Soup

Soup occupies 31–33 Spear Street, at the Stevenson Square corner of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The site began as Soup Kitchen, a café-bar that opened in 2010 and held music events in its bar. A former martial arts gym beneath it became a venue space later that year, opening with a secret GZA set and a club night featuring DJ Space Dimension Controller. The name changed to Soup in 2020, with ownership unchanged.

Its bar, gig and club areas span two floors, with room for about 200 people. The programme covers arts events, live performances and club nights, alongside local radio and collective events featuring artists from Manchester and elsewhere. Swing Ting residency concluded in 2022 after 11 years, with sets drawing on afro-bashment, dancehall, hip-hop and garage. AbsentAntiks and Dark Red Records have promoted events there; artists to perform include Esmé, April (UK) and Equinox (UK). Soup began a programme to support emerging Manchester promoters and celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2025.