Salford Uni used to host gigs in the 80's - I recall that U2 and Adam and the Ants both played there in there earlier days. Going forward there were plenty of other great gigs there - Bauhaus played with Southern Death Cult supporting (they evolved to become The Cult), Prefab Sprout and Spear of Destiny played there and there were well documented gigs by New Order (with, I'm sure, a young Happy Mondays supporting) and The Smiths (if I'm not mistaken the night after they played the Festival of the 10th Summer gig at GMEX.
There was, I'm sure, a little venue down Trafford Road in Salford which hosted a series of punk gigs in the mid to late 80's - I never went but I'm sure I remember some of the local punks going there at the time.
From memory I'm sure I read that Joy Division played a gig at a pub known as The Stocks in Walkden - it's documented in the books about them. That could have been on a New Years eve or night but I'd check that. Staying with Joy Division they used to rehearse above one of the pubs in Weaste, on Eccles New Road - I think it was the Black Swan but agin I'd check it - not a venue as such but maybe of some relevance.
The Dockers Club on Trafford Road was your typical cabaret club in the 70's but I know from my mum that it played host to a number of artists / bands that went on to become well known so it might count.
There's a church on Chapel Street called St Phillips which started to be used as a venue. The Sugarbabes did a secret gig there a few years ago and I think Laura Marling also played there a couple of years back.
The most prominent venue in Salford currently is Islington Mill which became better known after the Ting Tings made it big. That was where they were effectively based early doors and they went back to film one of their videos when they'd broken through.
A couple of years ago Salford Museum had a long standing exhibition called something like Quiffs Riffs and Tiffs which charted Salford's contribution to music from the 50's (I contributed a lot of the exhibits for the 80's era) - if you can locate anything about that it might give you a few tips. At the same time an author created a musical map of Salford - think he was called David Nolan - try looking him up as it might give you some insight and leads. Otherwise it might be worthwhile reding some of the biographies of various bands eg Joy Division, The Fall etc as they often refer to early gigs and these will probably reference other venues in Salford.
Mike Sweeney - DJ - was brought up in Salford and is also another potential source of info - I'd suggest looking up him up and seeing if there's any links to stuff he might have written because I'd expect him to be talking about venues that have been forgotten now.
I also have a vague memory of my mum going to a club - sort of a Legion type but I'm sure it was something like the RAF club - it was in Weaste, I think set back from Eccles New Road - I remember my mum going to Gene Pitney there in the late 70's or more likely early 80's.
If I think of any more I'll post them but I hope this is of some help to you.
All the best.
