Alt city guide to Liverpool

This article titled "Alt city guide to Liverpool" was written by Tony Naylor, for theguardian.com on Thursday 13th October 2016 05.30 UTC

For decades, Liverpool has experimented with every international trend, using each one in a cool, discriminating way to create distinctively Liverpudlian art. Think of the Beat-influenced poets of the 1960s or the psychedelic music lineage that links Echo & the Bunnymen to the Coral to the annual Psych Fest. Moreover, for all its pride in its edgy art galleries (Fact, Open Eye, Bluecoat), the city has retained its working-class sensibility. Camp & Furnace, arguably Liverpool’s hippest venue, still shows televised football – that does not happen in other cities.

Given how economically straitened it has been, DIY culture is strong in Liverpool. The art world bubbles with grassroots activity, such as exhibition space the Trophy Room or feminist zine Queen of the Track. Musically, the city is in rude, self-perpetuating health. It has not just the bands (Minnetonka, Strange Collective, Ohmns, the Floormen), but the infrastructure, too: niche labels (Blak Hand, Hail Hail), record shops (Probe, Dig Vinyl), independent promoters (Evol, Harvest Sun). On the clubbing front, look out for electronic music nights from Mein Nacht, Abandon Silence, Mumu, Modu:lar and 303 who party, literally underground, in Williamson Tunnels.

“Liverpool’s the perfect oasis of risk-takers and supporters, and it’s thriving,” says David Williams, co-creator of independent-liverpool.co.uk – although, some caveat that enthusiasm with a warning. Where once cheap space was plentiful in the run-down city centre (Bold Street is an unusual enclave of independent businesses), Liverpool is changing. Money and developers are pouring in and leftfield venues Mello Mello and the Kazimier have been lost. Abandon Silence promoter Andrew Hill fears for the Baltic Triangle, a gritty industrial zone now home to many ad hoc bars and creative late-night warehouse spaces. “Six years ago, there was nothing here,” he says. “Now it’s a sea of cranes and high-rises.”

The North Docks, where the Kazimier has re-emerged as art-rave space the Invisible Wind Factory, (its neighbours include venues Drop the Dumbulls and North Shore Troubadour), is where creatives are moving to escape rising property prices and residential noise restrictions. The author Kevin Sampson is enjoying this colonisation of areas outside the sometimes lairy city centre. “You can put a mini-crawl together around the Baltic Triangle,” he promises, “without ever encountering a comedy penis.”

MUSIC

Invisible Wind Factory

Created by the team behind the old Kazimier club (bulldozed for apartments, sadly), IWF is a cavernous warehouse rave/gig venue where the work of its in-house art collective – which creates spectacular theatrical productions such as its recent Omphalos – informs the whole experience. “It’s an immersive cocoon, one constantly changing in terms of visual aspects and art installations,” says Evol promoter Steve Miller, who has IWF shows imminent with Fucked Up and Peaches. IWF is busy by day, too. It houses artists’ studios, a café and electronics, metal and woodworking units used by artist-makers across Liverpool.
• 3 Regent Road, thekazimier.co.uk

Camp & Furnace

A key venue in the Baltic Triangle’s transformation into a hub of creativity and late-night larks, this bar-restaurant and vast events space (along the lines of a hipster Alpine lodge with a warehouse attached) rattles through a bewildering array of events each week. From off-the-wall bingo nights via bassbin-busting club events to the new audio-visual dining extravaganza Nightgarden, which will launch on 14 October with guest chef Mary-Ellen McTague. Nearby, keep an eye on the similarly unpredictable Constellations (constellations-liv.com), rave space New Bird Street Warehouse, and District (facebook.com/District-473098799400626).
• 67 Greenland Street, 0151 708 2890, campandfurnace.com

Maguire’s Pizza Bar

No prizes for guessing what Maguire’s majors in but its back room is also a gig space. “It’s the embodiment of ‘no frills’, the perfect sweatbox for a noisy garage rock party,” says Christopher Torpey, editor of music mag Bido Lito! “And, yes, the pizza is ace.”
• 77 Renshaw Street, 07535 090636, facebook.com/MaguiresPizzaBar

EBGBS

Heebie Jeebies (Heebies to its regulars) is a boozy late bar and courtyard, where the sounds range from acoustic acts to pumping house. Its basement gig/club space (home of indie institution Liquidation), has recently been given a makeover as EBGBS in neon, graffiti and rock ‘n’ roll cocktails. It looks, says Steve Miller, “like it did in 2003 when I was doing gigs there with Weird War and Fat Truckers”.
• 80-82 Seel Street, 0151 709 3678, facebook.com/Officialheebiejeebies

24 Kitchen Street

Young people dancing at Kitchen Street, Liverpool. — Kitchen Street, Liverpool. Photograph: Samantha Milligan

Many liken Kitchen Street to the Kazimier. Similarly, it is an ever-evolving venue with a dedicated underground music policy. Forthcoming visitors include industrial techno dons Perc & Truss and Vancouver house classicists Pender Street Steppers. “It’s a really good, 250-capacity warehouse space, which they’ve built organically,” says Andrew Hill.
• 24 Kitchen Street, 24kitchenstreet.com

DRINK

Dead Crafty

Liverpool’s vibrant craft beer scene takes in both traditional pubs (see the nearby Ship & Mitre) and hip bars such as this 20-tap extravaganza. From obscure sharing bottles to local ales (Ad Hop, Mad Hatter) all beer life is here. “It’s run by two enthusiasts who spent years making brewery connections, so they’d have good stuff on – like Cloudwater beers on release day,” says Paul Sieffert, co-founder of Liverpool Craft Beer Co.
• Schooner from £3. Dale Street, 07977 228918, facebook.com/thedeadcraftybeercompany

Kazimier Garden

The Kazimier has gone but its ramshackle beer garden remains as a glorious two-fingers to bland gentrification. Expect interesting, off-beam DJ events, good craft beers, top BBQ and lots of mulled drinks in winter. “You’d never know it’s there, it looks completely abandoned and, once you’re in, you feel like you’re part of something special,” says David Williams.
• Pint from £3.30. Adjacent to 32 Seel Street, @kazimiergarden

23 Club

Located in the dark, spartan basement of the Clove Hitch restaurant, 23 specialises in three modern obsessions: bourbon, burgers, craft beer. Its 19 cask/keg lines showcase the best of British (Magic Rock, Tiny Rebel, Kernel et al), while its extensive bottle stock goes all-out internationally. Come, drink, geek out.
• Pint from £3.30. 23 Hope Street, 0151 709 6574, @TwentyThreeClub

Berry & Rye

Hidden behind an empty shop front, this “speakeasy” is genuinely difficult to find (“Even now you see people knocking on the wrong door or asking, ‘are you sure it’s here?’,” says Williams), while its dimly lit interior intensifies the feeling that this is a bolthole from the raucousness outside. Williams: “The drinks are some of the best you’ll have. I’ve ordered them all around the world but there’s nothing quite like Berry & Rye’s Old Fashioned.”

• Cocktails from £6.50. 48 Berry Street, @berry_and_rye

Black Lodge

A collaborative project from founders of Liverpool Craft Beer Co, 23 Club and Camp & Furnace, this new experimental brewery-tap is something special. A Baltic Triangle warehouse space, it is open Thursday to Sunday with the Lodge’s out-there, highly limited brews (salt-licked gose beers; traditional Finnish sahti etc.), adding intrigue to its 13-tap selection.
• Schooner from £3. 4 Kitchen Street, blacklodgebrewing.co.uk

FOOD

Ital Fresh

That Rastafarianism has its own vegan tradition (adherents follow an “ital” diet) may have passed you by, but Ital Fresh’s unusually vibrant street food is not to be missed. Try the smoothly hot, satisfyingly savoury jerk mushrooms with garlic-thyme kale and remarkably creamy quinoa. Food is available on Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtimes and until late on Thursdays at 61 New Bird Street, another quirky Baltic Triangle warehouse gaff.
• Dishes £4-£7.50. 61 New Bird Street, italfreshHQ.com

Roja Pinchos

A little corner of the Basque Country on Berry Street, this simple restaurant (decked out in chipboard with a stark red and white colour scheme) serves creditable pinchos, the elaborate skewered snacks. The chistorra (punchy, tiny chorizo) with fried quail egg and aioli, or the lomo pork, heady with a grilled BBQ tang, are recommended.
• Pinchos £1.50-£3.50. Berry Street, 0151 378 9563, rojapinchos.co.uk

Buyers’ Club

Upstairs, a 300-capacity gig space (where you’ll find local bands, foodbank fundraisers, record fairs) retains a little of the spirit of the Picket, the trades union-backed venue that used to occupy this building. Downstairs, however, across a surprisingly slick bar and restaurant, it is chef Dan Heffy’s small plates (marinated, salt-crusted beef with chickpea purée, yoghurt, herb oil) that are forging the Buyers’ Club’s reputation. “It’s got a great selection of ales, whiskies and the now-obligatory posh gins,” says Kevin Sampson. “The food is very good.”
• Plates £6-£9. 24 Hardman Street, 0151 709 2400, buyers-club.co.uk

Etsu

Tucked into the unpromising concrete and glass edifice of Beetham Plaza, Etsu serves Japanese food which sings with clean, true flavours. The lunchtime bento boxes are good value (excellent pickles and sauces) while the wider menu runs the gamut from crowd-pleasers like panko-crumbed tonkatsu pork to specials such as a boiled shrimp shredded daikon salad with sesame, miso and avocado sauce.
• Bento from £8.95. 25 The Strand, 0151 236 7530, etsu-restaurant.co.uk

Maray

Essentially in its drinks (serious, Iberian-style G&Ts, Aperol spritz, etc) and its Ottolenghi-ish small plates, Maray is channelling the best fashionable food trends. “It’s incredible,” coos Williams. “You’ll see three or four ingredients on the plate and think, ‘how on earth will that be nice?’. I had one the other day – green beans, tahini, strawberries, feta, almonds – it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever eaten.”

• Plates £4-£10.50. 91 Bold Street, 0151 709 5820, maray.co.uk

CULTURE

The Royal Standard

For a decade, artist-led The Royal Standard has been the whetstone on which the young blades of Liverpool’s art scene have sharpened their cutting edge. A labyrinth of cheap studio, exhibition and project space for cohabitees such as Cactus (cactusgallery.co.uk) and Muesli (muesliprojects.co.uk), this is where experimental art flourishes. Currently on an industrial estate north of the city centre, TRS is about to move to a new art hub in the old Cains Brewery (occupied by the Liverpool Biennal until 16 October, biennial.com). “It’ll be really exciting to see how this changes the organisation,” says Lauren Velvick, programme co-ordinator at the Bluecoat, which is currently showing Dennis McNulty’s Homo Gestalt.
• During exhibitions Fri to Sun, midday-5pm. Unit 3, Vauxhall Business Centre, 131 Vauxhall Road, the-royal-standard.com

Crown Building Studios

This former magistrate’s court is a hive of innovative cultural activity. It includes the politically charged arthouse Small Cinema (liverpoolsmallcinema.org.uk) and the Crown Building Studios’ gallery, which exhibits new art from recent graduates (during exhibitions, Sat/Sun, midday-4pm). Next door, A Particular Act (aparticularact.com) explores the meaning of performance in an art setting.
• 57-59 Victoria Street, cbsgallery.co.uk

News From Nowhere

For almost 40 years, the bookshop News From Nowhere (a non-profit co-op) has been keeping Liverpool informed politically. It also sells amusing lefty mugs and T-shirts as light relief from all that Chomsky. “It’s not just a bookshop but an evergreen source of info and ideas for political and cultural events in the city,” says Sampson. The building also houses the Next To Nowhere social centre, which hosts punk gigs and, on Saturdays, a vegan café.
• 96 Bold Street, 0151 708 7270, newsfromnowhere.org.uk

The Serving Library

From record covers to Ouija boards, the Serving Library is a collection of objects that have inspired philosophical essays published over many years in print and online. Eighty of its pieces are now displayed in this curiosity-shop-archive (open irregularly or by appointment). “There have been some really interesting, low-key talks hosted there,” says Velvick, who, for more in marginal art activity, recommends galleries A Small View, which, he says, is “like entering a time-warp” (asmallview.co.uk) and the Trophy Room (thetrophyroom.org).
• 35 Water Street, 07957 738578, servinglibrary.org

Homotopia

“There’s an interesting crossover between the LGBT/queer and art scenes in Liverpool,” says Velvick, which peaks during November’s Homotopia, an annual arts festival. This year’s programme encompasses everything from the Walker Gallery exhibition Transformation: One Man’s Cross-Dressing Wardrobe to, at the Unity Theatre, an evening of caustic, political cabaret with the incendiary David Hoyle.
• 30 Oct to 1 Dec, homotopia.net

• Travel between Manchester and Liverpool was provided by TransPennine Express; tpexpress.co.uk. Tickets from £3.50 (single), journey time 52 to 60 minutes, depending on train

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