End of an era as Manchester nightclub South is closing after 27 years - when the final night is

Manchester’s underground music scene is saying goodbye to one of its venues as a city centre nightclub is opening for the final time.

South, located on South King Street, is closing after its night on Saturday (4 June) which will see Inspiral Carpets musician and radio DJ Clint Boon spinning the decks for the final time.

The venue is shutting as its lease came to an end during the Covid-19 pandemic and the building is going to be redeveloped.

However, the boss of the operating company also said that increasing numbers of people living in the area have made it increasingly difficult to operate.

When is South nightclub closing and is there a final night?

South club will bring 27 years of music in its basement venue to an end this weekend with well-known DJ and musician Clint, who has a 21-year association with the place, playing a typical Saturday night selection of music associated with Manchester.

The venue opened in 1995 with Haçienda promotions manager Paul Cons in charge, but for the last 12 years it has been run by Aaron Mellor’s Tokyo Industries.

The place was given a Haçienda-inspired makeover by Ben Kelly, who was the designer at the city’s most famous nightspot.

The 200-capacity club has been the home of Clint’s Saturday-night residency as well as important events on the Manchester underground music scene including the Rock ‘n’ Roll Bar and an important drum ‘n’ bass night.

To find out more about the venue and its final night visit the website here.

What has been said about South’s closure?

Aaron said that the increasingly-large residential population around South, coupled with extensive redevelopment work, has become a major issue for the club over the past few years.

He said one of the problems has been having to move the smoking area back onto South King Street after South could no longer use an internal courtyard and alternative location was also ruled out, in both cases due to redevelopments.

That has led to complaints from residents about noise from the club seeping out into the surrounding area when the doors are opened.

In addition the club’s lease came to an end during Covid-19 and the building is going to be put to other use.

Aaron said: “During the last few years more and more residential apartments have surrounded us on South King Street, which led to noise abatement notices and adaptation after adaptation to try and box out the sound issues.

“Most recently the demolition and redevelopment of the former Pizza Express building into a hotel has closed off our adjacent street moving our smoking area back onto South King Street, returning to more noise issues for the residents overlooking that street.

“We’ve become landlocked by residential development.

“It’s sad because South has been a pivotal club on the Manchester underground music scene, but it has become significantly harder to run it. The problems we’ve got are bigger than the solution.

“All good things must come to an end. We’ve had some amazing times in this building but it feels like the right time to close the chapter on this story.”

Tokyo Industries runs numerous other venues across Manchester, including the Deaf Institute, Gorilla and Factory, and Aaron said South’s staff, club nights, promoters and DJs will be moved across to other places to work and perform.