Cruz 101 (better known simply as Cruz) is a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

and

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

situated in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Gay Village A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...

near

Canal Street Canal Street may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Canal Street (Manchester), Manchester, England * Canal Street, Oxford, Jericho, Oxford, England United States * Canal Street (Buffalo), a street and district at the western terminus of the Er ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is one of the most popular and longest-running gay clubs in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, often boasting itself as "Manchester's No.1 LGBTQ+ Nightclub and entertainment venue".

Creation

Before it was turned into a

night club A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

, the building now homed by Cruz 101 was a shipping warehouse, which contributed to Manchester's huge textiles industry, making the area the world's largest marketplace for cotton goods. After some time being derelict, a year long

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

process began, after which point the club was ready to open its doors for the first time on 22 May 1992. Cruz shares the building with offices which occupy the floors above and a smaller club to the rear called Satans Hollow.

History

When Cruz first opened, the licensing laws at the time insisted that membership was compulsory and customers had to wait up to 48 hours for membership to be cleared. Encouraged by increased pressure from customers, the club owners started a lengthy legal battle at the high court, resulting in Cruz bring able to allow membership on the door. Whilst initially this legality only entitled ''Cruz 101'' to allow membership on the door, it ultimately set a

precedent Precedent is a judicial decision that serves as an authority for courts when deciding subsequent identical or similar cases. Fundamental to common law legal systems, precedent operates under the principle of ''stare decisis'' ("to stand by thin ...

in allowing other night clubs in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to have follow the same rules. The new flexible membership options available at Cruz proved to be both a benefit and somewhat of a hindrance to the club owners and its regular

clientele In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or an idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or an exchang ...

. Before the court battle, the club found itself restricted by license conditions that other clubs need not meet; however, it was the strict membership policy which made customers feel the club was one of the few true safe gay venues in the area. During the 1990s, the club was owned by Foo Foo Lammar."Frank Pearson - Obituary." ''The'' ''Times'' ''(London, England)'', November 18, 2003: 37. '' NewsBank: Access Global NewsBank''. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&docref=news/0FEEBEB43628E919. In 1999 the exterior lighting and signage of the club was changed from "Cruz 101" to Babylon as a backdrop for scenes of the UK series of

Queer As Folk ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * Queer as Folk (British TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * Queer as Folk (American TV series), ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of th ...

. Following the completion of filming, the original name and signage was returned. In 2002, Cruz won the right to admit non-members, giving it the opportunity to raise

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

by admitting almost anyone. The club, however, has a door policy which remains predominantly for the LGBTQ+ community. Cruz still operates a membership scheme which allows for a slightly reduced entrance fee and is available for all users of the Cruz 101 App. The App was first introduced in 2018 The longest-running weekly event at Cruz was Disco Inferno on a Monday night which started in 1993 and run until early 00s. Originally featuring

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

from the 1970s and 80s, the music policy expanded to include the 90s. At the time, the main resident DJ at Cruz Almighty Donald, took his name from the namesake

Almighty Records Almighty Records is an English electronic dance music record label established in 1989. Almighty Records specialises in pop song remixes, dance-pop, and hi-NRG. The label's record producers, Almighty Associates, have remixed such performers as ...

, as he often played music produced by the company. He still returns to the club to play on special occasions to this day, such as Cruz 101's annual Babylon weekend in February. Cruz 101 has had many notable singers, performers and PAs over the years, including

Kerry Ellis Kerry Jane Ellis (born 6 May 1979) is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at La ...

, Sonia,

The Weather Girls The Weather Girls are an American female duo whose best-known line-up comprised Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. Formed in 1976 in San Francisco, California, Wash and Armstead began their musical careers as Two Tons O' Fun, the female backup du ...

, Phil Oakey,

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of founding Human League members Martyn Ware (keyboards, drum machine, vocals) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) with voc ...

Hazell Dean Hazell Dean ( Poole; born 27 October 1952) is an English dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top-ten hits in the United Kingdom "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)", ...

, Margarita Pracatan,

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

and

The Nolans The Nolans were an Anglo-Irish girl group formed in Blackpool in 1974, originally known as the Nolan Sisters. They changed their name to The Nolans in 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, they enjoyed a string of hit singles, including ''I'm in the M ...

Kelly Llorenna Kelly Llorenna (born 1 May 1975) is an English dance music singer, who was born in Slough, Berkshire and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester. She is best known as the former lead vocalist for the dance group N-Trance in the 1990s. Their bigges ...

Angie Brown Angie Brown (born 13 June 1963) is a British singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. Brown is a co-artist on the hit single " I'm Gonna Get You" (1992) by Bizarre Inc. She performed on a number of recordings with Bizarre Inc as lead ...

Scooch Scooch is a British pop group, comprising performers Natalie Powers, Caroline Barnes, David Ducasse and Russ Spencer. Scooch represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with their song "Flying the Flag (For Y ...

, Steps,

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996) is a British singer and songwriter. She competed in the ninth series of '' The X Factor UK'' in 2012, being the eighth contestant eliminated despite being a strong favourite to win. She sign ...

, Kelli-Leigh, Pixie Lott, Nadine Coyle,

Viola Wills Viola Mae Wilkerson (December 30, 1939 – May 6, 2009), known professionally as Viola Wills, was an American pop and R&B singer, best known for her covers of classics and other standards such as Patience and Prudence's " Gonna Get Along Wit ...

, Katrina of the Waves,

Rozalla Rozalla Miller (born 18 March 1964), better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). She is best known for her three 1991/92 hit singles " Faith (In the Po ...

Max George Maximillian Albert George (born 6 September 1988) is an English singer, best known as the lead singer of the boy band The Wanted. George started his career as a footballer, playing for Preston North End F.C., Preston North End. After an injur ...

, Lisa Scott Lee, Urban Cookie Collective, Harlee,

Booty Luv Booty Luv are an English dance music group formed in June 2006 in London by their record label, Hed Kandi. The group comprises two R&B vocalists, Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd, both of whom were in the original line-up of the hip hop a ...

, Lisa Scott Lee and

Urban Cookie Collective Urban Cookie Collective are a British Eurodance group, best known for their 1993 hit single " The Key the Secret". The band was founded by keyboardist/songwriter Rohan Heath. History The band was founded by Rohan Heath (born 19 July 1964, t ...

Some of the UK's biggest drag acts have also performed on the infamous Cruz main stage, including many stars from RuPaul's Drag Race UK;

Danny Beard Daniel Curtis (born 27 May 1992), known professionally as Danny Beard, is a British drag performer and singer, who appeared on ''Britain's Got Talent'' and '' Karaoke Club: Drag Edition'' and won the fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. ...

Tia Kofi Lawrence John Bolton, better known by the stage name Tia Kofi, is a British drag queen and singer from Clapham, South London. They are best known for competing on the second series of '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2021), and winning the second se ...

Tomara Thomas Tomara Thomas is the stage name of Thomas Adams, a British drag performer. She is best known for competing on the fifth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Early life and education Tom Adams was born to Sharon and Jason Adams in Hartlepool, ...

Michael Marouli Michael Clyde Marouli is a British drag performer who competed on series 5 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career Michael Marouli has been a drag performer for approximately 15 years. She began doing drag at the age of 22 and has described her ...

Cara Melle Cara Melle is the stage name of Sterling Theodora Butler, an American drag performer. Since moving to London, England, she has appeared on the ITV reality series '' Karaoke Club: Drag Edition'' and competed on series 5 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race U ...

Banksie Banksie is the stage name of Jonathan Banks, a British Drag (entertainment), drag performer and a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 5), series 5 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Early life and education Banksie was born in Wigan and stu ...

Baga Chipz Leo Loren better known by the stage name Baga Chipz, is an English drag queen known for competing on the RuPaul's Drag Race UK (series 1), first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2019) and later the RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World (series ...

Choriza May Choriza May (born Adrian Martín Esteve) is a Spanish-British drag performer, graphic designer, and illustrator most known for competing on series 3 of '' RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' and the second series of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World' ...

, Actavia, Chanel O'Conor,

DeDeLicious DeDeLicious is the stage name of Charlie Veysey-Smith, a British drag performer who has appeared on the BBC reality series '' Keeping Up with Krystal Versace'' and competed on series 5 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career DeDeLicious is a dra ...

, Charra Tea, Zahirah Zapanta and

Cheddar Gorgeous Cheddar Gorgeous is the stage name of Michael John Atkins, a British drag performer and academic who competed on series 4 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK''. Career Atkins competed as Cheddar Gorgeous on the fourth series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race ...

among them. The latter previously worked at Cruz alongside Anna Phylactic as a regular host of AS (AfterShock, now named AllSorts) - The Saturday night House party in Sub 101 that launched by promoter/DJ Nik Denton in 2011. Cruz is also considered a firm favourite with celebrity stars and over the years has been a regular safe haven for A list celebrities

Lily Savage Paul James O'Grady (14 June 1955 – 28 March 2023) was an English comedian, broadcaster, drag queen, actor, and writer. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag persona Lily Savage, through which he gained ...

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...

, Steps, Russell T Davis and countless cast members from

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

Present

Today the club remains extremely popular among older and younger party-goers and in 2025 has a far more relaxed door policy than in previous years, reflecting changes in society. It has evolved from opening just two nights a week to the present six nights a week. Now it only closes on a Monday. Cruz often works in

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

with other bars, events and clubs in and around Manchester's Gay Village, creating events and raising funds for LGBTQ+ charities, such as George House Trust and LGBTQ Foundation. Cruz has two floors, with the 'main floor' (on which the entrance to the club is located) being the busiest. This is where Cruz concentrates its efforts, with PAs taking place on this floor as well as themed events all year long. Highlights include Manchester Pride, Babylon, Bank Holiday weekends, Christmas, New Year and Halloween. One of their most popular Saturday night parties is Queen Supreme, a customer favourite that always features some of the best drag artists from across the UK and beyond. Queen Supreme is now once a month. Current regular hosts include Destiny Dyson, Vin Dicktiv and Xa'Scarlett Baby. Alternatively, Cruz features a slightly smaller downstairs known as 'Sub 101', which is accessible from the main club; however on some occasions Cruz charges an entrance fee from an alternative outside entrance on special promoted nights. Sub is predominantly reserved for more underground music on a Saturday night, such as

House music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

and

Tech House Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term ''tech house'' developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno, ...

. It has just one alcohol-serving bar as opposed to the main floor which has two. Sub 101 is open every Saturday and is home to AllSorts/Aftershock, which is now the clubs longest running night. The space is also now host to the club's main parties on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, where the music policy is pop, chart and commercial dance. The main music policy for Cruz 101's main events is pop, pop remixes and commercial dance. Cruz is owned by three people equally, one of whom previously owned Napoleon's, a bar/club that was also located in the gay village. The general manager of Cruz is currently Gerrard Woods and the assistant manager is John Cooper (the role previously held by Paul Tuck). Cooper is also known to regular customers as drag queen Miss Cara, who remains to date as one of the club's most iconic hosts. Miss Cara makes special appearances at the club's bigger parties, including NYE, Babylon and at each Birthday event in May every year. Brad Hinks is the current bar manager (since 2022) and Nik Denton is the club's promotions and entertainment manager (since 2022). Prior to taking this position, Nik worked at the club as the promoter and DJ for AllSorts/Aftershock in Sub 101 since 2011.

Incidents

During

Gay Pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

2008, one phase of the power failed in the club leaving limited disco lighting in operation and no music playing for about 20 minutes. Staff at the club managed to bring most of the power back on-line, however several sets of disco lights and bar lights were non-functional on one of the clubs busiest nights of the year. The power failure was caused by a failure of the main supply to the building. On New Year's Eve 2008, a small fire broke out on stage shortly after midnight which was caused by a mis-firing show pyrotechnic. Staff evacuated the club and police attended. No injuries were reported and around 20 minutes later the large group of party-goers which waited outside the main entrance were allowed back in. The club remained open well into the early hours with the capacity crowd partying until well after 7am.

DJs

Cruz has many resident DJs on rotation and has regular guest DJs appearing at the club. ;Current roster (correct March 2025) * James Bowers (Saturdays)

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

, Commercial Dance * Luke Lucent (Saturdays)

, Commercial Dance * Stephen Nicholls (Saturdays, Wednesdays)

, Commercial Dance - Also DJs for Allsorts in Sub 101 * Chris Blackmore (Saturdays)

, Commercial Dance * Kriss Herbert (Saturdays)

, Commercial Dance * Craig Law (Saturdays)

, Commercial Dance * Dan Walker (Thursdays)

, Commercial Dance * DJ ITK (Fridays)

, Commercial Dance * Nik Denton (Saturdays, Sundays)

, Commercial Dance - Also DJs for Allsorts in Sub 101 * Bad Influence (Tuesdays)

, Commercial Dance * Sam Londt (Monthly Saturdays)

, Commercial Dance * Callum Parr (Regular Saturday appearances)

, Commercial Dance * Ben Hughes (AllSorts in Sub 101)

House Music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

* Jim Dusty (AllSorts in Sub 101)

* Shaun Wild (AllSorts in Sub 101)

* Mark Armitage (AllSorts in Sub 101)

* Almighty Donald -

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

, Commercial Dance (Now only special appearances since quitting full time) ;Previous residents * Rob James -

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

in 'Sub' and Commercial Dance on the main floor.
DJ Spook
- Hi-NRG, Commercial Dance.
Flash Tony
- Commercial Dance and Bouncy house.
Darren Leasley
- Commercial Dance.
Little Miss Natalie
- Trance and Bouncy house in 'Sub'. * Dino - Hi-NRG, Inferno (70s, 80s, 90s)

References

External links

Cruz 101
- Official website
Real Manchester
- Photos from the club {{coord, 53.4770, -2.2393, display=title, region:GB, format=dms Nightclubs in Manchester Music venues in Manchester History of Manchester LGBTQ culture in Manchester LGBTQ nightclubs in England