The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. Image: Gigs and Tours
They can take away our pubs, gyms and cinemas. But one thing’s for certain, they can’t take away our music. And definitely not our memories.
Life’s hard at the min, right? That’s why it’s good to reminisce about the good times.
With such a rich creative history, it’s no surprise Manchester has been home to some of music’s greatest moments.
During a time when everyone is revelling in nostalgia – craving for live music – we’ve decided to look back at some of the most iconic gigs to grace the Manc stage.
The Beatles at the Oasis Club – 1962
Beatles ticket. Image: MDM Archive
The Oasis Club gig in 1962 was the first professional scheduled gig outside of Merseyside that The Beatles ever performed.
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They’d visited Manchester before, but this was the first time on official band business.
An entry ticket cost the equivalent of £3.60 in old money.
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Just before the gig, their new manager gave them a swift rebrand. He chucked out their scruffy jeans and leather jackets and got the boys suited and booted and looking the part – just as we recognise them now.
The owner of the Oasis Club at the time claims she doesn’t even remember the band. Back then, they were just another group of lads to play at the club.
Little did she know she’d helped plug the band’s success.
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David Bowie at B&Q – 1972
The Hardrock flyer
Okay, okay, it wasn’t a B&Q at the time. But let’s agree it’s an amusing thought.
Bowie played on the opening night of The Hardrock in Stretford, just around the corner from Morrissey’s house.
The venue was turned into the DIY store in later years. Now, the site on Greatstone Road is derelict.
Oddly enough, David Bowie died in the same month that the B&Q closed down in January 2016.
The Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall – 1976
The Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall
This Sex Pistols gig has been widely documented as changing the UK music scene forever.
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Only 40 people attended the show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall. Amongst the 40 people was a lesser known Morrissey, now with fire in his belly. He formed The Smiths shortly after.
Elsewhere in the crowd was a young Peter Hook who decided to form the band Joy Division that very night.
The bunch of students that organised the gig were also left wanting more. They got to work on forming their own band, Buzzcocks, after first seeing the Pistols.
Six weeks later, Ian Curtis, the Fall’s Mark E. Smith and a pre-Factory Records Tony Wilson all attended a second Sex Pistols show. They caused more ripples in this thriving local music scene that night.
To think, without the Pistols we could be without the Madchester scene that helped shape the city…
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True, some say Sex Pistol’s Johnny Rotten experienced a slight fall from grace owing to his Country Life butter adverts a few years ago. But we’ll let that slide.
Madonna at The Hacienda – 1984
Madonna at the Hacienda
This was Madonna’s first appearance in the UK. It was recorded live and broadcast on The Tube, a popular rock music TV show at the time. In the performance, Madonna can be seen prancing around the dancefloor between the iconic hazard painted pillars.
But some say that the pop star was actually shit. There were even accusations that she mimed. Her pop sound, flailing arms and swinging hips were lost on the punk rock music lovers in the crowd.
She left the venue shortly after her performance, despite reports that she was asked to sing again later in the evening. Wrong crowd. Sorry, Madge.
But the wider UK public received the performance well.
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Despite flopping with the Hacienda heads, Madonna has gone on to become one of the biggest pop stars in history. Props to her.
The Stone Roses at Heaton Park (The Reunion Tour) – 2012
The Stone Roses at Heaton Park. Image: Gigs and Tours
This iconic tour was the homecoming for The Stone Roses, nearly 20 years after their last tour.
They played three dates at Heaton Park in June and July 2012.
The shows became the fastest-selling rock gigs in UK history. A massive 150,000 tickets for the initial two shows sold out in 14 minutes.
Demand was that high that they added a third date to the bill straight away.
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This took ticket sales to 220,000 in just 68 minutes.
One Love Manchester at Old Trafford Cricket Ground – 2017
One Love Manchester. Image: Getty Images/Dave Hogan
The fundraising concert One Love Manchester was held two weeks after the Manchester Arena bombing where 22 lives were taken and 500 people were injured.
55,000 people attended the gig and more than £17m was raised through donations, ticket sales and fundraising.
Performances from Take That, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, Black Eyed Peas and Justin Bieber were broadcast all around the world, along with video messages from other notable musicians such as Paul McCartney, U2, Rita Ora and Chance the Rapper.
It was the perfect tribute to the lives lost.
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What was the most iconic gig of your life? Let us know!
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The Lottery Winners bring out Boy George, Bez and Jon McClure as special guests at Manchester residency
Danny Jones
It’s been an absolutely unreal 12 months for The Lottery Winners and to top it all, they rounded out the year in style by bringing out not one, not two, but three UK music icons for their recent run of Manchester gigs: Boy George, Bez from Happy Mondays and the Reverend himself, Jon McClure.
The high-flying indie pop group and local legends from Leigh toasted an unbelievable 2024 with their ‘Burning House Party’ residency, playing three consecutive nights at Manchester Academy.
Better yet, with their new album KOKO (Keep On Keeping On) set to release in the new year with several tracks including some rather big feature artists once again, they decided to bring out a few of those famous faces as special guests this past weekend.
The Greater Manchester band genuinely caught everyone by surprise when guitarist Robert Lally did the classic Stars In Their Eyes walk-off and was reintroduced as Boy George himself.
The former Culture Club lead singer went on to perform alongside the Wigan outfit as they played their track, ‘Let Me Down‘ – this being the first time they have performed it together live.
As mentioned, Boy George is just one of many impressive feature artists that The Lottery Winners have notched over the past year or so, having previously worked with Frank Turner, KT Tunstall and even fellow Manc, Shaun Ryder.
The Happy Mondays star featured in the music video for their song ‘Money’ on their last record, ART (Anxiety Replacement Therapy), and was arguably their biggest coup to date next to Turner, who has now worked on several tracks with the four-piece and played live with them on multiple occasions.
As another surprise on night two at Manchester Academy, frontman Thom Rylance might not have been able to bring out Ryder in the flesh, but he did rope in some hype-man help from long-standing band partner and best mate Bez to delight the crowd and shake his trademark maracas throughout.
Set to release in February, their upcoming fourth LP will not only see the return of Frank Turner for his third studio collaboration with the band, but they’re adding even more names into the Northern music mix for this latest record.
As well as songs featuring Rick Witter of Shed Seven and even Chad Kroeger of Nickleback – yes, we said Nickelback – their lead single also features Sheffield favourite Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers.
Their uplifting track ‘You Again’ has enjoyed plenty of radio play since it was released back in September and the Yorkshireman also made an appearance during their city centre residency.
These lot have such a lovely, collaborative thing going on are we are absolutely here for it.
As if things weren’t massive enough already, having supported massive bands like Nickelback and headlining festivals like Kendal Calling this year, 2025 looks set to get even bigger for the gang with a potentially game-changing support slot.
Shayne Ward surprises Altrincham locals with a festive sing-song during Christmas karaoke
Danny Jones
Altrincham residents were treated to an unexpected guest this year as former X-Factor winner Shayne Ward popped into a local pub to join in with some Christmas karaoke.
The singer who won the 2005 edition of the reality show and originally hails from Tameside found himself over Trafford way this holiday season and gave those enjoying a sing-song after a few pints a real surprise last week.
If you’ve spent a decent amount of time in the area, you’ll know The Station Hotel is the place for karaoke and, as it turns out, it’s also the place to see Shayne Ward singing a beloved British ballad.
Who knew when he sang ‘That’s My Goal’ he was talking about delighting crowds in a quaint market town during the festive period?
As you can see, the 40-year-old solo artist turned actor has still got it, delivering a soulful rendition of the Elton John classic ‘Sacrifice’ to a small crowd inside the cosy Alty boozer.
Obviously, the Coronation Street and Good Ship Murder star didn’t need to look at the lyrics for even one second and this is probably one of the best performances the pub has ever or will ever see.
He even manages to take a quick break during the instrumental to grab a nonchalant swig of his drink. Very casual indeed.
Let’s be honest, though: the real star of the show is that woman singing along to every word and pulling out all the stops to remind everyone that no matter who is up on the mic, this is karaoke and you’re obliged to have absolutely zero inhibitions.
Queen.
S̶l̶a̶y̶Sleigh*She ate, as the kids would say. (Credit: The Station Hotel via Facebook)
He may not be releasing tonnes of music or claiming any Christmas number ones these days, but the Greater Manchester native is no stranger to performing.
As well as various jobs on telly and even a few movie roles here and there over the years, Ward also appeared on this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, ultimately being voted out back in November in one of the most controversial and unpopular decisions of the 2024 season.
That being said, whatever questions may loom over his dance moves, there’s no question he’s still got a great voice and we hope to see him hopping on karaoke somewhere in town again soon.
Hannah Starkie -
23rd September 2020 
