Night and Day Café stays open on Oldham Street after long noise battle

For anyone who has spent a night out in the Northern Quarter, Night and Day Café needs little introduction. The Oldham Street venue has long been one of the city's most cherished small stages, the kind of room where bands cut their teeth and audiences discover their next favourite act.

In recent years, though, the venue faced a fight for its future. In 2021 Manchester City Council served it with a noise abatement notice following complaints from a resident of a neighbouring apartment building who had moved in during lockdown, when the street's businesses were closed and quiet.

Owner Jennifer Smithson explained at the time that the venue faced a stark choice: accept the notice and risk immediate prosecution in the event of further complaints, or go to court at significant expense to appeal it. Night and Day chose to fight.

The response from music fans was remarkable. A petition supporting the venue gathered more than 80,000 signatures, and the campaign was covered by outlets from Rolling Stone UK to The Quietus as the case became a symbol of the pressures facing grassroots venues.

After a case that lasted more than three years, the court ruled that the notice would remain but be amended to reduced noise levels proposed by a sound expert appointed by the venue's owners. The venue said the judge had agreed to levels it had offered to the council in June 2023.

The venue was candid that it was disappointed with parts of the judgement, which meant adjusting its club nights. But the outcome, reported by Manchester's Finest, meant the most important thing of all: Night and Day would remain open.

Its survival matters well beyond Oldham Street. Small venues are where much of Manchester's musical reputation is built, and the outpouring of support showed how strongly the city feels about protecting them.

The best way to support Night and Day is the simplest one: buy a ticket. Its live listings are published online and on the usual ticketing sites, and the bar is a classic Northern Quarter stop on any evening out.