Manchester vs London. Who does music better?

Any sane person knows that both the north of England and the south of England have great music, but is one better than the other. Yes, its the North, end of post. No I am joking, lets have a real dive into the artists, bands and the music scenes of the north and the south.

Lets start with the brit pop scene. Britpop basically means music that screams 'I'm British', music fans argue that some of these bands are indie but I prefer the term Britpop. Manchester gave us Oasis and The Stone Roses, Wigan gave us The Verve, Sheffield gave us Pulp. On the other hand, the South gave us Blur, Supergrass, and many more. Before Britpop became such a huge success, the likes of The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays started the 'Madchester' scene. I will go into more detail about this further down, but I thought it was relevant to mention here as well.

Now, Punk. If you're anything like me the first band that comes to your head when you think about punk are of course, The Sex Pistols. Not only where they iconic in the music scene in London but they changed the way a generation of rebels who where sick of not being listened to, thought about life. A lot of people say Malcolm McLaren is to thank for the punk scene starting in London after he started to manage The Sex Pistols after success with the New York Dolls in America. Of course its important to remember, Punk is about rebelling, fashion, giving the middle finger to politics, the music just helps release all the political anger. The Clash are another great example of the punk scene in London. The north had its time for Punk as well, Joy Division are probably one of the most iconic bands to come out of Manchester, let alone to come out of the punk scene. Another honourable mention for northern punk would be the Buzzcocks.

Goth music often gets tide in with punk and other similar genres, but to me and many other music fans Goth music is it's own genre entirely. I may be biased, but the best band to ever come out of the Goth scene for me is The Cure, and of course before that, Robert Smith's contribution to Siouxsie and the Banshees is absolutely worth a mention. Both bands of course coming from London. Thanks to the likes of Camden Town, the goth subculture was huge in 80s and 90s London, all over England really but I remember seeing photos from Camden Town on the internet when I was a kid of goth's in 80s and 90s Camden, and I'll never forget how cool I thought they where.

London Music Scene

London has always been known for it's iconic music scenes. Every artist and band tours there, hundreds of incredible venues. The Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium, Brixton Academy, The Roundhouse, Electric Ballroom, to name a few. However, when I've visited London, usually for a gig, it's not the big capacity venues that impress me, its the small underground ones, the bars and pubs that transform into intimate music venues. A place where no where in the world will compare in this sector for me is Camden Town. The Hawley Arms, well known and brought to light by Amy Winehouse, but still an iconic stomping ground to this day for artists such as Yungblud and The Libertines. Another pub turned music venue would be the Good Mixer, say what you want about London but the vibe and atmosphere in these places are incredible, a great place to find and hear about new music and make connections in the music industry.

Manchester music scene

We have gathered that London has had an iconic music scene going as far back as the 60s and 70s, but what about Manchester? You can't talk about the Manchester music scene without mentioning Tony Wilson. Tony Wilson basically started the Manchester music scene as we know it, he founded Factory records which signed bands such as Joy Division, The Happy Mondays and New Order. He opened the Hacienda nightclub which become a stable for the Madchester rave and dance scene. By putting Manchester on the map for it's nightlife and music scene, Tony Wilson essentially made Manchester internationally famous. To this day, Manchester is still known for it's Madchester scene, Joy Division bars, lemons all over the walls, Happy Mondays played in pubs. The new music scene takes a lot of influence from 80s and 90s Manchester, new artists want to keep the atmosphere alive, venues such as Deaf Institute and Band on the wall hold rock and indie gigs. As much as I love London, the music scene in Manchester will always hold a special place in my heart that will

never die.

So, in conclusion, who do you think does music better? Manchester or London.

All photos taken from Google.