Early Doors Club: One year on in Leigh, Atherton, Tyldesley, Wigan

The Early Doors Club is a collaborative project that hosts free weekend gigs at the Snug in Atherton, the Coffee Stop in Leigh, St George's Church in Tyldesley, and Hideout in Wigan.

With businesses concerned about low Friday night footfall since the pandemic, the project aimed to provide a boost to the borough's "early" night time economy and the local music scene, with guests encouraged to visit neighbouring venues after the Friday night gigs.

In the year since the Early Doors Club launched, more than four thousand visitors are reported to have visited the participating venues, who have provided hugely positive feedback to those wishing to make the project permanent.

The project has also given young bands the opportunity to play on stage (Image: R.Bowen)
"The interest in the events over the past year has been unbelievable", Ben Morgan, events manager at the Snug, said.

"We have had more than four thousand people coming to the 60 events we have organised so far, with people from across Greater Manchester as well as people from down south and even Paris and Amsterdam coming along.

"There has been some really positive feedback too, from the older generation who appreciate the earlier hours to those who have experienced live music for the first time with us.

"There has also been great feedback from local businesses as we have definitely filled that 8-10pm quiet spot after the gigs have finished."

A map of where guests have recorded where they have travelled to the gigs from (Image: Early Doors Club)
With the Early Doors Club's main aim to support local businesses, customers are given information and incentive cards to encourage them to visit neighbouring venues.

Surveys have also been completed by guests, with 92 percent rating their experience at the Early Doors Club as a five out of five, and 90 percent saying that they would return to the town for a night out.

A perfect 100 percent of guests rated the idea of the Early Doors Club.

Each venue offers a different setting and atmosphere (Image: R.Bowen)
With the Early Doors Club funded by the government and organised by Wigan Council, the four participating venues hope to use this data to encourage further investment so that the project can remain longer than the March 2025 deadline. 

Ben added: "We can definitely see the benefit of this project, from the perspective of supporting local business and the local music scene.

"So many people have said how great it is to experience a gig for free, so now we are trying to gather as much information as we can to prove that this is a project worth backing."

The Early Doors Club continues with an acoustic set from Hetta Flazon at the Hideout in Wigan on Friday, September 6.