Ramona and The Firehouse is launching an in-house radio station this week as part of a huge new live entertainment programme at the venue, designed to champion and support independent musicians and artists across Manchester.
Kicking off on Wednesday 26 January, ‘Ramona Radio’ will host a weekly live radio show from its Swan Street venue – broadcasting a weekly party with guest DJs, servers and the crowd going ‘On Air’ live from the Tipi.
The first event in the new series will see legendary house selector Tristan Da Cunha take to the decks – bringing his expansive genre-spanning vinyl archive along with him.
The venue on Swan Street will launch its own radio station. Image: Ramona and The Firehouse
Promising depth and breadth across a range of genres, house music fans can look forward to hearing some rare gems and genre-defining cuts played out as part of the honorary Glastonbury resident’s set.
The radio show will be hosted by Ramona and The Firehouse’s very own music curator Jonjo, and as part of the new programme whole sets will be streamed live, supported with a new weekly podcast.
ADVERTISEMENT
Following on from the Wednesday night radio show launch, the venue will be running parties throughout the week as it launches its new programme ‘The NIght Village’ – with further sets coming from the likes of Onipa, Dance Regular and Manchester art-rock band Everything Everything.
Image: Ramona and The Firehouse
The Ghanian/ London-based afro-futurist collective Onipa will bring their signature high energy performance to Ramona fusing Afrobeat, UK Jazz and electronic music for Thursday night’s ‘Campfire Live’, whilst local champions Everything Everything can be expected to bring their usual blend of alternative and indie to the Tipi later this week.
ADVERTISEMENT
The performances will mark the start of a new musical chapter for Ramona, which has already made a name for itself by channelling the techno culture for which Detroit is known from within its sister bar restaurant, The Firehouse.
The sister venue also hosts weekly ‘runway parties’ in its bar every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with local dance crews acting as the stars of the show – with performances ranging from garage two-step superstars, Dance Regular, to the vogue inspired flamboyance of House of Ghetto.
Ramona Radio will launch this week. Image: Ramona and The Firehouse
Speaking on the upcoming new music programme launching this week, head of music and entertainment at Ramona and the Firehouse, Jonjo, said: “We’ve been curating independent UK-based electronic, jazz and world music since we opened the doors.
“Moving into 2022 we’re ready to take things up a notch with our first bands from the continent, an upgraded sound system and the best up and coming acts and labels every week. And all for free – surely the city’s best kept secret”
At the new late-night parties, music lovers can easily flit between the two venues – soaking up the atmosphere in both, free of charge.
Image: Ramona and The Firehouse
Guests can also enjoy Detroit-style pizza, a killer collection of margaritas plus other inventive and beautiful dishes like their chargrilled chicken, truffle tots, Detroit hot wings and ultra cheesy garlic bread.
To find out more about the upcoming music events, check out the full programme for the Night Village launch weekender below.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ramona and The Firehouse Night Village Launch Weekender – Full Programme Thursday 27th January: Campfire Live @ Ramona presents Onipa Arthouse – Dance Regular @ Firehouse presents The Broken Beat – Garage-Dance Crew
Friday 28th January: Everything Everything DJ Set @Ramona Firehouse Presents Vogue – House of Ghetto
Saturday 29th January: Supernature Disco + Joe Redmore (WHP) [email protected]
Sunday 30th January So Flute @Ramona
Sunday 30th January Mikey Don @Firehouse
Feature image – Ramona and The Firehouse
Audio
The Weeknd finally adds Manchester stadium gig to huge tour
Daisy Jackson
The Weeknd has added a whopping seven dates to his upcoming tour – including a stadium gig here in Manchester.
The Blinding Lights singer is taking his The After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour to massive venues across Europe next year, but had previously skipped our city in favour of London.
But today The Weeknd has announced a night at the Etihad Stadium next June, along with new dates in Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Copenhagem, Munich and Lille.
The diamond-certified global star performed here back in 2023, with a giant moon balloon hanging over the Etihad Stadium.
The 2026 After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour was already a 40-date sold-out stadium tour, and now the Live Nation produced tour has added extra stops.
Playboi Carti will appear as The Weeknd’s support act on all EU/UK dates.
The Weeknd adds Manchester gig to upcoming stadium tour
This particular tour celebrates his album trilogy of After Hours (2020), Dawn FM (2022), and Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025).
The Weeknd will perform at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on 11 June 2026.
Tickets will go on sale via an artist presale and Mastercard presale from 12pm on Tuesday 14 October, followed by a Nespresso presale, and then general sale from 12pm on Friday 17 October.
The Weeknd UK and European dates for After Hours Til Dawn 2026 tour
Thu Jun 11 – Manchester, UK – Etihad Stadium – NEW DATE
Fri Jun 19 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Parken – NEW DATE
Sat Jun 25 – Munich, Germany – Allianz Arena – NEW DATE
Fri Jul 3 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy – NEW DATE
Wed Jul 8 – Paris, France – Stade De France – NEW DATE
Fri Jul 10 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Sat Jul 11 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Sun Jul 12 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Thu Jul 16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Fri Jul 17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Sat Jul 18 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Tue Jul 21 – Nice, France – Allianz Riviera
Wed Jul 22 – Nice, France – Allianz Riviera
Fri Jul 24 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Sat Jul 25 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Sun Jul 26 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Thu Jul 30 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Fri Jul 31 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Sat Aug 01 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Tue Aug 04 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
Wed Aug 05 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
Sat Aug 08 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Sun Aug 09 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Mon Aug 10 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Fri Aug 14 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sat Aug 15 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sun Aug 16 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Tue Aug 18 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Wed Aug 19 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sat Aug 22 – Dublin, Ireland – Croke Park
Sun Aug 23 – Dublin, Ireland – Croke Park
Fri Aug 28 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Sat Aug 29 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Sun Aug 30 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Tue Sep 1 – Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – NEW DATE
Sat Sep 5 – Lisbon, Portugal – Estadio do Restelo – NEW DATE
Lady Gaga is a tour-de-force of talent at the Co-op Live Manchester
Clementine Hall
Lady Gaga proves she’s a truly world-class act after two sold-out nights at the Co-op Live Manchester, as if we needed any reminding.
The city of Manchester has been flooded with harness-wearing, mesh-sporting little monsters over the past two days.
And that’s because the absolute icon that is Lady Gaga brought her ‘Mayhem Ball’ to the Co-op Live for two nights.
I don’t think you’ll find anyone who doesn’t know who this fabulous woman is. Over the past decade, she’s won an Oscar, headlined the Super Bowl, performed in blockbusters alongside Al Pacino, no less, and her songs are literally ingrained into our minds.
It’s been a whole 11 years (yes, really) since she performed in Manchester, and it’s safe to say she was back with a bang.
The performance was split up into five distinct acts, and each one was as exhausting and exhilarating as the next.
She begins the show by bopping out of a comically huge red dress, but this staging was only the start of what madness was about to ensue.
Luckily, we’d been prepared by the other half of the Audio North team, who had the equal privilege of seeing her on night one and were left similarly speechless.
Throughout the 30-song epic, we had crutches, sand pits, cages, skeletons, enough wigs to produce an amateur production of Annie, and we didn’t question any of it. Why would we? It’s Lady Gaga.
Kicking things off with ‘Bloody Mary’, the two and a half hour marathon didn’t leave any stones unturned.
We had all the bangers, from ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Paparazzi’ to ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Applause’, it had us wondering why any other superstar even bothers putting a song out these days.
Pop is in a good place at the moment with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and so on, but you can make a strong case for Gaga having helped pave the way for every lady in the business ever since.
Gaga truly had us in the palm of her hands (or claws at one point), even more so when she left the stage to de-robe and show her more vulnerable side for the last two songs – beanie firmly on.
It wasn’t just a concert: this was a fully-fledged tour de force of talent that Manchester won’t forget any time soon.
Sometimes there’s no point in intellectualising why someone has that ‘X-factor’; sometimes you just have to take a step back and say WOW.
Georgina Pellant -
24th January 2022 
