Popular Music of Manchester - The Venues of The Early 21st Century

The Venues of The Early 21st Century

Manchester's biggest popular music venue is the Manchester Evening News Arena, which seats over twenty thousand and is the largest arena of its type in Europe, with the City of Manchester Stadium and Old Trafford's cricket grounds also providing large ad-hoc open air venues outside of the sporting season. Other major venues include the Manchester Apollo, Manchester Central (formally known as the GMEX) and the Manchester Academy. There are over 30 smaller venues for signed and unsigned artists of all genres to perform in, ensuring that the music scene in Manchester constantly remains vibrant and interesting. An area known as the Northern Quarter, considered the cultural and musical heart of the city, houses some of the best known of these venues such as Band on the Wall, the Roadhouse and The Night and Day Cafe. Various other venues exist in pubs and clubs throughout the city.