Bop Local Party

Since its first monthly club night took place in June 2010, Bop Local has been a roaring success and it's about time for a birthday knees-up!
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We are pleased to be celebrating our first birthday
on Friday 1st July at Chorlton Irish Club

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Joining DJ Phil Beckett for the party will be special guest, XFM's Clint Boon. Clint DJed at Bop Local last November at the Irish Club, as well as The Albert Club in Didsbury, and will be bringing some of his favourite party tunes to complement Phil's. Plus, we've got a few birthday party surprises for everyone, as well as some fantastic raffle prizes.

 

Ever since the very first Bop Local, we've had nothing but lovely friendly people - all up for some fun - coming through the doors. So we want this to be a proper celebration for all our regulars, as well as welcoming Bop Local newbies too!
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Bop Background:

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The name, Bop Local is a take on the slogan 'shop local' from the award-winning Unicorn wholefood supermarket in Chorlton, Manchester. The initial concept was the brainchild of Tom O'Toole. Tom wanted to create a club night that would be aimed at people who like to go out to socialise and dance to music, yet don't want the inconvenience and cost of going into the city centre for their entertainment, with a focus on the community. It was important that this should be a monthly event - especially since many of the potential clientel could be family people who needed babysitters. One of the straplines used for Bop Local is ‘bringing the dancefloor to your doorstep’ which pretty much sums things up.

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Bop DJs:

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As mentioned, the main resident Bop Local DJ is Phil Beckett. Phil was behind the hugely successful Rock and Roll Bar in Manchester, which ran for 12 years. He regularly DJed at the Hacienda in its heyday and - more recently - Funkademia and Moho Live, plus he was the main radio presenter and Head of Music at 96.2 The Revolution for four years.

 

Phil's music policy for Bop Local is right across the board ~ anything from house classics to the current crop of underground tunes with some Madchester favourites thrown in for good measure. Each month at Bop Local there is also a guest DJ. These have included:
Terry Christian (TV presenter/writer/broadcaster);
Mike Joyce (The Smiths/BBC 6 Music),
Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets/XFM);
Graeme Hawley (Coronation Street’s John Stape);
Jeff Hordley (Emmerdale’s Cain Dingle);
Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order/The Hacienda);
Tim Cocker & Jim Salveson (XFM breakfast show team),
local celebrity, John the Milkman
and at the last Bop Local
Funkademia/The Canteen's Mark Smith.
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Bop Clientele:

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At each Bop Local the venues have been packed out and the dancefloor is always full. There is no dress code, as such, but everyone who comes along treats it as a special party night.

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Bop venue(s):

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Aside from its monthly residency at Chorlton Irish Club, we have started to branch out to a couple of other venues. In September last year, we ventured out of Manchester to The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. Then in November and December we took over The Albert Club in Didsbury for special 'boutique' Bop Locals, offering free cocktails and canapes as part of the event.

 

We did our first Bop Local at The Moor Suite, Heaton Moor in April and will be doing regular monthlies there from late July onwards. At our special Christmas party at Chorlton Irish Club, we asked many of the local independent businesses in Chorlton to get involved, which resulted in them donating some fantastic raffle prizes. This proved to be a real success on the night and made it even more of a community event, so we will be doing the same for our first birthday party on July 1st too!

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Bop Social Media and our Website:

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Social media has also been a catalyst for spreading the word of Bop Local and continues to do so. We have a Bop Local group on facebook, with corresponding events pages where people post up photographs and messages. Bop Local is also on twitter(@boplocal).

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Bop Future:

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We have dates booked up at Chorlton Irish Club and The Moor Suite right up until the end of the year, plus a few other new venues in the pipeline. In September Bop Local will be doing a couple of North West festivals as well as introducing Bop Local Live. These live band events/gigs will be announced shortly.

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