Hidden: Shaking up Manchester's clubbing scene

Heartwarming isn’t usually the word chosen to describe a superclub, but that’s exactly how the inception and now operation of Manchester’s newest music and arts hub, Hidden, comes across.

Since Manchester Evening News reported on the redevelopment of the former textile mill back in February, Hidden has been slowly and surely gaining attention from the city’s ravers, with its grand opening on August bank holiday weekend a complete sellout.

Now the club, situated just outside of the city centre near Strangeways, is home to many of Manchester’s leading promoters, from Love Dose to Meat Free, Mvson to Mellow Yellow, and has already hosted some of the world’s most alluring live techno acts such as Magic Mountain High and Xosar; legends DJ Bone, Ben Sims and Fred P, and local heroes Greg Wilson and Chimpo.

Against a backdrop of a huge wave of club closures across the country, the ambitious redevelopment was a brave move from the owners. Aesthetically it’s obvious that the venue’s been a labour of love, from the graffiti artwork to the excellent bespoke sound system, the disco balls and records hanging from the ceiling, and the preened outside area. What’s really interesting about the project, though, is how the work that’s gone into it has played out on social media. With the redevelopers posting about the ups and downs of turning the derelict building into a fully functioning club, Hidden has given punters an insider’s view of getting a business up and running against the odds.

When those odds make anyone opening a new club right now look a little crazy, the sheer scale of this project makes it even more compelling. It seems these people really have put their lives on the line, investing their every last penny. Over the past few months since first hearing about the redevelopment, I’ve followed their story with interest and then awe. Perhaps this is the reason the space has met with such unprecedented positivity, whether from DJs, punters or the promoters who’ve left more established venues to set up shop in the mill.

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There’s an honesty about it that can be missing from the club scene – you can tell this isn’t about making money, but about creating culture in a climate where culture is being taken away like benefits. As a result the project has reignited a feeling of community among the key players of the Manchester scene and that response keeps mushrooming, creating an even bigger buzz. If you need confirmation, just flick through the photos from any of their parties – there’s sheer joy on those ravers’ faces.

With Hidden’s competition being another year of predictable bookings at the Warehouse Project and Sankeys taking over WHP’s former home at Victoria Warehouse, the venue is a breath of fresh air on the superclub circuit. It gives punters, seasoned and fresh, a motive to go on a really big night out – and on top of what's booked for the weekends, Hidden’s midweek parties have revitalised the weekday calendar. Who wouldn’t want the option of catching Marshall Jefferson on a Wednesday or Floating Points on a Thursday?

The comparisons with Islington Mill were drawn even before work began, and they are fairly accurate. The club’s commitment to creating low-cost studio and exhibition spaces over the coming months should make that prediction even more of a reality. Band nights are also on the cards, and there’s already been daytime yoga. All this within the space of two months shows that, if there’s a will, there’s definitely a way.

Despite the notable closure of Roadhouse, we are starting to see more and more alternative venues popping up around town, intent on shaking things up a bit. Places like Hidden do seem to offer much-needed respite from the standard commercialisation of nights on the town. Perhaps the writing is on the wall, albeit a digital one: "We hope we can be the next chapter of Manchester’s cultural history," the owners profess on their Facebook page – and it looks like they really could be.