The original indie disco, Smile at the Star & Garter, has been going, virtually unchanged for almost two decades. Long before the Northern Quarter was the Northern Quarter, and certainly long before the likes of the Deaf Institute came along, the Star & Garter was one of the few truly interesting venues in Manchester to cater for the young indie crowd. Ask anyone over the age of 25 who went to University in Manchester where their go-to place on a Saturday was, and you’ll hear the same word spoken over and over again – Smile. Cheap gin & tonic, a sticky dancefloor and the soundtrack of Talking Heads, Blondie and The Strokes are some of my fondest memories of the early 2000s, and Smile is a true Manchester institution that everyone should attend at least once.
Sat 8 Dec, Star & Garter 18-20 Fairfield Street, M1 2QF. Tel: 0161 273 6726, 10.30pm-4am, £6, www.starandgarter.co.uk
- Words:
- Simon Webbon
- Published on:
- Thu 6 Dec 2012
