FANS of alternative tunes might be feeling a little bereft of entertainment now that Hawthorns has shut for a month. And while improvements to Bolton's best (well, only) indie club are a very splendid thing indeed, this does leave people with an empty space to fill in their weekend.

Of course you could sit at home drinking whisky and listening to Slayer, but a better idea might be a trip to Manchester to sample one of the city's finest rock and indie nights.

Jilly's is a longstanding institution in Manchester (and by that I don't mean it is full of mad people, though of course, it is).

The club is made up of three different areas: The Main Room, The Goldfish Bowl and The Underground. Each area plays a different kind of music, covering a variety of genres from metal to ska, punk to grunge and then some.

On Friday the allnighter boasts the famous Ritz DJs John and Mark, whose mix of Indie, alternative, 60s and 70s and dance music (but not that kind) goes down well in The Main Room. On Saturday the split between the rooms is much the same, with classic rock with DJ Chevvy, rock, punk, grunge, glam and thrash in the Main Room and indie, goth, and ska with DJ Malcolm.

Those familiar with Jilly's never fail to develop a great affection for it, (despite its daft name) not least because it is one of the largest and diverse indie nights that the North-west has to offer. Try it, you might like it.