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Manchester’s 42nd Street nightclub has launched a crowdfunder in a bid to prevent permanent closure due to the coronavirus crisis.
Located on Bootle St, the late-night indie venue is known for championing bands such as Oasis, The Libertines and The Strokes since opening back in 1990, as well as iconic Manchester groups like The Smiths, Joy Division and Stone Roses.
Yesterday (November 3), a statement was shared to 42nd Street’s official Twitter account detailing the problems the club is currently facing as a result of ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions, with bosses now seeking fan support “to operate in a post-pandemic world”.
Posting a link to the #save42s crowdfunder page, they explained that those who donated towards the goal of £60,000 would receive one of various rewards and prizes in return for their efforts.
You can see the full thread and statement below:
If you’re reading this, then you’re probably one of the many 1,000s of people who’ve posed for a quick selfie in the infamous tunnel, downed a vodbull and headed for the dance floor. Or maybe you are one of the new bunch of Manchester and Salford Freshers who want to experience proper Manchester nightlife?
We are desperate to open our doors to you all again.
Sunak said only non-viable businesses will fail. But we believe we are a viable business that has been shut down through no fault of our own.
In a bid to stave off possible closure, we tried opening as a pub. After a few weeks, numbers increased and we reached a break even point. No sooner had we done that, than the 10pm curfew was announced.
Once again our hopes were dashed. Our income plummeted and we started running up debts just to stay open.
Then, it got even worse, and we were forced to close once more.
We are now presented with the prospect of a slow, lingering death.
We have little financial assistance from the government beyond the furlough scheme, which is reducing every month and have, so far, received no rent relief from our landlord.
It breaks our hearts to say this but, without your help, we may be forced to close forever. We need your help to ensure we can strike back and keep the party going.
God knows we’re all gonna need a good party when this is all over!
We've set up a crowdfunder to help secure our future and ensure we can carry on bringing you unforgettable nights out once we're able to open our doors once again!
— 42nd Street (@42sNightclub) November 3, 2020
So please take a look at our page through the link below and please help us make sure 42s lives forever! https://t.co/NekZNgdG2a pic.twitter.com/rnwd1ufICJ
— 42nd Street (@42sNightclub) November 3, 2020
HELP SAVE 42s https://t.co/aoiW5bDuz1
— Joe Donovan (@JoeDonovan92) November 3, 2020
The likes of Blossoms, Fuzzy Sun and The Slow Readers Club are among the bands supporting the venue’s campaign.
42nd Street is referenced in Courteeners‘ classic hit single ‘Not Nineteen Forever’, which was inspired by the band’s nights out in Manchester (see the full NME Song Stories interview below).
“‘Front crawl the crowd down the stairs‘ is about when we used to go to this club in Manchester called 42s [42nd Street],” frontman Liam Fray told NME earlier this year. “You know, you have 800 kids who want to leave and get to the next party so they leave at the same time to find someone. On more than one occasion, I would front crawl and crowdsurf down the stairs.
“That’s a really evocative image. I can still see it now. It was 2003 so there were girls in their fishnets and eyeliner with every guy looking like Pete [Doherty] and Carl [Barat, The Libertines].”
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