Robb's World #1 - The Invasion of Yuppie Scum

There is a war on and no-one seems to have noticed. The yuppie scum are taking over the city centre streets and turning them into shitty wine bars and pathetic designer shops. We’ve already lost Manchester's own Camden Market – the Corn Exchange - a great busy ants nest of weird and wonderful; and watched it turned into the utterly soulless and always empty designer emporium that it festers as now - another deadly dull designer outlet...always empty and reduced to advertising itself in local cinemas.

And now they are coming for Manchester's much loved Night & Day and Ritz venues, Liverpool’s Quiggin’s as well as the ongoing battle for Camden’s Electric Ballroom.

Night & Day is under the cosh after a local resident complained about the “noise”, this is a resident who recently moved into one of the overpriced shoebox flats with no sound proofing built by greedy property developers, this is a resident who probably moved into the city centre because it was “hip” and didn't realise that city centres are noisy places, this seems to be a resident who can’t hear the other bars in the area or the far noisier buses thundering down the street.

Just because one yuppie moves into the Northern Quarter and complains about the noise from the Night & Day venue (open for ten years now) it faces closure. This would be with the loss of 33 jobs and leave a massive hole in the culture of Manchester, as the venue is a great starting point for all the city's bands and a meeting place for musicians and like minded souls. Its a city centre bar with one of the best safety records and one of the few places that doesn't play shite dance music at full blast and one of the few places that isn't packed dull of twattish drunks looking for a fight. It’s also independently owned and not a soulless chain bar.

How can the yuppies not realise that living in the city centre can be, ahem, quite noisy?

This is despite the fact that the area is sold on its 24/7 nightlife reputation and curiously Night and Day seems to be the only bar that’s under the cosh, despite Dry Bar being next door! You’d almost think that this was a cultural thing! Wine bars are ok in the brave new world of Blandchester - if chain bars are the way forward, they can pay for the privilege!

Don't let the bastards grind you down, go and sign a petition...(to sign the petition http://www.nightnday.org) - Its all part of a current process.

Lets kill all the interesting culture in the city centres.

Lets turned them into theme parks...Armaniland!

It's not just in Manchester.

They are going to knock down Liverpool's mecca of Bohemia.
Quiggans is getting the chop and in one foul swoop we lose a whole bunch of alternative clothes, records shops and cool cafes.

And why is this?

Its because the yuppies want a hotel and shopping complex put in its place. The scum strike again and get their own damn way. It’s a creeping sickness that’s wrecking our city centres. City centres that are increasingly being turned into gentrified yuppie theme parks full of a cappuccino supping twats who drive silver cars and buy over priced rabbit hutches.

Replacing Quiggins with yet more shitty designer shops and poncey hotels is a tragedy and a tragedy that affects everyone that reads Gigwise...Its not just losing a load of shops...its an attack on our culture.

And there a couple of ironies here as well, one is that the plan was rubber stamped by that man of the people John Prescott who ignored a 100,000 strong petition to keep Quiggins open and sided with the big money, crushing Quiggins with one signature - so don't forget that when he comes for your vote because as we all know New Labour are Tories in Labour clothing...

And the irony is of course the fact that Liverpool becoming a city of culture will, of course, have a complete opposite effect on the city. With the big money rolling into town and crushing any culture they can find- turning it into soulless corporate wine bars and shitty steel and chrome hotels...Quiggans was  a hive of culture- a five star hotel for wankers is nothing to do with culture...its the first blow in along campaign that will see any culture crushed in the great city of Liverpool.

We cant just sit here and lose our culture.

Brothers and sisters to the barricades...put pen to paper and start a letters war...local press/MP’s anyone...make a noise or prepare to live in Armaniland.

The Robbster will be back next week...