Oasis gig money to fund Manchester grassroots music venues

Money created from the massive Oasis gigs and different occasions in Manchester will assist fund grassroots music venues within the metropolis, it has been introduced.

The Burnage-born Gallagher brothers performed 5 live shows at Heaton Park, within the north of the town, as a part of their Live 25 reunion tour to mixed crowds of greater than 320,000 folks.

Other massive gigs by stars reminiscent of Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Charlie XCX, Elbow, Fontaines D.C. and Robbie Williams have additionally boosted the native economic system.

Manchester City Council stated a £250,000 fund for small music venues had been arrange after incomes a windfall from hiring out its parks and from enterprise charges paid by bigger venues.

Money raised from the occasions may even be reinvested into council-owned parkland.

Small venues will be capable of bid for grants from the brand new fund, which is anticipated to be run by charity the Music Venue Trust – though the finer particulars are nonetheless being ironed out, in keeping with the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council chief Bev Craig stated the most important gigs within the metropolis’s arenas and parks may “dominate the headlines”, however they had been “only possible because they are part of a wider ecosystem with smaller, grassroots venues providing the launchpads for acts to develop and grow”.

Jay Taylor, Music Venue Trust nationwide co-ordinator, stated he believed the cash got here at a crucial time after the federal government decreased enterprise charges aid for small venues.

It is known the transfer is unrelated to a court case between the town council and the Night & Day Cafe, a well known music venue within the metropolis’s Northern Quarter.

The case concluded final spring, the place the Oldham Street venue appealed in opposition to a council noise abatement discover issued in late 2021.

A choose upheld the discover however really helpful mediation following a plan steered by the homeowners.