Published 3 December 2017
Band on the Wall has been a cornerstone of Manchester’s thriving music and cultural landscape for the greater part of a century. Its mission is to promote equality and diversity through music and to bring leading artists from around the world to the stage – both at its award-winning Manchester venue and nationally, through touring programmes and trailblazing creative music projects.
Its unusual name harks back to the building’s days as The George and Dragon pub in the early 20th Century. Regulars would affectionately refer to the ‘Band on the Wall’ as the place where house musicians quite literally played on a stage halfway up the back wall to make room in the busy pub. While gaining a reputation for bringing the finest jazz, folk, blues and international music to Manchester, Band on the Wall also found itself at the centre of Manchester’s famed post-punk scene in the late 1970s when Buzzcocks, The Fall and Joy Division played some of their earliest concerts at the venue.
Band on the Wall is a living music library; a place where everyone can access and enjoy the most inspiring music from a wealth of different cultures. It is committed to providing opportunities for everyone to be involved in making and experiencing music.
