The Ritz (Manchester)
The Ritz (1927–2015) | |
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| Address | Whitworth Street Manchester England |
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| Owner | Academy Music Group |
| Capacity | 1,500 |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
The O2 Ritz (originally known as The Ritz) is a live music venue on Whitworth Street West in Manchester, England. Built as a dance hall in 1927, it was designated a Grade II listed building in 1994.[1] The venue is notable for its sprung dance floor.[2][3] The Ritz was taken over by HMV in 2011 and given a £2 million refurbishment.[4]
The venue also occasionally hosts events run by third-party entertainment brands such as Propaganda, GoGo, Voodoo and Erasmus Parties. The current nightclub event on Saturday is Projekt. In 2015, the venue was acquired by Live Nation Entertainment, and re-branded as O2 Ritz Manchester, as part of the O2 Academy Group.[5]
The Ritz featured as a brief location in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey.[6]
Music at The Ritz
Most of the well-known dance bands of the 1930s and 40s played here.[7]
In 1961 The Ritz featured beat groups on Sunday afternoons (later replaced by bingo) such as the Fourtones (which included Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, later of the Hollies).[6] In the 1980s the venue hosted student/Indie discos with 'Dance your Docs off' on Monday nights [6] In the late 1980s Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound System played a couple of seminal gigs.[8]
Acts which have played at the venue include the Beatles, the Damned, R.E.M., the Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, the Smiths, Snow Patrol, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Magazine,[6] the Nosebleeds (fronted by Morrissey for the second and final time),[6] John Cooper Clarke,[6] Public Image Ltd, Happy Mondays, Adam Ant, New Order,[6] Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, the Psychedelic Furs, Sublime with Rome, the Zangwills, Swans, A Certain Ratio,[9] Liam Gallagher, Peter Hook, Dodgy and Drain Gang.
- 1982 (4 October): the Smiths play their first gig (four songs), supporting Blue Rondo à la Turk[6][10]
See also
References
- ^ "The Ritz Dance Hall". Historic England. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "www.visitmanchester.com". Archived from the original on 17 October 2006.
- ^ Robb 2010, p. 95.
- ^ News, Manchester Evening (6 September 2011). "The Ritz to spring back to Manchester's nightclub scene – complete with bouncing dancefloor".
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Live Nation re-brands 3 ex-MAMA venues as 'O2' in the UK - Music Business Worldwide". 12 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gatenby, Phill; Gill, Craig (2011). The Manchester Musical History Tour. Manchester: Empire Publications. pp. 35–37. ISBN 9781901746716.
- ^ "The Ritz Dance Hall". Historic England. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Robb 2010, p. 188.
- ^ Robb 2010, p. 116.
- ^ Robb 2010, p. 202.
Sources
- Robb, John (2010). The North Will Rise Again. Manchester Music City (1977-1996). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978 1 84513 534 8.
