Manchester Music Trail: Legend

About

Before the city became more nationally recognised for contemporary music and dance thanks to the likes of Paradise Factory and the Hacienda, there was Legend.  Known more usually as Legends, the interior was made up of 2000 decorative lights designed like a spaceage fairground. The club promoted itself initially as a ‘futuristic disco club’, though it became far more than disco. It was a space for a wealth of subcultures, new romantics and goths amongst them. DJ Greg Wilson’s Electro-funk night brought the jazz-funk of New York to the dancefloors of Manchester, and with it, Legends became an essential venue for the Black community, especially the young folk of Moss Side. Legends was a student haunt, and later the building reopened as 5th Avenue - if you studied in Manchester anytime since the early 80s, you’ve danced in Legends or 5th Ave.

Image Credit: Alexsander Pasaric