Hey! Manchester promotes gigs by folk, Americana and experimental bands from around the world in Manchester, England. Read more here, see below for our latest shows, check out our previous shows, contact us, or join our mailing list, above.
Hey! Manchester was established in February 2006 to promote alternative gigs in Manchester. We started up because Jens Lekman wasn’t going to play here and we wanted him to. The show sold out and everybody was very happy.
Since then we’ve promoted shows big and small, and everywhere in between. We strive to offer something different: we use unusual, high-quality venues – our favourites include The Deaf Institute, The Castle Hotel and The Kings Arms, and some of the more unusual include Godlee Observatory, the Presidential Suite of the Lowry Hotel and St Michael’s Church.
We’re not completely sure but we reckon we’ve debuted the likes of Jens Lekman, Final Fantasy, Espers, Edith Frost, Vetiver, Band of Horses, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Menomena, Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon, Efterklang, Akron/Family, Johann Johannsson, Murcof, Horse Feathers, Telekinesis, Alaska in Winter, Bowerbirds, Grouper, William Fitzsimmons, Fruit Bats, Choir of Young Believers, Emanuel & The Fear and Mountain Man, as well as countless others no doubt.
Over the years, we’ve been named in the Indie50, shortlisted twice for Indie Promoter of the Year, and participated in Arts Council England’s Creative Producers programme. We’ve helped programme Sounds From The Other City for the past 13 years, and have also contributed to the booking of Festival No 6, Ramsbottom and Cloudspotting festivals.
During the covid-19 pandemic, we were thrilled to receive funding from the Culture Recovery Fund, meaning we’ll be #HereForCulture in 2021 – our 15th year – and beyond.
We are part of the steering group for Manchester Music City – a partnership of people and organisations from across Manchester’s music landscape.
We put on artists we love, not just anyone, and we hope that you’ll love them too. If you’re a fan of some of the acts we’ve already put on, chances are you’ll enjoy our nights – so follow us on social media to stay up to date.
Our data protection policy is available on request, using the form below.
Bands:
If you’re interested in playing at one of our nights, contact us using the form below. We try to listen to everyone but if you play punk/hardcore/r’n’b/trance/hip hop/death metal/dadrock, chances are we aren’t interested. We get a couple of dozen gig requests a week so apologies if we take ages to respond.