Survivor Cord is still unique

Cord Bar

By Rachel Esson | Fri, 27 November, 2009

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Cord
Northern Quarter
November 2009

NORTHERN Quarter institution Cord Bar celebrated its eighth birthday last month with a party for the venue’s loyal followers and friends.

It is these regular customers and the bar’s authenticity that have cemented its longevity while other ‘trendy’ outlets around it become passing fads.

Cord Bar was one of the first bars to kick start the area’s late night scene back in 2001, riding the post-Factory Records cultural wave that defined its earlier neighbour Dry Bar.

Retro tunes and vinyl collections are still an integral part of Cord’s musical programming, which features on Friday night The Magnificent Dance with former Speed Queen disco DJs and The Saturday Social when Craig Johnson and Ian Scott cater for the old-school Mancunian crowd.

Co-owned by local designer Paul Astill, Cord’s cosmetic refurb last December has served the bar well, creating a more vibrant upstairs and attracting new clientele. That is not to say the bar has lost its rough-round-the-edges vibe; in the basement bar you can practically smell the city’s damp earth behind its yellowing tiled walls.

The monochrome palette and cold tiles downstairs combine for a slightly sombre mood, which is lifted by satirical graffiti, such as a woman clutching a bottle of wine and a ‘Primani’ shopping bag.

Amelia Troubridge’s portraits depicting the likes of Dita Von Teese, together with black velvet baroque chaise longues, add a touch of boudoir glamour.

Still unique and still a stalwart establishment of the Northern Quarter scene.

Cord, 8 Dorsey Street, Northern Quarter, M4 1LU (0161 832 9494).

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Lawrence_ Poole wrote on the 23/10/08 at 11:56…

WINTER is drawing in so thoughts naturally turn to Cord, which emerged blinking – as if from the back of a wardrobe – after a shake down and substantial brush off this month.

With a big crowd of regulars, all of whom have accrued a sense of ownership over the place during years of pint …

WINTER is drawing in so thoughts naturally turn to Cord, which emerged blinking – as if from the back of a wardrobe – after a shake down and substantial brush off this month. With a big crowd of regulars, all of whom have accrued a sense of ownership over the place during years of pint sinking and pie eating, a new look would always be controversial. But with the trademark booths passing from well worn to worn out, few could argue it was time for change. Cord of old was a small bar; Cord the second feels bigger. Inside, the booths at the front have been ripped out, as has the bar at the back; the latter being repositioned to the wall opposite with three booths now taking up space where it once stood. The most striking change has seen the back wall of the bar blasted through and a bright white bricked stairwell installed leading down to the basement. Down it, the first door you pass is the gents, making a trip to the toilet much less traumatic for half of Cord’s customers – cutting out the wrestle across the basement dancefloor it used to entail. Inevitable Less impressive is the inevitable new paint smell that, with the heat, and the musty damp pong in the basement, can get a bit overwhelming. Post-renovation hangovers, we hope, for which a slug or two of the premium spirits from the spanking new back bar is the best hair of the dog. Some will think it’s a shame to see the character of an old favourite change so dramatically. Upstairs with the flash new look there’s little of the local hangout left – if Cord was once definitively Northern Quarter, could Cord 2.0 in fact be anywhere? But then the Northern Quarter isn’t a beardies ghetto anymore: catering, whether you like it or not, for a broader set of socialites. Cord is moving with the times. Shouldn’t you? What do you think of the new Cord? Have your say. Cord, Dorsey House, 8 Dorsey Street, M4 1LU (0161 832 9494).