Manchester

Mojo
19 Back Bridge Street
Deansgate
"Music for the people" is Mojo's mantra, with the music policy strictly 'non-house' - expect old skool and new skool rock and roll. Despite this rough and ready image, the bar is an awesome pre-club hangout, or somewhere to chill out on and sink into the sofas. Check out their excellent website.
Indie and Underground bar

One Central Street
1 Central Street
Peter Street
A former gay club, One Central has survived on Thursday nighter Romp, with the recent addition of Funkademia and Northern Funk providing popular, but funk fuelled, Friday and Saturday nights. Not quite got the edge that it used to, but still part of a good night out in central Manchester.
Indie and Underground bar

Queer
4 Canal Street
Gay Village
Queer is gay lifestyle caf? bar on Canal Street offering a modern, contemporary space at the heart of Manchester gay village. Chilled music played daytime and full on club style in the evenings, the venue is owned by Essential plays host to all their pre-parties.
Indie and Underground bar

Trof Northern Quarter
5/8 Thomas Street
Northern Quarter
Trof is a Fallowfield institution, and this is their first (but not last) forray in to the city centre. As far as location goes there was only one place that a bar as cool as Trof could go, and that's the ever-popular Northern Quarter. Inside this downbeat bar you'll find good food, music and drinks, a combination that has proven popular with the NQ crowd....which is why Trof is about about to roll out their third venue in the Manchester.
Indie and Underground bar

The Purple Pussycat
19 Back Bridge Street
Deansgate
Opened in November 2007 the Purple Pussycat comes from the team behind the popular One Central Street. That club-cum-bar has a modern design, but the Purple Pussycat is far more sleazy and intimate. Located in a basement space on Bridge Street - formerly as an italian restaurant - the bar holds around fifty punters, and they've clearly made an effort on the decor.
Indie and Underground bar

Vanilla
39 - 41 Richmond Street
Gay Village
Vanilla is a girls-only bar based on Richmond Street (just off Canal Street). To be quite honest I have never been inside (I'm male) but it's widely regarded as the Lesbian centre of the Gay Village and a space where women can escape the hordes of queens and tourists who are known to take over Canal Street.
Indie and Underground bar

Common
39 - 41 Edge Street
Northern Quarter
Tiny little boozer hidden away down a back street, there's barely room to swing a cat so this bar's always packed out with arty folks. A mish mash of events take place (check their excellent website) and the bar is regularly repainted by a chosen, lucky artist or collective. Nothing special on the drinks, but worth a visit for the clientelle (if you're not meant to be in this bar then the door staff will make sure that you don't get in)
Indie and Underground bar

The Deaf Institute
135 Grosvenor Street
Oxford Road
Right in the heart of the University district, Trof 3 (now named the 'Deaf Institute'....seriously) is the third incarnation of the Trof brand in Manchester. The first - and most loved - Trof is the original in Fallowfield. Food by day, music and drinks by night, a former terraced house was converted in to a chic little cafe bar for the well appointed students nearby. The second Trof was predictably in the Northern Quarter, and this third bar is in the make-believe area called the Southern Quarter, close to Oxford Road and the nearby studentsville. The Deaf Institute opens on the 29th February.
Indie and Underground bar

Home Sweet Home
Edge Street
Northern Quarter
***July 2010*** Potentially some competition for Common in the heart of the Northern Quarter, Home Sweet Home recently submitted their licensing application for all the usual business – selling alcohol, playing music and making music. The name suggests a bar/pub style place with a relaxed vibe, maybe a little live music on a Sunday night. Nice.
Indie and Underground bar

TV21
10 Thomas Street
Northern Quarter
A new themed bar for the Northern Quarter, very similar in decor to the successful 'Fab Cafe' over on Portland Street.
Indie and Underground bar

The Basement
Blackfriars Road
Deansgate
***Updated March 2010*** The Basement is set to be the new incarnation of Sound Garden, a place we were never really sure what is was, in truth. Rumour and speculation have been around for a long time about just what The Basement was going to be and we are here now to tell you that...we’ve still no idea. They’re either keeping very tight lipped about it or they’re still working it out themselves. Either way, we’re hoping The Basement will be arriving fairly soon. ***May 2009*** In the space that was The Soundgarden, rumour has it a new bar called The Basement is on its way. What, who, when and, indeed, why are all questions we don’t know the answers to – we’ll let you know when we find out.
Indie and Underground bar

House 9
9 Century Street
Deansgate
***Updated August 2010*** Barely a year after opening, we can confirm that House 9 has closed. Details are a little thin on the ground at the moment but, judging by numbers every time we’ve been in there, it could be due to lack of business. Their concept was an admirable one – to provide a classier, more appealing alternative to their Deansgate Locks neighbours, but we can’t help feeling there was a lack of commitment to seeing it through. It is, after all, the details that make a place and details were definitely lacking the last time we went there – for a private party no less. No draught beer, only one choice of bottle, dirty toilets, most of the spaces in the bar closed...it didn’t bode well. The project was apparently part of a plan from a small group of local businessmen who, at the time of launch, claimed to be looking at opening two other venues in the city. Nothing has been heard of these since and, with the demise of House 9, we can only assume it unlikely we will ever see them. They spent a decent amount of time and money renovating the space though so it will be interesting to see what happens to it next. _________________________________________ ***Updated August 2009*** House 9 is now open and looks set to shake up the Deansgate scene with a sophisticated take on the independent bar scene. __________________________________________ House 9 is the brainchild of a new Tameside company who plan to open three new venues in Manchester city centre in 2009. House 9 is going to be the first of these three with a planned opening date set as 1 May 2009. The idea for House 9, they tell us, is to bring a bit of an independent, quirky feel to the Deansgate Locks area. "Even though we are next to Deansgate Locks, we'll be very different to the bars that are already there," says Ben Burgess, one of the company directors. "They do their job well, but we're trying to create something with a different identity. It could be the first of a new independent scene in this part of the city."
Indie and Underground bar

Black Dog Ballroom
Tib Street
Northern Quarter
***Updated February 2010*** Now well and truly open, Blackdog Ballroom seems to have settled in nicely with the Northern Quarter’s eclectic set. We went down on a recent Friday to check it out and the place was buzzing with scenesters in the bar drinking cocktails and an assortment of pool players. Decor is a touch more decadent than we expected it to be and the place has more the feel of a trendy lounge than an underground pool hangout, but the mere presence of multiple pool tables in the Northern Quarter moves us to hold in our minor complaints. It is disappointing, however, that you can only play for an hour at a time (£5, with £10 cue deposit), rather than via the traditional 50p/£1 a game route, but one assumes this has more to do with the bar maintaining control of the tables than anything else. ______________________________________________________________ Due to open in October 2009, the Black Dog Ballroom promises drinks, pool and an underground New York feel.
Indie and Underground bar

Walrus
High Street
Northern Quarter
Stunning new bar from the designer that gave us the Sugar Lounge and Panacea (and more) with an interior that is as far from understated as you can get. A great cocktail menu, and - so far - a great addition to the Manchester bar scene.
Indie and Underground bar

Manto
46 Canal Street
Gay Village
The original Manto returns to Manchester, and boy is this venue steeped in tradition. Long before 'Queer as Folk' brought Manchester's Gay Village to the attention of the rest of the UK, Manto was kick-starting the gay revolution in our fair city, with the infamous Breakfast Club. Fast forward 8 years and after a refit and a redesign Manto is back and it looks fabulous. Downstairs the main Manto bar houses a small internet cafe and comfortable seating, the second floor provides club space and a balcony area, and at the top the former Sarasota restaurant is now a leather-clad lounge room.
Indie and Underground bar

Velvet
2 Canal Street
Gay Village

Indie and Underground bar