A brand new live music space officially opened.
Rough Trade opened its first music shop in 1976 and has since opened locations worldwide. Earlier this year, the firm announced it would be opening its biggest UK store to date in Liverpool on Hanover Street in the city centre.
When the music store on the ground floor opened last April, there were queues outside the door on opening day. Speaking to the ECHO at the time, Rich Nemeth, the head of retail, said the business had been working on opening in Liverpool for two years.
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He said: “Liverpool seemed right for us for our first proper northern city. It was obviously a place that’s so rich in the history of music. The retail space was good. We wanted somewhere that we could have a good venue area, a good bar area as well. It just made perfect sense. The space was right, we knew what we could do with it.
“It was like, let’s try and replicate what we’re doing in London and in Bristol, and bring it over here in Liverpool.
“That independent DIY punk scene that we’ve been so well known for remains. It made sense that we wanted to bring our ideology from that and come to Liverpool, in a city that makes anything happen.”
Rough Trade’s live music space upstairs was not up and running at this time however, with the firm keen to have the shop open in time for Record Store Day. The space was officially opened last Friday, June 7, with three live performances. Some in the music industry invited while others secured free tickets before they sold out in a matter of hours.
There was free food and drinks available at the event, along with discounts on vinyl records. The gig consisted of three local acts.
It opened with Pixey, real name Elizabeth Hillesdon, from Ormskirk, with a selection of alternative indie pop. Award-winning band Crawlers were up next. The band’s members met in Warrington before establishing themselves while at university together in Liverpool.
The final act was Liverpool band Stone. The band’s “post-apocalyptic scally rock” has taken them from The Shipping Forecast to Glastonbury. You can view a selection of images from the opening night below.
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