“2024 was live music’s biggest year yet, as artists toured the world and fans turned out in record numbers,” says Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment. Live music is booming and established players in the scene are raking in more profits than ever. Meanwhile, two grassroots venues are closing every month.
This is happening everywhere, but the people behind @not_the_whp saw this happening in their beloved Manchester and decided to take action into their own hands. They started sharing flyers from raves all around the city on their Instagram page (@not_the_whp), raising attention for grassroots venues. The duo behind the page is doing all of this anonymously, purely out of love for the scene. They don’t make money out of it, and putting a lot of their time into making the Manchester scene a better place.
In a little over six months, they’ve reached 2,000 followers. But… this is more than just about the followers, this is about the scene, the culture, making a change, and standing up against the big money making machines. This post they published when they first launched gives a very clear message at why they’re doing this and why it’s such an important service to Manchester’s true club culture.
View this post on Instagram
When did you start this page? And why?
We started this page after Mint Lounge closed. Too many places have closed over the years, with jobs lost and businesses gone because of WHP. Younger people have to pay a fortune to see big names, but we think everyone deserves to see DJs at the top of their game. We used to pay £15 max for Chemical Brothers at Sankeys and we considered that expensive. They make people get in there early to charge a fortune for drinks and then it’s on so late that afters venues don’t even exist anymore. We have seen it dominate Manchester’s nighttime economy over the years (we’re in our 40s) and it gives nothing back to the scene.
What’s the goal for the page?
The goal started as just wanting to help out people, DJs promoters and venues, and give some free publicity as everyone wants something for something nowadays – people say they want to help but usually want money or recognition. I had the idea to just do this for nothing, and the other of us said it was a great idea and that they wanted to help.
View this post on Instagram
Is there more to it than just sharing flyers? Do you want to build a community?
The feedback we’re getting indicates that it’s really helping people feel like someone gives a shit. It seems to have surprised people, especially because we want nothing for it. We’ve had so many people say we are ‘doing gods work’ and ‘thanks so so much for sticking up for us’ and apparently we’re being discussed a lot. Hopefully that in itself is bringing people together. We often post about supporting each other, buying tickets, liking other crews posts and buying drinks in venues and we just hope it’s being heard.
Have you noticed any changes in the scene since starting the page?
Not really, but we are older and don’t go out as often anyway. I don’t think either of us would have noticed a direct change, we just hear from our DMs that it’s making people a lot happier – and if people are happy then there’s nothing wrong with that!
What’s your favourite thing about the Manchester scene?
Everything. The people. Manchester is small enough that no matter your genre or vibe, you can walk into a night and meet people you know and feel comfortable. We just do things better here (I’m biased being from Manchester, but the other one of us ain’t leaving Manchester anytime soon and that speaks volumes). Everyone can be themselves in the right crowds. This city has music, art and food – the rain can get lost though, but we don’t care about that because everything else matters more.
Is this page a way to say “thank you”?
Yeah I guess. Most of the people we know and have built strong friendships and relationships with over the years have all come from music and the scene in Manchester. It just makes us so mad that that’s being eroded. It’s a thank you for making us who we are as fully grown adults, but mainly it’s a call to the scene to not let the corporate players win. This city is ours and we will all do what we can to keep it that way. Big ups the people still making it happen. We respect and love you all.
