Holding a unique place in Manchester's musical heritage, one venue has seen it all.
Built in 1963 the corner of Corporation Street and Miller Street, New Century Hall has been a fixture of the city's music scene for 60-years. Built originally as a state-of-the-art dance hall, it went on to host some of the world's biggest music artists including Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tina Turner and The Bee Gees.
In the 1980s, the hall also found itself at the heart of the Manchester's rave scene, hosting Acid House all-nighters. Perhaps something you would more expect to see in a converted warehouse not a Grade II listed concert hall.
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This summer, the hall reopened as a live music venue and arts space. The £10 million renovation project is spread over three floors and retains many of the Grade II-listed building’s original features.
The 800-plus capacity concert venue features the original sprung dancefloor, contrasted with a newly-installed ‘disco ceiling’ lighting installation above the crowd, all flanked by vintage wooden panelling.
To celebrate 60-years since New Century Hall opened its doors, it's also announced a year of special events and activities. One event, in collaboration with British Culture Archive, will explore life in Manchester in 1963 vs 2023.
They're asking the public for photographs and memorabilia to form part of the exhibition in September. The team said they would like to hear from anyone with memories of the New Century Hall - particularly anyone with images and memorabilia of the legendary venue during the 1960s.
Abby Moore, Managing Director at New Century said: "We’re so excited to be dedicating such a big part of our 60th anniversary celebrations to delving into the heritage of this beautiful building’s incredible past. Working with the British Culture Archive will allow us to do this on a scale never done before and create a completely unique and important piece of work.
"We want to celebrate the Mancunian spirit that is behind New Century and everything we do. We can’t wait to uncover more about New Century and Manchester itself from the people who were there."
Although the exhibition will focus on New Century Hall in 1963, the project will explore all of Manchester life around that year, and so they would love to hear from people who have any photographs of their life in Manchester around that time.
Anyone interested in taking part should email newcentury@siobhanhanley.com with any images and memorabilia that they have, alongside any memories they have.
Collaborating with New Century Hall on the exhibition is the British Culture Archive. The British Culture Archive is a leading independent archive and cultural organisation set up to document, highlight and preserve the changes in British culture and society through documentary photography.
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Paul Wright, founder of British Culture Archive said: "I’m proud to be collaborating with a partner as iconic as New Century for what we expect to be a fascinating new collection of photographs. The British Culture Archive is about celebrating ordinary lives throughout time and this exhibition will allow us to do that with the focus around one of the most exciting eras in modern history.
"With its rich history and pivotal role in Manchester’s music heritage New Century is the perfect cornerstone for an exhibition that looks back but also faces forward too."
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The September exhibition will be the centrepiece of the activity and other events will include panel discussions, and a street party on Sadlers Yard. In addition to this, New Century will be staging special events and gigs across the whole of 2023 with a list of upcoming events available to view on their website newcenturymcr.com.
A documentary photographer will also be commissioned to capture Manchester as we’re experiencing it in 2023. New Century Hall hope the result will be a unique and authentic look at our city from the perspective, then and now, of this cultural giant of a building.
Please email any images, memorabilia or memories of New Century Hall to newcentury@siobhanhanley.com
