How Councils Kill Culture: A Manchester Music Scene Case Study

For a city with a global reputation built on music, Manchester is playing a dangerously offbeat tune. While its legacy is still being shouted about in documentaries and tourism campaigns, grassroots music venues are being erased from the landscape in real time, with barely a nod to their historic, social, or artistic relevance. Retro Bar is the latest name to be scribbled onto the cultural kill list — a venue with 35 years of service to Manchester’s subcultures, music scenes, and creative lifeblood. And now? It’s scheduled for demolition. Because someone decided a multi-billion-pound science redevelopment mattered more than the community it will displace. This isn’t just about a basement bar. It’s about a cultural artery being clamped shut by suits and a nefarious pattern of neglect, short-sightedness and cultural vandalism that’s unfolding across the country. It needs to be called out for what it is: a systemic issue that devalues culture in favour of sterile “progress.” The Retro Bar Case: A Wake-Up Call Disguised as a Eulogy Retro Bar’s impending closure in July 2025 should never have been on the cards. Not in a city that claims to champion music. Not when over 200 gigs a year have rung […]

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