Built in 1928 by the architects Cruickshank and Seaward, Grade-II listed The Ritz was originally a dance hall for the Manchester revellers. With its ultra-springy dance floor and revolving stage, The Ritz was one of the most popular destinations for anyone passing through Manchester during the 1930s and 40s.
With the decline of classic dancing and the emergence of pop and rock n roll music The Ritz was transformed in to a live music venue even hosting The Beatles in the 1960s. It still kept its style however, and with that allowed for artists such as Frank Sinatra to play shows there.
The Ritz also hosted the Dancing In The Dark night with Phillip Moss throughout the 1950s and 60s, who was the band master for 17 years and known as ‘The King of The Ritz’. It is thought that he was responsible for many of the families and marriages in Manchester at the time, as radio presenter Fred Fielder explaines: “People said he was responsible for half the population of Greater Manchester, because his band would play Dancing In Dark nights. For the last dance of the evening the lights would go down. Couples would have a kiss and cuddle on the dance floor, end up going steady, then eventually getting married and have children.”
With the Manchester music scene hitting a high point in the 1980s and 90s, The Ritz was fully thrown in to the spotlight when artists such as The Smiths and The Happy Mondays played shows there and it has been a venue for some of the best upcoming artists and established bands ever since.
The Ritz went through a £2 million refurbishment in 2011. While many of the old creaks and crannies were fixed up it still stayed true to its image as an old dancehall, even keeping the old curved, bouncy floor.
Since the 1990s The Ritz has seen artists such as R.E.M., The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Snow Patrol, Adam And The Ants, Dropkick Murphys and more recently The Weeknd and Johnny Marr. The Ritz also hosts club nights such as GOGO and Erasmus, appealing to the vast Manchester student crowd.
