THE grand re-opening of a historic music venue will be celebrated by some of the North-West's most well-known names.

From Tim Burgess and Ian Mculloch to the Lancashire Hotpots and The Young'uns, The Met is preparing to play host to a big year of music.

David Agnew, The Met’s artistic director, said: "We've had a terrific response to the new building from artists and audiences - from legendary artists such as Tim Burgess to The Transports reinvigorating historic tales of migrancy with current day relevance, the programme has already grown to suit our improved spaces.

"Spoken word from Lemn Sissay, comedy from Hardeep Singh Kohli, the best in touring music and exciting new prospects - we hope everyone finds a reason to be among the first to visit our revitalised venue."

Kicking things off on January 13 is Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess.

The famed Manchester singer-songwriter will be taking to the main stage with a DJ set on on January 13.

Later in the month BBC 2 Folk Awards winners for two years running, The Young'uns return after a December gig at the venue to join some of Britain's leading folk musicians, including Faustus, Nancy Kerr and members of Bellowhead, for a re-telling of Peter Bellamy's folk ballads The Transports.

The following months The Met welcomes the likes of The Pitman Poets, BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner Steve Knightley and musical composer for the stage show War Horse and the TV series Sharpe, John Tams, who will be joined by Barry Coope from acclaimed acapella group Coope, Boyes and Simpson.

Other big names include Echo & the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch with a rare solo performance in April.

The indie icon's set will feature stripped down versions of classic Bunnymen tracks as well as songs from his own solo catalogue.

Also hitting the main stage will be popular comedy folk group the Lancashire Hotpots, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay reading from his new book Gold from the Stone, The Blockheads - the band behind Ian Dury, Steely Dan homage Nearly Dan and British singer songwriter Harriet.

The new season follows the re-opening of the venue following a £4.6 million facelift .

David Agnew, The Met’s artistic director, added: "We’re absolutely thrilled to be welcoming audiences back into The Met less than a year after we closed for extensive refurbishment.

"The spring programme offers a wide range of great music and arts events for people to use as an excuse to come and take a peek.

"From morning family shows to late night DJ sets, the programme of shows and workshops continue where we left off – an award winning venue attracting local and regional visitors to the town.

"The venue is now as good as the programme – in fact its already inspiring the team and artists beyond what was possible before. We can’t wait to see what our audiences think."

The first event at the venue after its multi-million pound refurbishment will be a performance from folk trio The Young’uns next month, followed by a number of small events to preview the new building, culminating in a Christmas performance of Hansel and Gretel.

To find out more visit www.themet.biz.