Dry

I was just reading an interview in Spin, or maybe it was Mojo, and Stephen Morris was talking about how when the Hac got too crazy in the early 90s, the band really spent more time at Dry...

I've never known much about this spot... was it just basically an exclusive pub? Could anyone get in? Does it still exist? etc etc etc from someone never there...

I'm just curious. The Hacienda gets all the press, but seems like Dry might have been a true underground in the early 90s... was it defacto Factory type exclusive, or would other Manc scenesters show up?

curious....

(and p.s. sorry if this has been covered before... i couldn't find anything... )

http://www.drybar.co.uk/ Still going.

Just looked at the 'dining at Dry' page

Im hungry!

Dry Bar was designed by Ben Kelly, the interior designer who did the Hacienda and the Charles St offices. Dry201, as it was known, was a bar, rather than a club, but did host club-style nights. Massive mirrors behind the bar, strange glass plates above, like mutant butchers counters. Lots of very expensive looking wood and a steelmill worth of stainless.

It wasn't exclusive in so much as anyone could go in, but it was certainly the first of it's type in Manchester. They played good music, the food was excellent, quality lager on tap, friendly staff - all a refreshing change from the majority of places in Town at the time.

Factory also had a shop in Afflecks Arcade, right opposite Dry. Can't remember what that was called. In there you could buy the type of branded goods which now crop up on ebay - Hacienda membership cards, posters, clothing etc.

Of course, it was a bit like the Factory staff room. You would have felt a bit cheated had you gone at any time and not seen a familiar face or two.

I'm sure Dry can be seen on 24 Hour Party People, when Shaun Ryder holds the master tapes to ransom.

Have i ever told you about the DRY201 box of matches in my collection.Black wood,white sulpur and a great designed box.Printed in LONDON and made in JAPAN.Rather quaint and a SINGLE match has been given away to the few NOOL's who have visited PLANET ROCKET.Generous to a fault is OUR ROCKET.Mind you giving matches to kids to play with in SHUGZV's instance was asking for trouble. CALL 999 and ask for the FIRE BRIGADE! :D

Dry used to be a great night out whether going to the Hac or not but now it is an absolute shit-hole frequented by typical Rockport-style scallies.

Seriously not recommended which is a shame. Factory had class, whoever owns it now doesnt!

Dry a great place to go in the day when you should have been somewhere else. I had lots of good afternoons in there. Never got on with it in the evenings - the bogs were always full of sick; must have been the steep stairs.

BTW - I got my rose tints in Aflecks - they still fit just fine!

I don't know, I've been there in 1998 and when we entered we just were surprised to see it was just a, well, just a fookin common (small) bar like thousands else in Europe. Maybe it's different from the average English pub (which I prefer though), but not from many trendy bars in Europe. This is the first impact... the more you stayed inside the more you started to notice something that was a bit special and related to Factory, but at first sight all I noticed was a cigarettes machine with a logo designed by Peter Saville... Anyway from what I've seen in pictures The Hacienda was a much more special place and here in Parma you'd find at least a couple of bars with higher quality design though they're always packed with stupid people desperate to look high class. All in all I've seen many pubs in England and I've loved the most of them. Many try to look like that in Italy but I've never found one who really looks English... for me those were better places than Dry...