The Night & Day Café is a café bar and live music venue in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England.

Location

It is located in the city's Northern Quarter on

Oldham Street Oldham Street is in Manchester city centre and forms part of the city's historic Northern Quarter district. The Northern Quarter is dominated by buildings that were built before World War II. The street runs from Piccadilly to Great Ancoats S ...

, opposite Piccadilly Records. It is near the

Afflecks Afflecks (formerly Affleck's Palace) is an indoor market in Manchester, England, in the city's Northern Quarter on the junction of Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street with Oldham Street. Dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiq ...

palace shopping arcade and a few minutes' walk from the

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

Arndale Centre Arndale Centres were the first "American style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total, twenty three Arndales have been built in the United Kingdom, and three in Australia. The first opened in Jarrow, County Durham, in 1961, as a ...

shopping areas.

History

The Night & Day opened in 1991 in a former chip shop in what was (at the time) one of the more desolate parts of town. First owned by Jan Oldenburg, it slowly developed into a music venue and gained a reputation for pioneering live music and supporting alternative bands. When the venue faced the threat of closure

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the media ...

’s Guy Garvey told radio station XFM that the venue had been crucial to his band's career and that it deserved protected status and a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. As of 2018, the venue is managed by Oldenburg's daughter and her husband.

Live music

The café has played an important role in the Manchester music scene, with many successful bands playing early gigs there. Elbow played at the venue before it had a proper stage and lead singer Garvey claims he used to give out Night & Day's phone number as a contact number because members of the band were so often in the venue. Other artists who have played at the venue include

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

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, the

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and the

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. It was also used as the filming location for the music video which accompanied

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

's single "Dynamo".

Threats of closure

In January 2014, the Night & Day was threatened with permanent closure after a resident in the neighbouring flats complained about noise, and

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

issued a nuisance notice. Speaking to the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...

'', the Night & Day's promoter and booker said that having to turn noise levels down would discourage bands from playing, and that a fine would ruin the venue. Musicians including Johnny Marr,

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

and Tim Burgess stepped in to show their support for the venue and a petition was set up which gained thousands of signatures. However, the fight quickly became inflamed with the then owner Jan Oldenburg saying that he felt he was being portrayed as uncooperative and the complainant revealing that he had received death threats. In May 2014, it was reported that the Music Venue Trust had lent their support to the Night & Day's campaign, with a national petition which called for an urgent review of noise abatement legislation for bars and venues in the UK and in September of the same year it was reported that the Night & Day would be able to keep its licence if staff agreed to regularly meet with residents to discuss any issues. In November 2021, the venue was served with a noise abatement notice from Manchester City Council. This was following ongoing complaints from a local resident who had moved into the area during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the venue was not open as usual. The owners of Night & Day have said that the venue faces closure as a result. Subsequently, a petition was launched to remove the abatement order and has gained over 94,000 signatures. In addition, various local businesses, residents and local bands as well as some high profile Musicians took to social media in support of the venue. These included Elbow, The Charlatans and Johnny Marr.

References in popular culture

The venue was mentioned in the hit American TV drama ''Lost'' in the season three episode 21 "

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

" as the place where Mancunian character Charlie's band DriveShaft played their first gig. In 2018, the venue doubled as "Heaven", a bar in the

Michael C. Hall Michael Carlyle Hall (born February 1, 1971) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Dexter Morgan, the titular character in the Showtime series ''Dexter,'' and David Fisher in the HBO drama series '' Six Feet Under.'' Thes ...

Netflix drama ''Safe''.

References

External links

The Night & Day website

The Night & Day Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night And Day Cafe Buildings and structures in Manchester Restaurants established in 1991 Music venues in Manchester 1991 establishments in England