The historic Manchester live music venue Band on the Wall is opening a brand-new NYC jazz bar-inspired, The Copper Bar; with free live gigs every Friday and Saturday night. The welcoming, inclusive and intimate setting will also feature new lighting, art installations and “future-thinking” programming.
The iconic multi award-winning live music venue has partnered with Brooklyn Brewery to create The Copper Bar, with a nod to NYC’s jazz venue Zinc Bar (previously the legendary Cinderella Club, where Thelonius Monk was the house pianist and Billie Holiday sang her earliest shows), with its beautiful hand-crafted copper bar, and inspired by the brass instruments running through the jazz, reggae, soul and funk genres.
The Copper Bar is set to have a striking copper bar-top, Brooklyn-based neons, and will be steeped in Band on the Wall’s extensive history as the longest established music venue in Manchester, with a focus on its everyday international programming. It will feature a bespoke hand-painted mural and collages curated by the musician-led venue team from the venue’s archive content, along with other striking pieces of memorabilia.
The Copper Bar will house the second stage at Band on the Wall, which opened as part of the venue’s £3.5m redevelopment two years ago, and creates space for the diverse and creative community that has built up around its experimental content. The new décor and The Copper Bar brand highlight Brooklyn Brewery’s partnership with the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), and the bar will serve its Stonewall Inn IPA, a beer for all, with no exceptions, supporting the venue’s deep held commitment to inclusivity.
The Copper Bar’s free live weekend gigs will launch on Friday 20 September, and will continue every Friday and Saturday night. On Fridays you can check out ‘La Fiesta‘ billing some of the city’s best afrobeat, latin and reggae artists, while Saturdays will be filled with upbeat jazz, soul and funk at ‘Funk Street‘.
During the weekends running up until the end of the year, La Fiesta will host sets from the likes of Afrodesia, Chilli ChaCha, NGUVU, Trees.R.Good, and Good King Steady, while Blush, Flat Moon, Make Me Feel, and Maya Blandy will be cruising down to Funk Street, with more to be announced.
CEO at Band on the Wall Gavin Sharp said: “It’s been two years since our amazing venue re-opened and the new second stage has embedded itself as a unique and safe space for our local creative community to come together and make music, test ideas and collaborate.
“We now, with the support of NYC’s Brooklyn Brewery, are launching a brand-new bar within the venue; The Copper Bar. It will have new lighting, artistic installs and free live gigs every Friday and Saturday night, and we are really excited to invite all our friends along to try it out.”
Band on the Wall has been a cornerstone of Manchester’s thriving music and cultural landscape for two centuries, beginning its life as a market tavern, The George and Dragon. Having a licence for music since 1806, Band on the Wall is one of the longest established live music venues in the world, housing performances by Gregory Porter, A Certain Ratio, Inspiral Carpets, Candi Staton, Roy Ayers, Billy Bragg, Angie Stone, De La Soul, Mike Skinner and Theo Parrish to name a few.
This unparalleled history has become part of the fabric of The Copper Bar. The walls are adorned with collage artwork, curated by the musician-led venue team, featuring flyers from Manchester stalwart DJ and producer Mr Scruff’s Keep it Unreal, 80s and 90s listing flyers, ticket stubs from legendary gigs, to some of the bar staff’s own gigs, and everything in between. The collage pieces take in the past, present and future of the city’s evergreen, eclectic music scene.
See Band on the Wall listings here.
📍 Visit Band on the Wall at 25 Swan St, Manchester M4 5JZ.