The Star and Garter is only open for gig and club night bookings. WE ARE THE LAST. TRULY. INDIE. VENUE. YOU WILL EVER KNOW.
Sometime in 2016 The Star and Garter was supposed to cease trading as a music venue and be forced to close in order for Network Rail to action a Compulsory Purchase Order and expand Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station. It never happened, but the building owner nevertheless sold it in 2019 to the company in charge of redeveloping Mayfield Railway Station and the land surrounding. The rent more th
an doubled, but the S&G had survived again. The Star and Garter is a big building in Manchester which celebrates its 221st birthday in 2021. It was originally constructed in 1803 approximately 100 yards from it's current position and moved, brick by brick, in 1849 to allow London Road (before it became Piccadilly) Railway Station to expand, reopening in 1877. It celebrates it's 144th Birthday on it's current site in 2021. It is home to the longest running club night in Manchester- the Morrissey Smiths Disco - a night so famous it’s had a song written about it. It's also a venue for live appearances from bands and artistes covering all genres of music and performance, be it musically, on film or television or just somewhere someone has ended up by mistake or on purpose. Low, Status Quo, UK Subs, Vice Squad, Architects, At The Drive In, Courteeners, Kevin Montgomery, Al Perkins, Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce, Frank Carter, Nine Black Alps, Hovis Presley, Frank Sidebottom, Tony Wilson, Peter Slater, Liam Frost, Clint Boon, Autokat, The Longcut, The Mavericks, Tommy Allsup, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Calvin Party, Kevin Rowland, Belle and Sebastian, Richard Hawley, Bobby Conn, Marc Riley, Electric Six, Ray Winstone, Kevin Eldon, Samantha Morton, Susan Tully, Suranne Jones, Dean Lennox Kelly, Ben Miller, Carl Chase, Robbie Coltrane, Ricky Tomlinson, Helen Mirren, John Simm, Matthew Horne, Pete Shelley, Keith Allen, Tara Fitzgerald, Ollie Alexander, John Thomson, Neil Fitzmaurice, Joseph Gilgun, Michelle Keegan, Peter Hook and Chloe Sevigny are among the select many who have appeared as a performer or punter. The building has appeared as a location (interior and exterior) on There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, Funland, Mine All Mine, Cracker, Band Of Gold, Dead Clever, Prime Suspect, Worried About The Boy, Body Farm, Snodgrass, Prey, Cradle to Grave, Brassic and It’s A Sin as well as various adverts, documentaries and university, youth and community projects. Ask anyone about the Star&Garter and the response will be as follows:
Never heard of it
The Morrissey Smiths Disco
Punk Gigs
Metal Gigs
The Temple of Doom
The Municipal Fortress of Vengeance
Smile
Dive
Haunted
It's closing
It's being knocked down
It's being turned into flats
It's in the Red Light district
It's Anti-Facist, Anti-Racist and Anti-Knobhead
The "Legendary" Wristbands
Ian suffered a stroke over the weekend. He is currently at Salford Royal Stroke Unit. We cannot explain enough on here how upset we all are that the man who has kept the Star and Garter building well enough to operate for thirty years is so unwell. Without him the building could have very possibly just fallen down were it not for his love of the ‘little tasks’ and ‘projects’ that he would arrange in ‘order of importance’. In this picture he is holding my daughter Jasmine. She is now four years old. Ian is in his seventies. Three weeks ago he was playing hide and seek with her in the Star and Garter when he took a break from fixing something to cheer her up because she was a bit poorly. That’s the kind of man he is and we will forever be in his debt ❤️
22/10/2022
Unfortunately we were robbed last night. By O2 Apollo Manchester who took 30% yes THIRTY percent of our merch sales. That’s almost one third commission just to sell our own merch. We were also forced to sell T shirts for 35 fu***ng quid. Found out last minute. We tried to fight it. But management wouldn’t listen. This s**t will kill DIY bands like us. O2 Apollo you should be ashamed of yourself. Featured Artists Coalition
14/10/2022
Robbie Coltrane has died. We will always be proud to boast that an episode of Cracker, a show which many people describe as his best work, had scenes filmed here ❤️
Tonights Morrissey aftershow disco has sold out and there won’t be any door entry, so if you don’t have a ticket then please don’t show up anyway and say your friend(s) have got tickets and you’re only small and can we squeeze you in etc etc zzzz
30/09/2022
Photos from We Are Mozzerians's post
15/09/2022
The card payments adventure continues this time with the card machine software if this email is anything to go by. If you’re going to see Soul Glo tonight then bring cash in case this hasn‘t been fixed
13/09/2022
If you’re attending the Soul Glo gig tonight (Thursday) then please bring cash because the f**king card machines are playing up thanks to our wonderful ISP performing an ‘upgrade’ which has only downgraded if you ask me. Not long now before I put my foot through the router, tweet about how unfair everything is and blame 5G masts.
13/09/2022
TV vs Real Life. The many uses of one corner of our gig room. .ru
It‘s Spot The Pub time once again tonight, although the S&G is in every episode so its not particularly difficult to recognise. This is Brassic series four and there’s one particular episode which not only featured the upstairs pub artwork by our very own Sian Brophy it also included a request for permission for a series of absolutely insane props and additions. Sky Max (the channel formerly known as Sky One) tonight, 10pm https://youtu.be/LHifNBH6EZs
Bigger, better and even more Brassic. Vinnie and the gang are returning for another series of Sky’s biggest original comedy. Whether it’s heisting horses, bo...
A party to follow Morrissey’s show at the o2 Apollo, Manchester, at the home of the world famous and longest running Morrissey Smiths Disco in the world - The Star and Garter. Tuesday 4th October 2022 10.30pm - 2.30am £3 Please note; There is no tribute band - it’s a Disco. Everybody knows all ...
03/06/2022
FREE CUP-a-SOUP TO UB40 NEXT DOOR!
29/05/2022
Details for tonight’s Creeper show
Doors 7pm
Band 8pm
Done by 9.30pm and being for the benefit of people who want to get home, especially by train.
The show has sold out. There are no door spaces. If you haven’t got a ticket, please don’t turn up and try to get in.
14/05/2022
If you see this man, you know what to do.
26/04/2022
BAD NEWS: Jaime Harding has pulled out of playing Moz Meet due to ill health. We wish him better.
GOOD NEWS: Roberts Family Band stepped in. We are overjoyed and grateful to have them play both Friday and Saturday with the Salford Lads NYC and Jose Maldonado at The Star and Garter as well as Salford Lads' Club Manchester Music Tours. Saturday is SOLD OUT. Last tickets remaining for Friday evening - they will go off sale on Friday at midday. Tickets remaining for Saturday bus tour. Don’t miss out!
Alistair Morrison Donates a Valuable Rare Morrissey Print - All Proceeds going to The Star & Garter in Manchester
07/04/2022
TONIGHTS SUBHUMANS GIG HAS BEEN CANCELLED, ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE TOUR, BECAUSE ONE OF THE BAND HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID. TICKETS WILL BE REFUNDED.
04/04/2022
This Friday we have performing their first show in the north in nearly three years. The band have gained legendary status for themselves at the likes of 2000 Trees Festival & Glastonbury. Tickets: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/karma-bookings/t-lyxdym
This Friday we have Thrill Collins at The Star & Garter, for their first show in the north in nearly three years. The band have gained legendary status for themselves at the likes of 2000 Trees Festival & Glastonbury and are bringing the party to Manchester on Friday 8th April.
Tickets are now available for Thrill Collins at The Star and Garter, Manchester at Star & Garter, Manchester on Fri 8 Apr 2022 at 7:00PM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!
Hi, my name is Chris, This go fund me is for my Mum. Shortly before lockdown she had multi… Chris Hunt needs your support for Help bring my Mum home please.
One week it’s someone out of Pulp Fiction/Coronation Street/This Is England/Alan Partridge/The Commitments/Gameface/The Outlaws/Plebs/Gangs of London/Shameless/Preacher and the week after it’s someone out of The Stone Roses 👍
Jack Monroe's thread about the true cost of inflation 'as it happens to people with the least' is an important read
Slightly lost in the midst of everything else that’s going on right now was the news this week that inflation rose to 5.4% in December, its highest rate for 30 years. The 5.4% figure prompted Jack Monroe – the – to share some figures about the ‘real cost of inflation as it hap...
04/01/2022
The Armory Show gig this Saturday (8th January) has, once again, been postponed due to Covid.
Jackie used to work at the Star and Garter. A few years ago she sent a group text message to her friends telling us that she was in MRI and might have to have her leg amputated, followed by another message asking us not to tell her Mum. The amputation happened. Jackie embraced it and got a false leg, wrote a book, did a tour and a TV short (among many many other things) all about the experience, including a lot of posts about how much pain she was in, but always laced with humour even when it was too much to bear. Last week she posted from MRI. She has Systemic Sclerosis. They amputated her other leg. They also further amputated the ‘original’ leg above the knee which means she won’t be able to have new legs fitted and instead will be in a wheelchair. She will spend Christmas and New Year in MRI. She set up a Go Fund Me appeal for a woman in her 80s who is on the same ward as her, you can read about it via the link.
Jackie hasn’t set up a Go Fund Me appeal for herself so we may set one up on her behalf. For the time being just read the link to her appeal on behalf of a woman she’s just met on a hospital ward that she will be a resident in until 2022 and consider just how terrible it really is having to wear a mask in a shop or have a flu jab.
Im in hospital, ive just had my legs amputated and it could have been a trauma… Jack Hagan needs your support for Help a grieving, wonderful woman feel loved
Louise put a night on here a long time ago, maybe close to 20 years, and then returned more recently with the wonderful Guts for Garters. She was full-on, loud, colourful, witty, intelligent and owner of a huge heart of solid gold. The Star and Garter has lost too many friends over the past three years for reasons known only to those concerned so we can only appeal to everyone to talk and perhaps share any troubles or concerns with your friends and maybe stop adding to an awful list of statistics.
Much loved performance artist, musician, comedian and DIY instigator Louise Woodcock died recently. Fergal Kinney talks to the people who knew her best. CW: this article talks about mental ill-health and su***de
07/12/2021
I might have to steal all of this set from when they come to shoot
06/12/2021
Still in the top five of top ten most memorable nights here
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WE ARE THE LAST. TRULY. INDIE. VENUE. YOU WILL EVER KNOW.
Sometime in 2016 The Star and Garter was supposed to cease trading and be close in order for Network Rail to action a Compulsory Purchase Order and expand Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station as part of “The Northern Hub”. The irony of this alone is explained below. Once the said expansion was completed, The Star and Garter would have been sold on at a profit to the highest bidder.
The Star and Garter is a big building in Manchester which celebrates its 217th birthday in 2018. It was originally constructed in 1803 approximately 100 yards from it's current position and moved, brick by brick, in 1849 to allow London Road (before it became Piccadilly) Railway Station to expand, reopening in 1877. In 1888 The Star and Garter became the property of Chesters Brewery Co. Ltd until 1987 when the closure of Mayfield Railway Station (which sits next door to The Star and Garter) effectively killed business in the area and forced Chesters Brewery to close the business and put the building up for sale after almost 100 years.
In 1991 Robert Darlington purchased the building and turned it into a music venue by adding a fire escape and new bar and stage upstairs. While many people questioned opening any business in an area which had not seen any investment for 4 years, Robert was advised by local Government that the area was earmarked for improvement, starting with Metrolink in 1992 and the ill-fated bid to host the Olympic Games in 1996.
Over successive years the plans for “improvement” continued but never bore fruit. Mayfield Station was at various stages to become a Eurostar Terminal, a Metrolink Terminal, a replacement for Chorlton Street Bus Station, an Inter City specific station serving high speed trains to the north and south, a station to serve Manchester Airport, a bonded warehouse, a music, arts and conference venue and a film studio.
In 2009 a plan to create “The Whitehall of the North” was announced which meant the demolition of Mayfield Railway Station and the creation of a office, hotel and residential area to be occupied by Government departments from London. This proposal was scrapped less than a year later when the Conservative Party formed the new Government.
In 2010 “The Northern Hub” development was announced by Network Rail (see above) and in 2012 the Chancellor George Osborne approved the funding in full for the scheme. Within a year of this announcement, and still during the recession, bookings began to slow at The Star and Garter when press releases and subsequent newspaper articles reported that The Star and Garter would be demolished to make way for the new station. While demolition was one of three options for the scheme the eventual chosen development would maintain The Star and Garter but close off the Mayfield area in full for 3 years which, in turn, meant that The Star and Garter would have to close.
The Northern Hub proposal and the following 4 years of meetings, reports, studies, surveys and a public enquiry did not serve The Star and Garter well, especially as the Northern Quarter was expanding at a rapid pace. Bookings had dwindled because of the recession, the Northern Hub scheme and the “imminent” demolition of The Star and Garter, but the new Northern Quarter venues were taking them on thanks to a constant stream of favourable press reports bringing business to the area. At one stage there were three “new” Smiths Nights and two “new” Smile nights in the Northern Quarter.
A few changes in the management and operation of The Star and Garter in 2015 began a turnaround in the business and the gradual increase in bookings. After a period of two successive years where the total number of bookings from June - August could be counted on one hand, the combined efforts of the staff and a small band of loyal promoters who never gave up on the The Star and Garter meant that by late 2016 there were funds available to put some scaffolding around the rear of the property. These repairs to the gutters and roof helped fix the damp problem throughout the building and in 2017 the Mozarmy Meet donated enough to The Star and Garter to pay for the second stage of scaffolding and the repairs to the front of the building.
The Star and Garter celebrated it's 140th Birthday on it's current site in 2017 in the best condition it’s been in since 1991.
As mentioned, Smile and the Morrissey Smiths Disco are the longest running club nights in Manchester (25 and 24 years old respectively) - but The Star and Garter is also renowned for continually producing the city's most talked about "new breed" of nights, by encouraging promoters to promote in the old fashioned way and not lazily rely on their friends and the Internet.
Club nights and, in some cases actual Nightclubs, in Manchester which were born out of Smile include(d) Now Wave, Barbed Wire Kisses, Clique, Bam Bam, Up The Racket, Revolver, Tiger Lounge, Let’s Make This Precious and any "Smiths Disco" anywhere.
It's also a venue for live appearances from bands and artistes covering all genres of music and performance, be it musically, on film or television or just somewhere someone has ended up by mistake or on purpose.
Low, Status Quo, UK Subs, Vice Squad, At The Drive In, Bring Me The Horizon, Architects, Courteeners, Kevin Montgomery, Al Perkins, Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce, Frank Carter, Nine Black Alps, Hovis Presley, Frank Sidebottom, Tony Wilson, Peter Slater, Liam Frost, Clint Boon, Autokat, The Longcut, The Mavericks, Tommy Allsup, Half Man Half Biscuit, The Calvin Party, Dave Haslam, Kevin Rowland, Belle and Sebastian, Richard Hawley, Bobby Conn, Marc Riley, Electric Six, Ray Winstone, Adam Curtis, Charlie Brooker, Kevin Eldon, Samantha Morton, Susan Tully, Suranne Jones, Dean Lennox Kelly, Ben Miller, Carl Chase, Peter Hook, Robbie Coltrane, Ricky Tomlinson, Helen Mirren, John Simm, Matthew Horne, Pete Shelley, Keith Allen, Tara Fitzgerald, Jeff Pope, Wunmi Mosaku, Daniel Mays, Liam Cunningham and Chloe Sevigny are among the select many who have appeared as a performer, writer, producer, film crew or punter.
The building has appeared as a location (interior and exterior) on There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, Funland, Mine All Mine, Cracker, Band Of Gold, Dead Clever, Prime Suspect, Worried About The Boy, Body Farm, Snodgrass, Prey, Cradle to Grave and Eggs Get A Round as well as various adverts, documentaries and university, youth and community projects.
Ask anyone about the Star&Garter and the response will be as follows:
Never heard of it
The Morrissey Smiths Disco
Punk Gigs
Metal Gigs
The Temple of Doom
The Municipal Fortress of Vengeance
Smile
Dive
Haunted
It's closing
It's being knocked down
It's being turned into flats
It's in the Red Light district
It's Anti-Facist, Anti-Racist and Anti-Knobhead
The "Legendary" Wristbands
http://www.starandgarter.co.ukhttps://www.facebook.com/StarAndGarterManchesterhttps://twitter.com/star_gartermanchttp://breweryhistory.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chesters_Brewery_Co._Ltdhttps://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/whitehall-of-the-north-918335https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hubhttp://mayfieldmanchester.co.uk/
Thanks to Stevil Minta for the image(s) of The Star and Garter
Brand New FREE song that has f**k all to do with Valentines :)
We had our wedding party at The Star & Garter. Andy gave us all free entry, let us put all the wedding presents in his office, and even arranged special wristbands on the night, because he's a bloody superstar. Here are some photos :)
I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know how to get info on past gigs at the Star and Garter? From ages ago - specifically 2003? I'm trying to do some research on a gig I attended on 5th February 2003. A Canadian band called Tuuli played. Trying to find out who else might have been on the bill.
Stay tuned on social media next week, i will be announcing some STP 12" Test Pressings (only ever 10 pressed) and possibly more items to follow as bands have offered items, we will be auctioning to the highest bidder one a week (won't be letting them go cheap) with the money raised going straight to the Star and Garter gofund me account.
PLEASE SHARE THIS FOR US, THE MORE THAT SEE IT THE BETTER.
We will all be back as soon as you open. We all miss you.
To all my friends at the Star and Garter. Andy, Danny, Gary, Siobhan, Dan and not forgetting Ian. Stay safe and well and I hope well see you when this is all over
Who are the D.Js at The Morrissey Smiths Disco ?
Abuse your confusion
A great day & Evening at The star & Guitar Manchester with Kid Klumsy, Mr Badaxe, The Leftovers & The White Ribbons..... Stu Taylor
STAFFORD, GATESHEAD, MANCHESTER.
Abuse Your Confusion Tour 3 heads your way this weekend. As always if you can make these fun shows, please do so.
Manchester as always also doubles as our annual £5.00 bag of food entry show as we look to take some much needed supplies to a local foodbank, the one show in the year we ask you to attend to help others who may need that helping hand after the festive period. PLEASE SHARE OUR FLYERS PLEASE IF YOU CAN.
Tickets for our biggest hometown headline Manchester show to date on sale now :
| WELCOME TO THE NEW RESISTANCE |
We are HORLA ...
C y’all soon!
What can I say about last night at The Star and Garter Manchester. Brilliant night - thanks to all the bands, Antony Boggy Backhouse, Bastard Face , Vomit and The Drones. Thanks for making it a very special evening.
Angie Gower you are AMAZING the food was fantastic and Stu Taylor and Sam Mason, I can't put it into words what you do for the music scene and people in general - you both are loving, caring people. Thank you very much, Danny Marsh best barman around and not a bad DJ also.
Not forgetting you lovely folks who turnout on New Year's Eve to make it a very special night full of love, fun and music. Means everything to us that you support live music.
Happy New Year and
now on to planning the next one.
