I have seen several plays here over the years and thoroughly enjoyed them all. It's a small theatre…read morewith good views. A still bottle of water is £2, there is a good selection of sweets popcorn and chocolate. I will say if your sat in the tiers, the front row of seats are normal chairs the second row are high stools so bear that in mind when booking. Staff are attentive and happy to show you your seat. One more thing, if you park in the Lowry outlet carpark, get your ticket stamped elsewhere as you can't get it stamped in the theatre for parking.

Early last year I won tickets to see Tunde (out of the Lighthouse Family) play live. I was…read morereluctant to go as I'm not a fan and hadn't visited the theatre before so didn't know what to expect there either. I am so glad I went. It's a seated venue but with an intimate atmosphere. The music was fantastic complimented by the venue which was very swish. I now look out for what is playing at the Quays theatre as I thought it was such a great place. There is a pay and display car park as part of the complex - which includes another theatre, shopping centre, a museum, bars and places to buy food. I would recommend using this car park as it is in the best location to access the theatre and is secure. You could easily spend the day here relaxing followed by a visit to The Quays Theatre.

Great classic rock radio station based in Manchester, amazing songs, great dj's and 5 word weather…read moreforecast. I listen to the rock block every morning, much better than mainstream radio! 106.1fm- competitions, band of the week.

My sis and I were walking around looking for things to do in Manchester and Royal Exchange was on…read morethe list of things to do! So we stopped by and we learned this: High Yield: If you go at 9:30 am you can pick up front row tickets for the featuring performance later in the day for 10 pounds! Details Interior: Beautiful modern modern theater. So when you come into the building, the theater is contained within a cool glass looking structure and there are different tiers for viewing. We went at 9:30 am to pick up the 10 pound tickets and then came back at 2:30 to watch our show. The colors of the modern theater are purples and blues. Inside interior is beautiful Play Watched: We watched Sweet Charity- without giving away details and the ending, it is certainly such a well performed play. The cast put their heart and soul, the dancing numbers were clean, and the vocals were solid. Very solid performance, and because it is a smaller theater than like Broadway, it felt very intimate and cozy watching this from the front row. This is rated PG 13 in my opinion, no dirty or inappropriate stuff but if you want the true nuances and understanding of this play, be prepared for talks of brothels and purity. The front seats are like coahces btw, so if you're a tall person, your legs may feel awkward. But if you're a shorty like me, it's totally nice. Refreshments: You can purchase drinks, snacks and pastries from outside- not the cheap popcorn and like soft drinks but like actually baked goods, wines, and stuff Audience: Generally an older audience, middle to upper class, mostly caucasian population

This venue certainly has the wow factor.. I walked in expecting a typical old & majestic theatre…read morebuilding, which it is BUT it also has a huge modern twist, with a scaffolding type looking auditorium in the middle. It took me a while to like this, being the traditionalist that I am, but once the musical (Little Shop of Horrors) was in full swing I fully appreciated the set up they had going on, with the audience sitting in a round and the stage in the centre. The acoustics were absolutely fantastic and the space created a really intimate feel. My only gripe is that the seats really are packed in, I felt quite claustrophobic and if I had needed to leave for any reason during the show at least three other people would had to leave their seats and move into the aisle so that I could pass. I will just need to bare this in mind next time I book...

I really like the new Home. The cinema rooms are much better than they were at Corner house, and…read morethe food is just fantastic. Home offers a range of discounts, including advance bookings made online, as well as ticket price reduction for members.

So HOME is pretty cool!…read more It kind of feels like the old cornerhouse in general vibe and outlook on life but in a big flashy new skin away from the rest of Manchester. In fact this does seem to be the new way of doing things by the council - let's build things on brown field sites and aim to create a new urban hub around it. With very little passing traffic, it's going to take a while to really become a mainstream destination but it is very easily reached with Deansgate and Oxford Road stations around 5 mins walk. On this occasion I was looking for somewhere to work for a few hours and sat upstairs in their cafe bar grabbing a couple of flat whites and a bacon bap . Not bad all round and pretty quiet on a Monday morning. It did get much busier at lunch time so it's good to see peeps really enjoying this offering! You can sit outside on deck chairs and tables and there's a cafe downstairs just selling drinks and cake.

Came here to see Hans Zimmer Live and had a great time! Getting in to the Arena went much faster…read morethan other venues I've visited, and it was very easy to find our seats once we got inside. The crowd was as energetic as the orchestra, which is to say MASSIVELY GOOD VIBES! As we were only a few rows from the stage, I was very happy I donned foam earplugs. I was literally *feeling* the music more than I was hearing it, heheh! The bio-break during Intermission flowed pretty fast (not me ... the line!). The food here, considering I got a hot dog & soda, was actually very good! The only thing that was a pain was trying to exit the garage after the show. All traffic seemed to bottleneck into a couple lanes that had to cross the foot traffic leaving the Arena after the show. Otherwise, a great venue and I wouldn't mind seeing more shows there.

It seems even many years later after rebranding including with other sponsors, Manchester Arena…read morewill always be known as the MEN Arena to many locals - it opened in 1995 and is the only indoor purpose-built arena of its' kind in Manchester and although stadiums across the city including the Etihad and Emirates Old Trafford do host concerts now, this is the only Arena of its- type to be fully indoors in a city centre location, it is actually right next to Manchester Victoria Station and the main disabled enterance actually involves going through the station's lift (quite confusing!) - this can also be used as a cut-through to parts of the station when the lifts are out of order, which is the situation right now. Back to the Arena - I can't help but think the only reason this place is so well-known, successful and used is because it lacks competition in one of the UK's best and biggest cities - the customer service is a disgrace such as with booking tickets. The disabled seating tickets team force you to have to phone up with no online booking - they are only open at awkward hours during the day with no option to wait on hold, meaning if you require assistance booking it is going to be difficult to get tickets. It involves creating an account/profile, sending proof of a disability, waiting for that to be confirmed and then placing your tickets on hold for a few days until everything is confirmed - and if it is confirmed you're expected to pay various booking fees: security fee, postage fee (You can only pick up on the day of the event where they advise not to, if you don't pay) and of course a booking fee for telephone orders. Tickets are expensive - I attended Impractical Jokers' recent tour here and I even had to pay a security fee - now I get the venue has to be secure especially after the saddening attack in 2017 but why should they charge a "surcharge" just to be safe as every place like this should be safe and not charging for the fact you're safe, right? The security wasn't even good either - I was told to empty my pockets and go through a scanner, however, they didn't even use the airport-style bag checker on what I emptied (they didn' even look at it and I did have a case which was unexpected) - I also was able to take a drink in despite them being banned - the security is flawed. It does have a capacity of just over 21,000 which is even larger than London's famous O2 Arena, however, I do really prefer the O2, the Manchester Arena has virtually nothing upon entering: no shops, restaurants while the O2 does - all the Arena has is stands selling really expensive food, beverages and merchandise - they even have salesmen who go into the crowd during a show trying to wave things in front of you - like come on I bought my ticket to watch an event, not watch you wave programmes about for goodness sake! The view of the stage wasn't too good either, I had to watch the show from the big screen and after paying for some of the more expensive seated tickets, that isn't what you want either. I really hope the rival to Manchester Arena is built soon by my club, Manchester City as it needs something to rival this hell-hole - the extra star is virtually only for being the only indoor concert/tour arena of its' kind in Greater Manchester, they even hosted amateur hockey games here at one point!

It was Inside Out 2 with grandkids, at over a hundred quid; recliner seats and snacks. M&M's added…read moreto giant buckets of popcorn, Coke Zero from a dispensing machine, Maltesers and other rubbish. The film was really funny but one could easily fall asleep on the recliners. Each seat had its own built - in tray. I remember cinema in the 1960's. It was nothing like this with plush seats that could seat you comfortably even if your waist-line was 90 inches. The seats here elevate your legs and drop you gently backways. Crystal clear sound and picture too. The 1960's local cinema houses had a smell. It wasn't overly pleasant with years of accumulated cigarette smoke creating an unmistakable odour. You could hear the motor noise as it widened or reduced the screen size/depth on the movie. The seats, like the carpet, were often cigarette burned, invariably when you put your hands on the seat arm rests you could feel the hard chewing gum left stuck by former guests once the flavour had gone. If the gum was on the carpeted floor it just became a black, almost solid, waterproof splodge and over time they accumulated into 100's of leathery splodges. The cinema seats folded up once you stood up. Midnight Cowboy was the first film that hit me right between the eyes and a whole lot different to Inside Out 2. In the 1960's we used to get a B movie as well as the A rated one and if we were lucky Pathé News with the clear, fruity and rich voice of Cyril Fredrick 'Bob' Danvers Walker, with just the suggestion of raffishness. Bob became the announcer voice on Michael Miles Take Your Pick. During films a girl would walk round with a tray with a fixed light on it selling mini tubs of ice creams, poppet chocolates (chocolate coated mint, orange, peanut or raisin). As Bob Dylan noted 'the times they are a changing' not to mention prices.

The Lowry Vue was a very run down and outdated cinema however with the newest renovation the cinema…read morehas been thrown back into the limelight. The cinema has massively cut down on the number of screens however they have significantly improved on the viewing experience. Each cinema screen is filled with reclining leather seats and pullout tables attached to them. This is honestly the best viewing experience I have had at a cinema in a long time and for the great price of £8. When me and my friend visited the cinema we used the Meerkat Movies offer so we received the 2 tickets for the price of 1 and it was totally worth the price!! Would highly recommend!

If you hear the words 'Victorian Christmas' do you picture snowy scenes of chocolate-box houses,…read moreglowing gas lights and horse-drawn carriages with people wandering alongside in their finery? You do? Alas the organisers of this Market didn't appear to bother checking Google Images. Before I'm accused of being a complete Ebenezer Scrooge let me relay the scene for one and all after a wander round this lunchtime. With the main area in the plaza outside the Lowry Outlet and a second area of stalls on The Quays, there are a number of various food vendors. Apart from one selling pulled pork & apple sauce rolls which I was informed were very tasty and another selling Baileys hot chocolate, there was a distinct lack of Victoriana going on. It would have been nice to see a roast chestnut stall for instance, or ones selling Roman punch or fancy puddings/cakes. Churros? Deliciously indulgent as they are, don't shout Christmas to me, never mind Victorian Christmas. Pizza? An olives bar? C'mon people! The double decker bus which had been converted to a bar was a novel sight admittedly, though a horse-drawn omnibus would have been great to see. As for the non-food stalls, whilst there were a number selling more festive gifts such as fudge and trinkets, there was one which can only be described as a Betterware catalogue roadshow. "Why yes I'd love to buy one of those in-toaster toastie bags please." There were several people in period costume - top hats, bonnets etc. which helped a tiny bit to salvage some authenticity, but it just appeared very half-arsed to be brutally honest. If you're in Salford Quays anyway, by all means have a wander round; but personally I wouldn't set out with friends and family for a special trip here.

Apologies for the short notice, but you really should check out Manchester's Victorian Market at…read moreSalford Quays this weekend! It's a shame they're only around Thursday to Sunday, as this wonderful Christmas market outside the Lowry Outlet Mall, offers something quirkier than Manchester's soulless European Markets. There's a range of really unique old-fashioned stalls, selling personalised crafts (not a fan of crafts myself) old-English tea (don't drink tea) football-sized pies (now you're talking) and among the stalls, you'll meet an animated cast of Dickensian street performers, which help bring the market to life. There are Victorian carol singers and musicians playing what sounds like the Game of Thrones theme tune. There is mulled cider being sold by vendors in period costume, for £2.50 a cup and there's even a big red booze bus, where - after dodging all the stilt-walkers - you can flee the crowds and venture upstairs to escape the cold. This market has it all!

Probably my favourite theatre in Manchester! Easy to get to and just has a really good atmosphere…read more Usually I would see musicals here but last week came to see Neil Warnock and he was absolutely brilliant. Circle and stalls are better seat for me personally and I think its worth paying a bit more to get a better view but overall a lovely venue

Real trip down memory lane I guess to a time when there were no multiplexes or glass modern venues…read more The facilities are a bit too old fashioned but great to visit.

The Yard Theatre is a nice little space for probably about 100 people with slightly uncomfortable…read moreseats but it didn't matter as I was there for an awesome comedy night to support the awesome charity Freedom from Torture. If you haven't watched any Josie Long on youtube DO IT NOW and props to Hulme for yet another great community space.

Great cheap rehearsal space in a friendly building, there are also some weekly evening classes such…read moreas Acrobalance and Aikido. Very friendly.

Officially launched in March 2010, this is a new kid on the block in Chorlton's night life…read more Although it is to the rear of The Lounge bar, the management are keen to stress that this is a separate entity, with its emphasis firmly placed on live entertainment. To this end, an independent entrance has recently been installed, so that access is now via the alley to the side of The Lounge. I discovered this place purely by accident, having gone for lunch with friends at The Lounge early in 2010 and seen workmen gutting the back room, whilst electricians installed a new sound system. February saw a total refurbishment to what had originally just been a relatively small function room, and what was a pleasant but unremarkable space has been transformed into an attractive and intimate night time venue. Checking it out upon its opening, I was pleasantly surprised. The ceiling is now swathed in deep red sheer fabric, creating the feeling of being inside a Moroccan tent, whilst recessed coloured halogen spots, twinkling icicle lights and candles provide warm illumination. Mirrors and artwork adorn all the walls, and the overall effect is both tasteful and homely. The bar's owners have clearly had the designers in. Further transformation is evidenced by the change in entertainment and the clientele. In keeping with the bijou proportions of the space, live music is predominantly acoustic or semi-acoustic. That said, it's not as small-scale as you might imagine. When I attended the first night of the newly-launched Cajun Specials session last week, no less than 12 musicians were playing, and those who couldn't fit into the performance area joined in from their seats! Similarly the following night, which is open mic, saw 13 acts onstage, and the evening ended in a big jam session. The lady next to me remarked that it was 'like having a party in your own living room.' I'm told that the owner of Baroque intends building the bar's reputation as a credible live music venue, and if the nights I've attended there over the past six weeks are anything to go by, it's well on its way to achieving that goal. The ambiance is lovely, and the friendly bar staff just don't seem to be able to do enough for you. It's a very relaxed venue, and I'm told that the aim is also to make it a gay-friendly environment, which presumably explains all the pretty design touches. Prices here are pretty good, with a large glass of wine being £3.50, or under the current offer: if you buy two glasses you get the rest of the bottle free. £7 is great value for a bottle of wine! The only slight drawback at the moment is that the gents' toilet is currently behind the stage area, so male patrons have to either walk through the musicians to get to the loo, or else wait for a change-over between performers. However, I'm told that this will be remedied soon because the re-modeling isn't finished yet. It seems that even more ambitious plans are in the works for this cute little bar, and these will be implemented before the summer. SCORES Decor: 9/10 Cleanliness: 8/10 Atmosphere: 9/10 Value for money: 8/10 Live entertainment: 10/10 Variety of drinks on offer: 8/10 Food: N/A Staff: 10/10