On the other side of river they'd spend big to create the right ambience and authentic retro vibe for an event like this. The Chapel Street Real Ale Festival doesn't need to ponder these fakeries. Taking place in four classic, traditional boozers it's the ultimate beer festival – and, with the pubs being situated close together, it's a nice little pub crawl too.
The Egerton Arms has been a Salford landmark since 1841 and being smack-bang next to Salford Central Station is perfect place to begin, meet-up or end your night out. It's an easy wander down to the Rovers Return where you can sample more ales and craft beers. The Salford Arms Hotel and the Kings Arms complete the historic quartet.
With live music and great pub grub to hand, it's an unpretentious celebration of all things ale... "The idea is for each pub to represent, first of all, the Salford breweries and then have a diverse and wide ranging list" said a spokesperson for the Salford Arms about the event.
The pubs will stock beer by Salford's First Chop and Seven Brothers breweries as well as other favourites from further afield. There's something for everyone's palate musically, too...
The Salford Arms Hotel has hard-hitting acoustic duo The Coulton Brothers on Friday (9pm) and Uncle Buck perform some top quality covers on Saturday (9pm). Young singer-songwriter Zach Thompson takes centre stage at The Egerton Arms on Friday (9pm), and Saturday (9pm) sees Manchester act Vengalis play their Joy Division and Libertines inspired tunes.
The Kings Arms has The Ultimate Stone Roses playing on Friday and Scott Doonican on the Saturday. Tickets for Scott's musical comedy show have sold out, but there are a few tickets left to see the amazing Ultimate Stone Roses...
`I Wanna Beer Adored...'
I spoke to The Ultimate Stone Roses' drummer, Steve Maple, and asked, why cover the Stone Roses?
"The band has quite a long history of making music together" he explained "The singer, Spencer, and me used to play original music together in Manchester venues such as Night and Day Café and Dry Bar but that was about ten years ago. After a five year hiatus, I joined a covers band and recruited my good friend Mike to play bass.
"When Spencer heard there was a vacancy, he joined and quickly caught the band bug again... Mike and Spence narrowed the direction to solely Manchester music" he added "Whenever we played the Roses, there was always a little extra magic. Spencer has the mannerisms and energy of a young Ian Brown and it was becoming hard to ignore the fact that we should specialise just that little bit more and become The Ultimate Stone Roses."
At first it was stop-start as the wannabe Roses kept losing guitarists but the jigsaw was completed by Marvel Guitars' owner, Rick who actually lived on the same street in Altrincham as John Squire and Ian Brown...
"Since then, we've not looked back" said Steve "The first gig was an aftershow party at the Live Room in Manchester just after the Roses played the Etihad on the Wednesday..."
The band has played festivals all summer and their last gig of this year sees them return home to play a more intimate gig in Salford at the Kings Arms.
The Chapel Street Ale Festival is a great local event. There is no soulless corporate setting or uber-chic marquee with over-priced drinks; it's a celebration of all things ale with some amazing live music. Dart between four traditional pubs in the ultimate compact pub crawl and the realest of real ale festivals.
Entrance is free, and all the acts, excluding Scott Doonican and The Ultimate Stone Roses, are free entrance. Tickets for The Ultimate Stone Roses are £10 (plus booking fee) – to book click here
Chapel Street Ale Festival
Thursday 17th – Sunday 20th November
Words by Ian Leslie
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