The closure of Manchester’s Night & Day cafe would be “devastating” for the area and kill its image as a music city, council heads have been warned, before a crucial court battle that threatens the future of the famous venue.
Many of the biggest names in British music have graced the Night & Day stage in its 31-year history, including Johnny Marr, the Charlatans, Arctic Monkeys and Ed Sheeran.
However, it could soon close its doors for good following a noise complaint made by a resident who moved into an apartment next door during the quiet COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020.
The cafe, which is credited for sparking the beginning of Manchester’s thriving northern quarter, this week faces a three-day court hearing to try to overturn a noise abatement order served by the city council last year.
If it loses, Night & Day has said it would have no choice but to close.
The prospect of losing such a treasured venue would be hugely embarrassing for a city that has traded for years on its proud musical legacy, from “Madchester” and the Hacienda to recent acts such as Blossoms and the Courteeners.
This month, it was the only British city to feature in Lonely Planet’s must-visit destinations for next year, with judges citing its musical heritage.
This weekend two of Greater Manchester’s music heavyweights urged the council to drop its legal action against Night & Day, while musicians said if it continued, the city should “take down the billboards, switch off the marketing, drop the pretense, and prepare to close up shop on music.”
The complaint was received following the bar’s first live show after lockdown in June last year, when a neighbour who moved in during the pandemic the previous year complained about the volume.
Manchester city council has been accused of failing to ensure that the apartments were properly soundproofed when it allowed them to be built in a converted millinery warehouse next door to Night & Day in April 2000 — a charge it strenuously denies.
Jennifer Smithson, the daughter of Night & Day founder Jan Oldenburg, who runs the club with her husband, said she was “terrified” about having to call last orders for the last time.
“If they prosecute us for being a nuisance, I don’t think we could come back from that,” she said. “I don’t know what they envisage, but any change to how we do things now would ultimately mean we’d close.”
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