Manchester’s Free Trade Hall has a special place in music history, as the venue – now a hotel – hosted some landmark moments.
It was where an electric guitar-wielding Bob Dylan famously faced an accusation of “Judas!” from a disgruntled folk fan, where the Sex Pistols inspired some of the city’s most famous bands and the legendary Factory Records, and where rock giants Kiss made their UK debut.
And it was where The Smiths, one of Manchester’s most iconic bands, played what would prove to be their final farewell to the city on 30 October 1986.
Forty years on, rarely-seen photos of the show, taken by then-student Alison Bell show what she said was a “dramatic” and “amazing” night.
Bell, who had been drawn to Manchester by its music scene as a student and went on to have a successful career in music promotion, said she had been desperate to see the band and the Free Trade Hall show was “the first opportunity I had to see them”.
Formed by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982, the band were at the peak of their powers at the show, riding high on the success of their third long-player, The Queen Is Dead, which would go on to become widely-regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Bell was at the show as a writer for Manchester Polytechnic’s student newspaper, Pulp.
“I got given a ticket for it if I would review it and take photographs,” she said.
