester, this is the one. Composed of three “shards” of a shattered globe (air, earth, and water), the building, designed by Daniel Libeskind, from the inside out represents war in the air, on land and at sea. Exhibits include multimedia displays and a sobering timeline of 20th-century conflict. Elegant and stunning.
The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, Trafford Park
0161 836 4000
http://www.iwm.org.uk
admin@iwmnorth.org.uk
Affleck’s Palace
A winding staircase to many floors of experimental and vintage fashion, rare records, tattoos, etc. Based on “the principle of youth culture in all its extremes.” Goth kid alert.
52 Church St.
0161 834 2039
http://www.afflecks-palace.co.uk |
