A new Joy Division-inspired bar in the Northern Quarter has divided opinion on social media. Described as 'a love letter to Manchester music' by its owners, High Street venue Disorder features a number of nods to the post-punk band, including a mural of Ian Curtis and the title of seminal album 'Unknown Pleasures' as a green neon sign on the wall.
It will serve Japanese fusion dishes 'with Manchester vibes', such as the smoked watermelon and halloumi sando, smashed burgers, gyozas, and a smoked cauliflower tostada. While downstairs, there is a ‘dive bar’ set up, featuring a DJ booth and a stage area for bands to play, with Happy Mondays legend Bez and Rowetta playing on Friday for opening night, as well as a handful of bands.
A tweet about the bar by the 'Northern Quarter MCR' Twitter account has racked up more than one million views since it was posted on Wednesday morning (February 15), with a number of people voicing their displeasure in the replies. Mancunian journalist and author @BeardedGenius wrote: "I don’t want to s*** on anyone trying to make a go of a business venture in this economy, but in general Manchester needs to stop worshipping its cultural past.
"It’s the antithesis of the spirit all these bands shared. They were young and exciting and different, not looking back."
@Llywbb added: "Every day I see something and think to myself ‘God this really is capitalism at it’s worst’ but this just takes the biscuit."
Other Twitter users poked fun at the theme. @RichardLevesley wrote: "If they’re being authentic, they could close down after a couple of years and reopen as a New Order themed pub called Confusion with Bernard Sumner’s face as the mural instead."
Poet @ArghKid joked: "Why do people have a problem with this? It's well documented Ian, Hooky, Barney and Stephen were into Quinoa and Smashed Avacado. In fact, Unknown Pleasures is a reference to the band's discovery of Halloumi and Pomegranate.
While @JT7062 simply tweeted: "Live, Laugh, Love will tear us apart".
However, some people jumped to the bar's defence. @Post_liberal wrote: People on Twitter hate this because it represents the commodification of Manchester’s pop-cultural legacy but how does any city build any type of tourism industry without doing so?
"Look at central Venice, for instance, its basically a museum to its past-glories populated by tourists. Manchester has the industrial revolution, its unis, post-punk, and other pop-cultural icons in the wider media-landscape, plus football.
"It has to make the most of what it has and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Same way Venice has St Marks Square and makes the most of that. Liverpool has The Beatles and makes the most of that.
"Why else would a load of Americans, Japanese and Europeans be coming to Liverpool otherwise? Bringing money into the city and jobs? People sneering at Liverpool and Manchester trying to make the most of what they have need to get in the real world."
@Alelliott88 added: "There's a lot negative comments about this but personally I think that if people enjoy it and it does good then good on whoever is running it, especially in the current climate. If the 'This is everything that's wrong with Manchester' brigade don't like it then don't go.
@JoannaTees agreed: "Someone has had the guts to open a bar in this economic climate. Sadly now being overly mocked because they’re celebrating the musical history of the city.
"There’s shed loads of visitors to Manc who are still not bored of the music links. If you can’t say something nice…"
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News earlier this week, owners Sam Koropisz and James Stewart said of the venue: “It’s not just about Joy Division, it’s about Manchester music, and the place is a love letter to Manchester music. The idea is to bring unknown pleasures to Manchester. We’ve always spoken about doing a bar and music venue, and the space came available, so we jumped on it.”
Disorder is found at 78-88 High Street, and opens today (February 17). Bookings are being taken now.
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