New monthly live music event for new artists in Rochdale

Photo: Google, DigitalGlobe

Empire on Packer Street

A new live music event for artists to play their own original material is launching in Rochdale.

The Empire, on Packer Street, will be holding a monthly line-up called Fresh on Sunday, with the first event taking place this Sunday (5 December).

Fresh on Sunday will run from around 5pm to 9 or 10pm, and this week acts Minerva Daisy, The Palava and The Matchbox will be performing.

Minerva Daisy is a young, powerful and queer indie pop songstress based in Manchester. Influenced by powerful female musicians like Etta James, Nina Simone, Florence and the machine, Pink, Lily Allen, Kate Nash as well as artists such as Hozier, Queen and Bahamas, Minerva is no stranger to genre bending and she is giving indie music a whole new sound.

The second act to play in this weekend’s line-up is the punk-inspired The Palava, an unsigned five-piece indie rock band formed in York in 2019.

With a successful string of releases, packed with biting lyrics and anthemic hooks, the boys have had an unusually quick rise in popularity around the York music scene.

Rounding off the roster will be the punk-inspired indie quartet The Matchbox, also from Manchester, fresh on the scene with their hard-hitting debut single ‘Moulin Rouge’.

General manager of Empire, Alan Ford said: “We believe in live music and its power to bring people together: we remember a time when artists learned their craft by performing at grassroots venues like ourselves and used them to build up their fanbases.

“That being said, we have created a new platform – Fresh on Sunday – for artists to showcase their music. You can expect amazing talent, all genres and fresh unheard music.

“Next time you hear them, it could be on the radio, in the charts – and maybe you will say, ‘I saw them at Empire’.”

He added: “Any bands who would like to play at Empire, please get in touch. A big thanks also goes to Jonny Bradley for his help and collaboration with this project.”

If you would like to play at Fresh on Sunday, please contact Alan Ford. Tel: 01706 551515