Waterside Arts Centre

This is a review of the monthly Buzz Comedy night at the Waterside. The Buzz comedy night is really good fun and great value for money. Tickets cost £12 and for that you get 4 comedians and a compare. The night has been going for a number of years now and is very popular. The compare is called Agraman who introduces each act with a riddle or play on words. The quality of the acts is high and two of the four acts we saw had me laughing so much my sides hurt. I’d definitely recommend this for a night out as the venue is a bit more classy than the Frog and Bucket.

I can’t believe I didn’t think to review this place sooner, The Waterside Arts Centre is one of my favourite places.
There are no limits to what can happen here; it’s a theatre, an art gallery, an exhibition hall, a comedy venue, a music venue, a cinema, a function room… the list goes on.
Everything about it is so beautifully versatile, you can go to any one of the above events there and think that is the venue’s sole purpose.
I’ve been to see some fantastic original exhibitions there, I’ve been in tears from laughing at the comedy nights and I’ve taken my younger sister there for some of the great child-​friendly events they regularly hold.
If you’re unsure, head down to their next open day when they have taster sessions of everything for free!
Also check out the programme of events on their website, I bet you’ll see something you like because they really do cater for everyone!

The Waterside Arts Centre was completed as part of the redevelopment of the Trafford Council Offices which resulted in some shiny new offices, a new bar beneath them, and the Waterside Arts Centre. The Waterside really amounts to a number of galleres and exhibition spaces, and the Robert Bolt theatre within it all, which is a reasonably intimate (i.e. small!) performance venue that I’ve been lucky enough to visit for a number of different performances. There is a full programme of events on here and in any one month there will be a variety of music concerts (ranging from small and relatively unknown folk acts, current chart stalwarts, ageing rockers, local classical musical ensembles and anything (and everything)
inbetween. There’s also a regular comedy night styled along the lines of ‘Whose line is it anyway?’, and regular theatre productions including an annual pantomime.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see a few acts there in recent times
including Hayseed Dixie (true Hillbilly Rock) and Glenn Tillbrook
(guitar-​god and songwriter extraordinaire of Squeeze fame), two gigs that saw the Robert Bolt theatre in both standing, and fully seated
configurations (it is usually set up for one or the other!)… Both times,
the size of venue allowed me to feel really connected to the performer in a true ‘I could see into the whites of their eyes’ kind of sense. In both
instances, this certainly added to the quality of the experience! Drinks
for gigs are usually provided via a ‘bottle and can’ bar, which can make
for a slightly pricy night, but then, you’re not going there to drink! The
gallery spaces are spread around the building and seem to cater for most tastes, and provide opportunities for local artists alongside those who are better known.
All in all, the Waterside is a great little venue and a top addition to a
town that was in sore need of a place like this. Bravo!