Cruz 101
Cruz 101 (better known simply as Cruz) is a
Creation
Before it was turned into a
History
When Cruz first opened, the licensing laws at the time insisted that membership was compulsory and punters had to wait up to 48 hours for membership to be cleared. The club owners followed up a lengthy legal battle at the high court encouraged by increased pressure from customers meant that the club was allowed to offer membership on the door, therefore eliminating the need to have a pending period before membership can be authorised.
In 1999 the exterior lighting and signage of the club was changed from "Cruz 101" to Babylon as a backdrop for scenes of the UK series of
In 2002, Cruz won the right to admit non-members, giving it the opportunity to raise revenue by admitting almost anyone. The club, however, has a door policy which remains predominantly gay. Cruz still operates a membership scheme which allows for a slightly reduced entrance fee for membership card holders.
Present
Today the club remains extremely popular among older and younger party-goers alike.[citation needed] It has evolved from opening just two nights a week to the present four nights a week; Cruz opened its doors on a Sunday on a permanent basis for the first time in 2006. Cruz often works in partnership with other bars, events and clubs in and around Manchester's Gay Village, creating events and raising funds for lesbian and gay charities, one of the most popular being Back2Back. Cruz used to compete with Essential, a nightclub also located in the gay village owned by former Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith,[5] which has now shut down. On 28 May 2011, Cruz celebrated its 19th birthday with a capacity crowd and a personal appearance by musical theatre star Kerry Ellis.
Cruz 101 has had many famous singers, performers and PAs over the years, including
Cruz has two floors,[7] with the 'main floor' (on which the entrance to the club is located) being the busiest. This is where Cruz concentrates its efforts, with PAs taking place on this floor as well as themed events, for example, at Christmas, New Year, Halloween etc. The main floor also features more disco lights and bars. Alternatively, Cruz features a slightly smaller downstairs known as 'Sub 101', which is accessible from the main club; however on some occasions Cruz charges an entrance fee from alternative outside entrance on special promoted nights. Sub is predominantly reserved for Trance and Bouncy House. Sub has just one alcohol-serving bar as opposed to the main floor which has two. Sub 101 is open every Saturday and events, it’s always posted on Facebook page before so customers can know before if this area is gonna be open that night.
The longest-running weekly event at Cruz is Disco Inferno on a Monday night which started in 1993. Originally featuring
A resident
Cruz is owned by three people equally, one of whom owns Napoleons, a bar club also located in the gay village. The general manager of Cruz is currently Gerrard Woods and the assistant manager is Paul Tuck. John Cooper is the bar manager, who also plays the resident drag queen known as 'Miss Cara' where at weekends, announces the DJ and welcomes any special guest PAs that may be taking place. Ben Ramsden serves as promotion manager, having taking over in 2015.
Incidents
During
On New Year's Eve 2008, a small fire broke out on stage shortly after midnight which was caused by a mis-firing show pyrotechnic. Staff evacuated the club and police attended. No injuries were reported and around 20 minutes later the large group of party-goers which waited outside the main entrance were allowed back in. The club remained open well into the early hours with the capacity crowd partying until well after 7am.[8]
DJs
Cruz has many resident DJs on rotation, all playing varying types of dance music, but only two of them play regularly in Sub. Cruz rarely invites non-resident DJs to play at the club.
- Almighty Donald - Commercial Dance.
- Rob James - Trance in 'Sub' and Commercial Dance on the main floor.
- DJ Spook Archived 5 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine - Hi-NRG, Commercial Dance.
- Flash Tony Archived 4 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine - Commercial Dance and Bouncy house.
- Darren Leasley - Commercial Dance.
- Little Miss Natalie - Trance and Bouncy house in 'Sub'.
- Dino - Hi-NRG, Inferno (70s, 80s, 90s and Now).
See also
- Manchester's Gay Village
- Queer As Folk
- Almighty Records
References
- ^ "Manchester Evening News - Club Review". Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
- ISBN 0-297-84219-6.
- ^ a b "Cruz 101 - About the club". Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
- ^ "Frank Pearson - Obituary." The Times (London, England), November 18, 2003: 37. NewsBank: Access Global NewsBank. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&docref=news/0FEEBEB43628E919.
- ^ "Manchester Evening News (City Life)". Retrieved 24 December 2008.
- ^ "Cruz 101 - 16th Birthday". Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
- ^ "About Cruz 101 - The Club". Archived from the original on 26 April 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
- ^ "BBC NEWS - Manchester, England - Club Evacuated". BBC News. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
External links
- Cruz 101 - Official website
- Real Manchester - Photos from the club