Manchester’s Night & Day announces fundraiser gig to save venue from closure
Manchester’s Night & Day have announced a fundraiser gig in an attempt to keep the venue’s doors open.
Last month it emerged Night & Day is facing a court case over a noise complaint that could see its potential closure.
In a bid to raise awareness of the case, the venue is now partnering up with promoter and label Sour Grapes Records to put on an event titled ‘Decades of Decibels’ on November 26. The gig will also mark the venue’s 31st birthday this month.
As well as including performances from local acts such as Lounge Society, Soup!, Deaf Deaf Deaf and more, the event will also feature a live Q&A panel with officials including chairman of the Greater Manchester Music Commission, Jay Taylor.
Tracks taken from each performance will be curated into a cassette which will be made available to purchase at the venue on the day. Remainders will be exclusively on sale at Mars Tapes afterwards.
All proceeds of the event and the live cassette will be donated to Music Venue Trust, a charity dedicated to protecting and securing grassroots UK music venues.
‘Decades of Decibels’ will take place just days before Night & Day’s court case begins on November 29.
Following news of its potential closure last month, the venue’s owner Jennifer Smithson described the case as being “unfair”.
“We were one of the founding businesses in the development of the Northern Quarter, people wanted to move here because of vibrant, interesting places like Night & Day which is great and it’s really enhanced the area,” Smithson told The Guardian.
“What is particularly galling is that the planning department knew about the potential for noise disturbance from Night & Day when it issued the planning consent to turn the warehouse next door into residential flats. A separate acoustic report was required to establish what could be done to prevent noise from Night & Day impacting residents of the building. However, no separate acoustic report was ever prepared by the developer and the planning department allowed the building to be occupied without suitable acoustic insulation works.
“We now have to either accept the noise abatement notice, which will put us at risk of immediate prosecution in the event of noise complaints, or go to court at significant expense to appeal it. This could mean the end of Night & Day forever. It’s a nightmare.”
“It’s just so unfair. We believe that the fault lies squarely with Manchester City Council. They could cancel the noise abatement notice and rectify the problem that they originally caused, rather than close down a business that’s been the beating heart of the Manchester music scene for decades.”
In response, a spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: “It must be made explicitly clear from the outset that the Council has never threatened to close down this venue, nor is there any legislation which would allow a Noise Abatement Notice to be used to close a premises.
“It is important to reiterate throughout this process extensive discussions have taken place to try and address the statutory noise nuisance which was the sole reason a Noise Abatement Notice (NAN) was served.
“The Council is, and remains, supportive of the music scene in Manchester which Night and Day has championed, but we have to comply with our duties in respect of statutory nuisance. It is also important to state that the source of complaints regarding this venue relate to very loud music played into the early hours of the morning and not live band performances.
“The Council’s planning records show that an acoustic report was provided during the development of surrounding units, and the Council completely rejects any suggestion that planning conditions were not met.
“The Council will continue to work towards an amicable resolution where the noise nuisance is fully addressed.”
Fans are encouraged to sign a petition here to help save the venue and use the hashtag #savenightandday.
The post Manchester’s Night & Day announces fundraiser gig to save venue from closure appeared first on NME.
Courtney Wynter
NME
