There’s a lot to be said about those people in your life that show you new music. These are the best kind of people. Cherish them, they’re special. If you don’t know what I mean, now’s the time to look for new friends.
Jokes aside, there are other ways to discover music and club history. For example, through the imaginative new concept of Electronic Echoes.
It all involves the humble QR code. We’re all familiar with these by now (thanks Boris).
Four QR codes have been placed around the city centre, each next to an iconic Manchester club – Sankeys, Music Box, Roadhouse and SoundControl.
These beloved music venues might not exist anymore, but these buildings are steeped in history waiting to be rediscovered.
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“Scanning a QR code will take you to a unique page, which will feature information about the club with pictures and music from some of the artists and club nights,” said James Montrose, Electronic Echoes founder.
“Each page will have an email subscription, where you will receive a track and information about the club.
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“As the project grows, we’ve got people lined up to provide exclusive mixes and interviews that will support this and add different layers to the experience.”
To kick things off, four artists that represent a healthy mix of genres have been lined up to provide tracks and mixes. From the drum and bass of Nian Dub, to the hard techno of Slave to Society, James has got it covered.
The artists featured in Electronic Echoes
As for the clubs, they’ve been selected on a personal basis, in honour of some of James’s most memorable club nights. For instance, the monthly ‘Keep it Unreal’ night at Music Box, where he went spent his early clubbing years.
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But these clubs are held dearly to a lot of Mancunians’ hearts too.
Famed for its industrial warehouse vibe, Sankeys is perhaps the most well-known venue on the list. Countless household names played at this former Ancoats club, including Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, Carl Cox and Swedish House Mafia.
Sankeys Manchester closed its doors for good in 2017. But not before taking the franchise all over the world. The most notorious being Sankeys Ibiza, which I hold dearly to my own heart!
Sankeys Manchester
That in mind, the Electronic Echoes project provides us with a nostalgic look back at happier times within the scene. A touch of 2020 escapism is exactly what we need, right? But there is plenty to be learnt about our city’s past at the same time.
James recognises this and wants to “reconnect us to physical space”: A profound request, but what does it mean?
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It’s all about interacting with the city’s rich music history and clubs past and present.
“What we’re really trying to do here is create something that lets you engage with the social history, memories and hopefully encourage people to (safely) venture out and learn a little bit about some of Manchester’s clubs.”
Since the first lockdown in March, James has found his DJing friends out of work. Many have been severely impacted by the lack of government support, as much of the music industry has. With this project, he wants to give back.
Roadhouse Manchester / Wikimedia Commons
“The aim of this project is to not only support musicians but also anyone who has been affiliated with the night-time club scene. Sound engineers, photographers, promoters,” James said.
“Throughout the first lockdown, it really struck me how much we depend on music in our daily lives and how much I missed the community of a night out.
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“This is a way that people can at least learn about the clubs, get some music and feel some connection to the nights that have now all but disappeared.”
From the ashes of a once thriving nightlife scene, Electronic Echoes gives artists some much needed exposure. But it’ll also teach us a thing or two about why Manchester’s music scene is so valued.
So, if you’re able to get out and about safely, head to one of the four QR codes and scan to see what you can find.
Oasis promoters drop biggest Knebworth hint yet after securing license around key date
Danny Jones
Not that we’re the type to get carried away, but we’ll confess that our curiosity, interest and general levels of anticipation have been piqued, as Oasis’ main promoters have recently renewed the license to host events at the infamous Knebworth.
My word, is this it? Like the reunion, is it ACTUALLY going to happen?…
We’re sure the raw, uncontrollable excitement will come should it be fully confirmed, but for now, all we know is that our colleagues in music media, SJM Concerts, have renewed the land in and around Knebworth Park and House for live entertainment once again.
Moreover, the company have also done so on a rather fitting date decades on from the original and legendary outdoor gigs.
As can be found on the planning application section of the North Hertfordshire Council website – the county in which the storied Britpop gigs took place – a fresh license to hold new events.
If/when the announcement happens, the already granted permission will allow for a capacity of up to 125,000 and a curfew of 3am.
We know the original Knebworth shows were beyond iconic, but let’s say this would be nailed on to be nothing short of absolutely box office.
Besides having also helped promote Oasis’ colossal Live ’25 reunion tour last summer, it’s also worth noting that they secured said license just over a week before the 30th anniversary of the pair of nights back in 1996: 10-11 August, to be specific.
The licence is said to have come into effect this past Saturday (1 Aug) and is believed to be indefinite.
What added even more fuel to the fire of these well-established rumours over the past year was when Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage told the House of Lords the band would be playing FIVE whole nights at Knebworth in the future, before later clarifying that she was speaking in “hypothetical terms.”
All that being said, it’s fair to say we’ll be keeping a very keen eye on socials over the next few days, in particular, just in case.
The Manc has reached out to SJM for an official comment (surprise, surprise), but we are yet to receive a response regarding the matter.
Your silence speaks volumes, just saying.
This coming Monday, 10 August 2026, will mark the official 30th anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth 1996, and with the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ seeing a chart resurgence as the go-to England anthem at this year’s World Cup, we’re choosing to be optimistic. What about you?
Blossoms deliver most rock and roll performance in years as Declan McKenna joins them on stage
Danny Jones
Last night, we were fortunate enough to be there in the flesh not only to see Blossoms play a special anniversary show in Manchester, but to witness Declan McKenna join them on stage.
A tiny part of us was wondering if we’d see Rick Astley roll out into the venue, but let’s just say we’ll absolutely take this.
Celebrating a decade to the day since the release of the self-titled debut LP – yes, we feel old, too – Blossoms announced the one-off intimate show at The Deaf Institute, a venue they hadn’t played in 12 whole years (good lord…), and it served as much more than a night of nostalgia.
But we’ll admit, the highlight was almost certainly seeing the ‘Brazil’ and ‘British Bombs’ singer join Tom Ogden, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, Myles Kellock and Joe Donovan on stage for their smallest gig since god knows when.
We’ve gotten somewhat used to seeing the Enfield-born solo artist popping up at random venues across the country and even performing DJ sets at local pubs.
If you haven’t seen that Kylie Minogue clip before, you really need to…
However, we don’t think anyone in the crowd was expecting this cameo, let alone hearing them perform a co-written track off the new record live in front of the audience for the very first time.
As if all of this wasn’t already a bit bonkers and left-field, the song in question, entitled ‘Additional Driver’, was self-admittedly so surprising in SO many ways that Tom felt he needed to explain the full story behind it and why Declan shouted “shoulda got the 192” before they started playing.
Yes, in some kind of Greater Mancunian fever dream, we’ve finally got artists writing lyrics about the region’s most infamous bus route that we’re sure most, if not all of you, can relate to.
But it wasn’t just this moment that had us debating in our heads, ‘are they the best Manc or maybe in Northern band full stop going right now?’, it was seeing them slip so seamlessly back into the more straight-down-the-line indie rock from their first chapter of studio material that did it.
Everyone knows and loves the biggest bangers from that inaugural outing: ‘Getaway’, ‘Charlemagne’, ‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Honey Sweet’, etc.; but it’s hard to forget just how quintessentially rock and roll tunes like ‘Blow Rose’, ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, ‘Texia’ and even some of the other deep cuts/early releases are.
Don’t get us wrong, we love how much the dressing up (musically and quite literally) they’ve done over the years as their production, creativity and experimentation has increased, but it’s always hard to beat that feeling you get when finding an artist’s first album – especially one as good as Blossoms‘.
In fairness, listening back to ‘Deep Grass’ all these years later, we’ll still remember how spacey, psychedelic and downright different that intro felt back in the day; it now feels like a fitting end to that maiden outing and the perfect jumping-off point for what has been a real sonic exploration ever since.
For a lad born in SK2 and lucky enough to have seen these lads right from the start, stuff like this will never not feel surreal to me.
Long live ‘Blossoms from Stockport‘, and roll on Songs From The Wedding Cake this October.
Hannah Starkie -
4th December 2020 
