Stockport Plaza – Dwell Evaluate

Strawberry Studios Endlessly
The Plaza, Stockport
thirty first March 2025

A bunch of Manchester music legends and up and coming Stockport musicians got here collectively at The Plaza Stockport with one goal: to honour the music recorded on the city’s iconic Strawberry Recording Studios. All of this was executed as a celebration live performance underneath the identify Strawberry Studios Endlessly – a reasonably obscure reference to The Beatles.

With performances from Peter Hook, former bass participant with Pleasure Division and New Order, Clint Boon, keyboard participant with Inspiral Carpets, and Gaz Whelan, drummer with Completely happy Mondays, Strawberry Studios Endlessly’s stay units featured new variations of the traditional tracks that have been recorded at Strawberry in its heyday from: Love Will Preserve Us Collectively by Neil Sedaka, to Love Will Tear Us Aside by Pleasure Division

Alongside this roster of traditional stars, current #1 within the charts The Lottery Winners hit the stage to carry out The Smiths first two singles, This Charming Man and Hand In Glove. Each of those singles have been recorded at Strawberry 2 in 1983.

To kick off the night time’s efficiency, this occasion’s organiser, John Barratt, curated a collection of younger expertise from the Stockport space to carry out on the Plaza’s stage. However earlier than anybody began their set, Peter Tattersall (Strawberry Studios Founder) and Peter Wadsworth (curator of Strawberry archive) have been invited up on stage to debate their years and experiences at Strawberry Studios. Bec O’Malley, Anya Mia, Charlie Andrew, Scarla and Barratt adopted, performing all kinds of hits on stage, all recorded at Strawberry Studios. All songs have been backed by former Fuzzy Solar members Kyle Ross and George Fitzgibbon.

To complete off the primary act, Nancy Dinan, carried out her ethereal cowl of Pleasure Division’s Transmission. Her cowl managed to seize Peter Hook’s consideration, a lot in order that he invited her to carry out with him on stage on the Manchester Camerata for Pleasure Division’s orchestrated efficiency. Alongside Transmission, Nancy additionally carried out Love Will Tear Us Aside, with Jim Richardson on guitar and Colleen Langan on fiddle.

Jumpstarting the second act, Clint Boon got here up on stage along with his son Oscar Boon on bass guitar, Inspiral Carpets member Kev Clark on drums, and Charlie Cole on guitar. Clint Boon danced in-between centre stage, showcasing his prevalent singing skills, earlier than going to his trusty keyboard to play the Inspiral Carpets traditional, This Is How It Feels. Holding the ball rolling of well-known musicians on stage, Gaz Wheelan, Completely happy Mondays drummer, carried out as Yogi G And The Household Tree to play a couple of Completely happy Mondays classics. To observe this up, up-and-coming Manchester band Dantzic carried out the Stone Roses traditional I Wanna Be Adored – launched by no apart from Andy Couzens, founder member of The Stone Roses.

To shut the curtains and have a good time the lengthy lifetime of Strawberry Studios, Peter Hook took the highlight to play two classics from his extremely embellished musical profession: Ceremony from New Order, and Love Will Tear Us Aside. Joined on stage by Nancy Dinan for backing vocals, they exchanged stage banter and placed on an exquisite efficiency for all 1310 seats within the Stockport Plaza. As Love Will Tear Us Aside got here to an finish, nearly all of the Plaza was standing up, singing again the lyrics to the tune in a fantastic second of solidarity.

The occasion was used as a launch pad for the Strawberry Studios Endlessly vinyl, launched on Seven Miles Out Information, the complete album being produced by Fuzzy Solar members Kyle Ross and George Fitzgibbon at their studio in Pear Mill, Stockport.

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All phrases and pictures by Elliot Davies. That is Elliot’s first overview for Louder Than Battle.