Band on the Wall

Kate Feld

Visit now

Band on the Wall

25 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JZ
0161 834 1786
  • Monday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Tuesday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Wednesday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Thursday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Friday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Saturday5:00pm - 11:00pm
  • Sunday5:00pm - 11:00pm

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Manchester music venue, Band on the Wall
Book now

Band on the Wall, with its 200 year history, has been transformed. The capacity of the main room has been extended to 500, there’s a whole floor dedicated to the venue’s innovative World of Music learning programme, plus an impressive new bar, which doubles up as a smaller, 80 capacity venue.

Dating back to 1803, Band on the Wall has played a unique role in Manchester’s musical heritage. The name ‘Band on the Wall’ comes from when the venue was known as The George and the Dragon pub, where performers would play on a stage situated halfway up the wall. Flash forward to the late ’70s and it became the epicentre of Manchester’s punk scene, hosting some of the earliest performances by The Fall, Buzzcocks and Joy Division. Since then, everyone from Björk to the Sun Ra Arkestra has graced its iconic stage. All before the venue shut shop in 2020 to work on this ambitious capital project.

The (fairly) newly opened, fully accessible venue has expanded into the three-storey Cocozza Wood building, which it adjoins at the back. This Victorian building has long been derelict, but now forms part of the larger ground floor venue space and the upper floor learning suite where Band on the Wall nurtures a hotbed of Manchester talent via World of Music – a community-focussed programme of heritage, music, learning and research projects which celebrate Manchester’s migrant communities and their musical legacies. As for the new bar, it’s a grand and ambient space, which serves hot food, and stays open during the day to serve the local community. It also doubles up as a smaller venue on some evenings, meaning that more live music than ever before is coming to Swan Street, and that can only be a good thing.

What's on at Band on the Wall

What's on near Band on the Wall

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
MusicManchester
Blondshell at New Century

With sardonic wit, towering hooks and distortion dialled high, Blondshell lands at New Century this September, armed with album number two.

From £24.00
Bloom Chameleon Dancers
Ancoats
Bloom at Hallé St Peter’s

Bloom fuses Manchester and Japan’s creative energies in music, dance and fashion, imagining bold futures for shared histories.

Free entry
Craft Beer Tour Around Manchester
Until
ActivityManchester
Craft Beer Tour Manchester

Join Craft Beer Tour Manchester for a journey through some of the cities best local breweries and artisanal beer serving bars. Discover the personality of Manchester’s beer through a diverse

From £45

Where to go near Band on the Wall

The Rose & Monkey Hotel
Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Rose & Monkey Hotel

The Rose & Monkey Hotel is one of the Northern Quarter’s best music-led bars, with a truly impressive beer garden. Our new favourite Manchester pub.

Stray
Manchester
Restaurant
Stray

Stylish modern bar serving sophisticated cocktails in the Northern Quarter.

Manchester
Restaurant
Foundry Project

The Northern Quarter’s self-styled ‘happiest place in Manchester’, based at the old Bluu site.

Manchester
Restaurant
The Firehouse

The Firehouse serves up quality food and drink at its new Wednesday evening supper club.

Ancoats
Restaurant
Ramona

If you haven’t heard of Ramona by now then where have you been? Taking Manchester by storm, Ramona is a Detroit Pizza restaurant, with a salty twist… Frozen margaritas!

Manchester
Restaurant
Mackie Mayor

A Grade II listed market building in the Northern Quarter, Mackie Mayor is a key fixture in the ever-growing Northern Quarter food and drink scene.

Fringe Bar in Manchester's Northern Quarter
Ancoats
Bar or Pub
Bar Fringe

No-frills bar on Manchester’s Swan Street. A wide selection of beers and ciders mixed with a great jukebox make this an ideal pre-Band on The Wall drinking spot.

Noi Quattro
Manchester
Restaurant
Noi Quattro

Noi Quattro is an independent pizzeria at the heart of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

matt and phreds sign manchester music
Manchester
Music venue
Matt and Phred’s

New Orleans reaches Manchester with this dedicated jazz club in the Northern Quarter – a reliable choice for a good night out.

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Sprints
Music in the North

10 fresh shows across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, threading together noise, ritual, euphoria and release in all their messy, beautiful forms.

Detail of an abstract sculpture, with burned materials and rusty chicken wire at the centre, with rusted metal bars bent around it.
Exhibitions in the North

Chocolate fountains, beautiful batiks and medieval marginalia - this month's supersized Exhibitions Guide has it all.