Two acts from Manchester reshaping electronic music through improvisation, jazz roots and immersive sonic experimentation.

Please note, the advertised start time is when our doors will open, generally music starts one hour after doors.

Fresh Thursday is a unique regular event that showcases new music alongside a home-cooked meal. For more information about how this event works please read the info at the bottom of this event carefully. Thank you. If you have a dietary requirement you can indicate it by selecting one of the free add-ons when purchasing your ticket.

Please note we are unable to offer refunds. You can click here to view our full refunds policy.

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Elf Traps is the new project from Manchester-based musicians Rob Turner (ex–GoGo Penguin) and Liviu Gheorghe (ex–Matthew Halsall) — a collaboration born from creative restlessness and deep friendship.

After years inside the traditional frameworks of the music world, both felt the need to follow instinct over expectation. So they stepped back — from their bands, from the noise — and started again.

With no plan and no genre in mind, they began experimenting. What started as two friends jamming in a room evolved into something deeper: a hybrid system rooted in improvisation, where acoustic drums, analogue synths, and laptops interact in real time. A space to explore sound without rules — vivid, messy, and completely their own.

At first, they weren’t thinking about audiences. But gradually, they began sharing it — with friends, in basements, at warehouse parties and DIY spaces around Manchester. The response was real. Fellow travellers began to gather — drawn to the raw spirit at the project’s core. 808 State legend Graham Massey and instrument innovator Piotr Raczyński (Polyend) were among the first to catch on, sharing their wisdom and encouraging the duo to stay true to their instincts.

Their sound blends spiritual jazz, glitchy electronics, jungle, ambient, and beyond —weaving influences from Squarepusher, Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid, Buddhism, StarTrek, and the vivid, organic forms of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Turner’s iconic, glitch-inflected drumming merges with Gheorghe’s textural, expansive synths to create a fresh, immersive sonic landscape.

Now, after quietly forging their path in the underground, Elf Traps are preparing to release their debut EP — a snapshot of their evolving sound. It’s not about nostalgia or genre, it’s about what happens when you strip everything back and trust the process.

Two musicians. One conversation. Infinite possibility

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Shunya

Alan Keary is a multi-instrumentalist and producer, with a strong musical heritage, writing and producing music from the age of fourteen. Performing under the alias Shunya, his sound is a contortion of influences, stemming from his background in classical violin and jazz bass, and growing with the sounds of Manchester’s electronic music scene.

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More about FRESH Thursdays...

FRESH happens every Thursday during our open seasons. It is a platform to bring you fresh new music served up alongside a homecooked plant based meal, board games and candles. It can be hard to get people out to hear music that they don’t know yet & this is why we decided to offer dinner as an incentive to try something new, these gigs are cosy, communal nights and often you get to hear completely new music for the very first time. The music varies across multiple genres but it is usually fairly gentle listening type music & well suited to a relaxed Thursday night. The gigs are seated and during the sets the audience is very music focused & quiet with time to chat in between the sets and at the end when we keep the bar open.

We cook the food from scratch usually and dinner is well suited to lover of vegetables and wholesome cooking, it's usually something like a dhal, veggie chilli, tacos, roast veg or similar, our base line is vegan sometimes with veggie options. We can cater for nut/gluten free meals, but nuts & gluten are used in the kitchen so if you have serious allergies please bear that in mind.

Doors at 7pm, we aim to get dinner ready by 8pm and will bring it to you when its ready… music usually starts around 8pm, sometimes later if it’s a busy night for food (we are a tiny team) and we aim to have the music finished by 10-10.15 pm. We can only guarantee dinner with advance tickets and these days we cap dinner at 60 meals and the food tickets do often sell out.

We hope/think it's obvious that quality music and dinner for £10 is all about culture & community and that these events cost us money… If you can afford to purchase a higher level ‘Cobalt supporters‘ ticket we appreciate the additional help towards costs very much.

Description supplied by the event organiser.