One of the most-anticipated gigs of the summer is upon us, with Liam Gallagher set to play a biblical homecoming gig in Manchester.
The former Oasis frontman will take to the stage at the massive Etihad Stadium – the home ground of his beloved Manchester City FC.
Liam will go on this week to play two historic gigs at Knebworth, though sadly without guitarist and long-time friend Bonehead at his side.
The star is performing straight off the back of the release of his new album, C’Mon, You Know, and will likely dip into the huge Oasis back catalogue too.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday night’s gig.
Who’s supporting Liam Gallagher at the Etihad Stadium?
The Charlatans
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Tim Burgess on stage with the Charlatans. Credit: Flickr
The Charlatans need no introduction, as fellow giants of the mid-90s rock scene that they shared with Oasis – and Liam Gallagher himself.
Fronted by Tim Burgess, the group have 13 studio albums, all of which have charted in the top 40.
They most recently released a greatest hits compilation, titled A Head Full of Ideas.
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Goat Girl
London four-piece Goat Girl will be supporting Liam Gallagher at the Etihad on Wednesday night as well as at his two Knebworth gigs.
They’ll then head out to tour Europe, including additional dates in Manchester at Castlefield Bowl and at Psych Fest.
The group first formed in 2016 and have released two studio albums to date.
Paul Gallagher
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Liam’s big brother Paul has just been announced on the line-up for Wednesday’s Etihad concert.
He’ll be playing a DJ set to get the crowds warmed up.
What are the stage times for Liam Gallagher’s gig?
Doors for the Etihad Stadium will open at 5pm on Wednesday 1 June, with Paul Gallagher on decks to welcome people.
The rest of the stage times are expected to be as follows:
Goat Girl – 6.25pm
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The Charlatans – 7.25pm
Liam Gallagher – 9.00pm
How do I get to the Etihad Stadium?
There’s a tram that runs straight to the Etihad from the city centre in less than 10 minutes, which might be your best option, though it only runs every 12 minutes and is likely to be very busy.
Holt Town and Velopark tram stops won’t operate after the gig until the crowds have cleared from Etihad Campus.
You can also walk to and from the stadium, which takes around half an hour from Piccadilly.
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There are several car parks around the venue if you want to drive, though again, these will be busy and will fill up quickly.
TfGM have said: “Based off data from previous events at the Etihad, we expect the roads such as – Regent Road, Hyde Road, Ashton Old Road and Mancunian Way – to be busy in the hours before and after the concert. Please consider leaving the car at home or re-routing your journey. D’You Know What I Mean? This way, you’ll avoid the congested areas.
“City centre Metrolink stops and services on the Ashton line will run to a 12-minute frequency and will be busier in the run up to the gig. This means You’ve Gotta Roll With It, Gotta Take Your Time when boarding a service. Don’t Look Back In Anger wishing you would have set off a little earlier for a more comfortable journey.”
General admission standing tickets are all gone, but if you don’t mind sitting right up at the top of the huge venue, you can grab a last-minute ticket for £62.10.
There are also a few seats a little closer to the stage, priced at £83.10 each before booking fees.
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What will Liam Gallagher’s setlist be like?
As this is the first date in his stadium tour, and the new album has only been out for a few days, it’s hard to call the setlist at this stage.
When he recently performed an intimate gig in Blackburn, this is what he went for:
Hello Rock ‘n’ Roll Star Morning Glory Wall of Glass Shockwave Everything’s Electric Better Days Slide Away Stand by Me C’mon You Know World’s in Need The River Once Encore: Cigarettes & Alcohol Cast No Shadow Live Forever Wonderwall
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
How a cult classic game helped create the sound of Blossoms’ new album
Danny Jones
More specifically, their soundtracks, as in a recent chat with the Blossoms boys, we found out that their upcoming album was at least partly influenced by a beloved PlayStation 2 classic from 2006.
This is just more proof that you really can find inspiration in just about anything.
Yes, even if only in part, an old video game that many of you may have played back in the day is somehow connected to the latest and technically still yet to be announced release.
We’ve heard of groups such as The 1975 trying to make an album that sounds “as if John Hughes had directed a movie about our lives”, and Red Rum Club leaning further into the growing Western aesthetic with almost every outing, but we never thought we’d hear of a record born out of a love for Bully…
The lads actually touched on that whole ‘still TBC’ when we spoke to them at their studio in Stockport, joking not just about divorce but how they’re baffled by the whole ‘are they working on new music?’ speculation in the media. “Well, yeah, we’re a band – that’s what we do for a living”, as they put it.
But back to the point at hand: lead guitarist Dewhurt’s affection for Bully, a cult favourite PS2 title released by Rockstar Games – the same people behind Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and Red Dead Redemption – and the score behind it, essentially served as a seed for the feel of their newest work.
As he explained above, before being expanded on by frontman and primary lyricist Tom Odgen, they were fortunate enough to be in possession of the details for one half of a duo they both admire: Young Gun Silver Fox, a.k.a. British artist Andy Platts and US multi-talented instrumentalist, Shawn Lee.
Lee also just so happens to be the composer of the original Bully video game soundtrack.
Ultimately, this all came about because Josh contacted him over email simply to praise the game’s music (sure, when he was a teenager, we promise), and only took them until the last year or so to put two and two together. Small world, eh?
Oh, the nostalgia.
It has since occurred to us that we’ve come across him before, too.
For us, it was when playing the first Tales From The Borderlands (a spin-off of the popular action role-playing looter-shooter series that has since been turned into a Hollywood movie), which features his song ‘Kiss The Sky’ and ALSO enjoyed in our late teens.
It still continues to baffle us how things can come full circle like this.
As it turns out, his music appears in various pieces of pop culture, and with Tom professing his love for the funky, bass-forward 80s vibes of Lee and his partner Platts’ stuff, he was then roped in as part of the production team on the hypotheticalBlossoms LP number six. Not that we know anything about that…
What has now come out of all this is the previously alluded to lead single entitled ‘Joke About Divorce’, the music video for which dropped last month.
‘Joke About Divorce’ our new single is out now! We love this record, we recorded it live to tape at Tilehouse Studios with Shawn Lee producing. The second we got the mix back it felt like an instant Blossoms classic (if we do say so ourselves)!
We’re still not sure whether or not this is just the first finished song from the project, the opener or indeed even a title track; all we know is it’s another catchy creation from the Stopfordians.
But yeah, in a roundabout way, somehow that ‘problematic’ game that our parents and teachers complained about when we were kids, either by sheer chance, serendipity or perhaps the divine will of the audio gods, appears to have served as a kind of sonic sapling for a fresh era of the local outfit.
Sadly, we have very little else to offer you in terms of information regarding the ‘as yet confirmed’ next studio release from the Blossoms, but we can tell you we’re very much looking forward to hearing what comes next – especially live.
In case you missed it, they’re headlining this year’s edition of NBHD Weekender music festival at the end of the month; you can see the rest of the lineup down below.
Featured Images — Rockstar Games/Audio North/Press shot (via Go! Entertainment)
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After All 2026 – the affordable grassroots music festival happening in Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
Grassroots music event After All Festival is returning to Manchester this weekend, with rising local artists and affordable tickets.
Now well over half a decade since it was founded, All All Fest takes place in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and this year they’re proving that their slow and steady approach to backing the best new up-and-coming bands at core intimate venues is more important than ever.
With plenty of previous acts having impressed in recent years, we’re looking forward to seeing how 2026 stacks up in comparison to its predecessors.
Increasingly prolific native group Dirty Laces are set to headline the whole thing, Manilla Times are locked in, and Bolton’s very own James Holt also stands out on the lineup, just to highlight a few.
As the festival continues to grow in size and popularity, they have obviously had to scale things up even further this year.
That being said, beloved live music spot and Manc institution, Band on the Wall, is among the chosen arts spaces for this latest iteration.
BoW will be offering up their 500-capacity main room to the organisers for the very first time, serving as the de facto main stage of After All Fest 2026.
Joining them will be the Rose and Monkey next door, as well as cult favourite pub, Gullivers on Oldham Street, who have a long history of supporting local musicians and the arts in general.
And would you look at that, now you’ve got all the stage splits and set times, too.
Labelled by Dead Records’ Rob Fiddaman as “one of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals”, homegrown DJing legend Dave Sweetmore has also described it as “unique in so many ways”, hailing it as a “brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music.”
Having been ourselves on multiple occasions since its inception in 2019 – both as Audio North off-duty and as punters before then – we can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest edition takes place at 12 noon onwards this Saturday until 2am on Sunday, 17 May, and while the cheapest early bird tickets (£16.50) are long gone, general admission tickets are still available, with prices starting from just £20. Grab yours HERE before they sell out.
It’s not the only live music event worth being a part of this month…
Daisy Jackson -
1st June 2022 
