Musicians show support for Manchester’s Night and Day venue amid closure hearing
Manchester‘s iconic Night and Day venue faces its hearing against the council, which will determine whether it will close after a series of noise complaints. Over 94,000 people have signed a petition to remove the Noise Abatement Notice.
Many performers have recently spoken out about the potential closure of the iconic venue. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, Elbow’s Guy Garvey claimed he and the band “are furious”, and the situation is “a shameful disgrace.” He described the independent venue as “essential”, taking it upon themselves to “look after the city’s music and art.”
Comedian and actor Mae Martin Tweeted: “Help save Night and Day Cafe in Manchester! We had a brilliant time filming lots of Feel Good here and it’s an institution. Sign the petition if you can?” Similarly, The 1975’s Matty Healy has spoken out on the matter, telling Zane Lowe: “It’s like moving to Leicester Square and complaining about there being too many cinemas!”
Manchester-based band, The Goa Express, shared their disapproval of the venue’s potential closure, with bassist Naham Muzaffar saying, “It’s just such a big part of Manchester. People come because they want to go out and explore the city. If they are going to be shutting at 22:00 because they can’t have a DJ set, where else are people gonna go? What other venues are going to be dealing with the same consequences?”
Head of Music Venues Trust, Mark Davyd said: “Manchester City Council are going to court saying Night & Day must change the nature of their business to accommodate a premises that never should have been allowed to be built,” he added. “So it’s a ridiculous situation.” Meanwhile, venue owners Ben and Jennifer Smithson told the BBC they are “stressed out of our minds” and “praying it goes our way.”
“We just don’t understand why the council are going forward with this, we gave them plenty of opportunity to drop it behind closed doors.”
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