Iconic music venue Band on the Wall to launch NYC-inspired The Copper Bar

There’s a new place in town to sip drinks and listen to jazz, reggae, funk and soul.

By Lucy Holt | 10 September 2024

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One of Manchester’s most historically significant music venues has transformed its bar space into The Copper Bar, promising a ‘welcoming, inclusive and intimate setting’ for drinking and live music, and it’s all launching on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 September.

They’ve partnered with Brooklyn Brewery to create The Copper Bar, a nod to NYC’s The Zinc Bar, which in a former iteration as Cinderella Club, saw early performances from Billie Holiday and Theolnius Monk.

The titular copper comes from the entirely hand-crafted copper bar, inspired in part by the brass instruments intrinsic to jazz, reggae, soul and funk music. Other design features will include murals and collages and well as iconic musical memorabilia, all curated by the venue’s knowledgeable team.

The Copper Bar sits on the ground floor and houses Band on the Wall’s second stage, which opened as part of the venue’s £3.5m redevelopment two years ago, focussing on more experimental programming, as opposed to the established venue downstairs. 

Launch weekend will see dynamic crew of session musicians Bacana transform well-known tunes into a spicy blend of Latin, funk, soul, and afrobeat on Friday 20th, and Saturday 21st will welcome horn-heavy nine-piece The Plimp Souls to the stage as they bring a boundless energy to a burning mission to put the fun back into funk.

CEO of Band on the Wall, Gavin Sharp said: “It’s been two years since our amazing venue re-opened and the new second stage has embedded itself as a unique and safe space for our local creative community to come together and make music, test ideas and collaborate. 

“We now, with the support of NYC’s Brooklyn Brewery, are launching a brand-new bar within the venue; The Copper Bar. It will have new lighting, artistic instals and free live gigs every Friday and Saturday night, and we are really excited to invite all our friends along to try it out.”

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