Gigs Live Music Club

The Derby Hall, Bury, 1979–1987

My current (and as yet untitled) writing project is a record of one of North Manchester’s leading live venues for new music in the 80s.

Gigs Live Music Club

Current (untitled) writing project

TL;DR: My current writing project is a personal record of the North Manchester music scene in the early 1980s, examined through the lens of Gigs Live Music Club at the Derby Hall in Bury.

You can keep track of my progress in my project diary.

Can you help?

I’m looking for people who performed at Gigs Live Music Club, were members of the club, came to specific gigs, or worked there. Get in touch

In more detail

The most common narratives about the Manchester music scene in the 1980s inevitably focus on Factory and the Haçienda. These were important places, to be sure, and their legacy is important.

But there is another story.

In North Manchester (specifically around Bury, Rochdale, Bolton, Oldham, Whitefield, Radcliffe, Middleton and so on) there was a thriving live music scene. Go into any of these towns any night of the week and half the pubs would have a band on. And most of those bands were playing their own stuff.

The drawbacks of playing in pubs were that the audience was small – and many of them had come for a pint and not to listen to you. If you weren’t a covers band, it could be a challenge until you got a following.

But from the pub, to where could you graduate? Another pub? There’s a big gap between playing in a pub and larger music venues.

Gigs Live Music Club provided a real stage, in a proper venue which could hold an audience of up to 375 people. And because it was a club, people – members – came to listen to the music. New music.

And although it’s true that many people assembled into musical tribes (rockers, punks, folkies, whatever), none of that mattered in the club. Gigs hosted rock, blues, jazz, folk, punk, post-punk, new wave, metal, electronic – it even hosted poets and theatre. And while some of the audience came to see just their favourite acts, the regulars, the members, were a family – people who came almost regardless of the musical genre.

This is the story I’m writing, along with the backdrop of important events such as the Deeply Vale festivals and the Northern Carnival Against the Nazis.

Can you help?

I want to talk to people who played at the club, who came to the club or who were involved in the North Manchester music scene. Please get in touch.

Known Gigs Live Music Club events

All of these events are substantiated by contemporary printed evidence. This could be a ticket, poster, advert in local paper (typically but not always The Bury Times), advert in the music press (typically Sounds or Record Mirror), review in the local or music press, from bands’ published tour dates or from booking correspondence. Where there is any doubt, I have noted it.

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Tuesday 20 November 1979
Freefall

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Tuesday 22 January 1980
Cheetahs/Any Trouble

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Thursday 14 February 1980
Landscape

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Tuesday 18 March 1980
Whitefire/Graff Spee

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Tuesday 18 March 1980
Sturgeon Row

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Tuesday 25 March 1980
Freefall/Crumpsall
(Crumpsall played two other dates)

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Tuesday 1 April 1980
A Certain Ratio

Tuesday 8 April 1980
Joy Division and Minny Pops
(This is a complicated evening but it could be said that Section 25 also performed – but they were not on the poster/ticket/advertising.)

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Tuesday 15 April 1980
Exhibit A and Night Visitors

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Tuesday 22 April 1980
No club – planned and advertised rest night

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Tuesday 10 June 1980
Two Tone Pinks

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Tuesday 9 September 1980
Purple Effect

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Monday 15 September 1980
Crafty Avenue

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Monday 15 September 1980
Gammer Band

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Monday 22 September 1980
Last Chickens in the Shop

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Monday 6 October 1980
Night Visitors and Madhouse

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Tuesday 14 October 1980
Victor Brox/No Change

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Tuesday 21 October 1980
Salford Jets

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Tuesday 28 October 1980
Rockin-Horse/Jeff Libby

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Tuesday, 4 November 1980
JG Spoils/Any Trouble
(There is dated evidence for either of these bands playing this night, but it is possible they both played.)

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Tuesday 11 November 1980
Ludus and Diagram Brothers

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Tuesday 18 November 1980
Whipps/Alex Tronics

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Tuesday 25 November 1980
Jazz Fusion

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Tuesday 2 December 1980
Whitefire

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Tuesday, 20 January 1981
Ricky and the Spitfires

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Tuesday 27 January 1981
The Passage

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Tuesday 3 February 1981
No club – planned and advertised rest night

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Tuesday 10 February 1981
Victor Brox/No Change

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Tuesday 3 March 1981
Medusa/Whiffer

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Tuesday 5 May 1981
Geddes Axe

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Tuesday 2 June 1981
Private Dicks

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Tuesday 16 June 1981
White Lightnin’

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Tuesday 23 June 1981
Any Trouble/Old Nick

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Tuesday 30 June 1981
Stiff Bennet and the Memos/Band 4

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Friday 3 July 1981
White Lightnin’/The Chameleons/Adrian Mitchell/Music for the Deaf

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Friday 10 July 1981
Network

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Tuesday 18 August 1981
Private Dicks/Pete Nick and Colin Hesketh

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Tuesday 25 August 1981
Homegrown Night: The Red Alpacas/JG Spoils/The Bar Stewards

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Tuesday 1 September 1981
Victor Brox/No Change

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Tuesday 8 September 1981
Salford Jets

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Monday 14 September 1981
Sick Youth/The Grout/Popeye

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Tuesday 13 October 1981
Madhouse Theatre Company

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Tuesday 27 October 1981
The Rhythmaires/Fictitious Names

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Tuesday 27 October 1981
Hoosegow/The Red Alpacas

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Tuesday 3 November 1981
Interchange Theatre Project/Artzone

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Tuesday 10 November 1981
White Lightnin’/Dr Filth

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Tuesday 17 November 1981
Mr Gee and Friends/Grand Marniers of Zanzibar/100% Proof
(There is conflicting evidence for this night: a poster for 100% Proof/Jade; however, there are photographs of Mr Gee and Friends plus a review of Mr Gee and Friends, The Grand Marniers of Zanzibar/100% Proof. It is possible they all played but more likely that Jade had to drop out and Grand Marniers and Mr Gee stepped up.)

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Tuesday 24 November 1981
Mick Wall/Old Nick

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Monday 15 March 1982
The Chameleons

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Tuesday 27 April 1982
The Fall/Music for the Deaf

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Tuesday 25 May 1982
The Chameleons/Any Trouble
(The evidence for Any Trouble playing is unconfirmed.)

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Tuesday 8 June 1982
Alexei Sayle – an evening of motorcycle maintenance

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Tuesday 15 June 1982
Interchange Theatre Project

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Tuesday, 17 August 1982
Criminal Fingers/Sister Rose

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Saturday 22 January 1983
Le Big Gig: The Rhythmaires/Street Gypsy/D-Notes

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Friday 20 January 1984
Here and Now/Fictitious Names
(Here & Now played at least two other dates.)

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Saturday 26 October 1985
Athens/Fictitious Names/Belle Elmor

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Monday 3 March 1986
Pendragon/The Bond

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Saturday 7 June 1986
Sister Rose

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Saturday 28 June 1986
A Chris Byrne rock disco, with D.J. John Lindley

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Tuesday 3 November 1987
The Bond/Marc Catley

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Tuesday 10 November 1987
Ava Banana/Riff Raff

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Tuesday 17 November 1987
Rock disco with Chris Byrne

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Tuesday 24 November 1987
Filthy Rich/Support

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Thursday 26 November 1987
Dirty Tryx/Support

(There is evidence for both the Filthy Rich and Dirty Tryx gigs, but it seems unlikely there were two gigs a couple of days apart, so one item of evidence may be incorrect or they both played.)

Other known performers

The following performers are known with certainty to have played but there is inadequate or no dated evidence.

  • Tractor (likely to have been in March, or before 24 April 1982)

  • God’s Gift (played more than once)

  • Notsensibles

  • Harlem Spirit

  • Body

  • Streetfighter (played more than once)

  • The Politicians

  • Walter Mitty

  • Bronx (played more than once)

  • Electric Inspiration

  • The Reducers

  • Wilful Damage

  • Fast Cars

  • New Opera