Lewis Capaldi will be hitting the stage in Manchester next year as part of a huge new UK and European tour.
The Scottish singer has confirmed details of a new album, Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent, with a 31-date tour to go with it.
He’s set to take on a full arena tour, including a date at the AO Arena in Manchester in January.
The Someone You Loved songwriter recently made his long-awaited return to music with the release of single Forget Me, which marked his third UK number one.
Now approaching 100 million streams, the song also came with a music video that exactly re-enacts Wham’s 1983 hit Club Tropicana, shot-for-shot.
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Album artwork for Lewis Capaldi’s new album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent. Credit: Publicity picture
His debut album was the biggest-selling album of both 2019 and 2020 – seriously, this man knows how to make a hit.
His mission with his second album is, apparently, to do the same thing again.
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He said: “I don’t want to create a new sound for myself, or reinvent myself.
“The songs I want to write are emotional songs, about love or loss.”
Lewis recorded the new album with a small set-up of a small interface, laptop, speakers, and a Shure SM7B vocal mic.
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He said: “I felt like I was sounding better because I was just chilled out in my own gaff. Also, a lot of this record was made with most of the same people who I worked with on the first one: TMS, Phil Plested, Nick Atkinson and Edd Holloway. At least one of them’s on almost every song.”
Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent is due for release on 19 May 2023.
Tickets for Lewis Capaldi’s tour will go on pre-sale on 26 October, and general sale on 28 October.
Full Lewis Capaldi 2023 tour dates
JANUARY Sat 14th Leeds, First Direct Arena Mon 16th Sheffield, Utilita Arena Wed 18th Manchester, AO Arena Thu 19th Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena Sat 21st Newcastle, Utilita Arena Mon 23 Aberdeen, P&J Live Tue 24th Glasgow, OVO Hydro Thu 26th Birmingham, Utilita Arena Fri 27th Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena Sun 29th Belfast, SSE Arena Mon 30th Dublin, 3Arena
FEBRUARY Wed 1st Cardiff, International Arena Thur 2nd Exeter, Westpoint Arena Mon 13th Warsaw, Torwar – Poland Tue 14th Vienna, Stadthalle – Austria Thu 16th Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena – Germany Fri 17th Prague, O2 Arena – Czech Republic Sun 19th Hamburg, Barclays Arena – Germany Tue 21st Frankfurt, Festhalle – Germany Thu 23rd Antwerp, Sportpaleis – Belgium Sat 25th Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome – Netherlands Sun 26th Paris, Accor Arena – France Tue 28th Cologne, Lanxess Arena – Germany
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MARCH Thu 2nd Copenhagen, Royal Arena – Denmark Fri 3rd Oslo, Spektrum – Norway Sun 5th Stockholm, Avicii Arena – Sweden Tue 7th Zurich, Hallenstadion – Switzerland Wed 8th Milan, Mediolanum Forum – Italy Fri 10th Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi – Spain Sat 11th Madrid, WiZink Center – Spain Tue 14th Stuttgart, Schleyerhalle – Germany Wed 15th Munich, Olympiahalle – Germany
Featured image: Alexandra Gavillet
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DJ at centre of Parklife cancellations speaks out over ‘unsafe’ crowds
Daisy Jackson
A rising DJ whose set was cancelled due to ‘safety concerns’ at Parklife festival has now spoken out on his side of events.
Josh Baker is a popular Manchester-born DJ who was set to perform on the brand-new Matinee stage on the Sunday night of the local music festival.
He had the second-highest billing of the day, followed by Chris Stussy as headliner of that particular stage.
But despite being booked onto one of the festival’s smaller stages, Josh Baker’s popularity quickly saw the space becoming overcrowded.
Videos shared on TikTok show fans clambering over the safety barriers that Parklife security had installed as a queue system, desperate to get inside for Josh’s set.
The young talent has now spoken out again about the incident, saying he could see from his vantage point it ‘quickly became unsafe’.
Josh Baker said that ‘the organisers made the right call’ despite the show ‘meaning a lot’ to him.
He detailed that he has been going to Parklife since the age of 16, and playing such a big slot in the festival ‘felt like a proper full-circle moment’.
He added that he’s been looking into doing free follow-up shows, but has been unable to find a venue that would hold ‘anywhere near the amount of people who were trying to get in to see me play’.
Josh wrote on Instagram: “I’m honestly so sorry to everyone who didn’t get to see the set. It was completely out of my hands, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Just know I’ve felt every bit of frustration with you.”
He then said he’s planning ‘something ridiculous’ for his Creamfields appearance to make it up to fans.
Josh Baker said in his full statement on Parklife: “I’ve taken a few days to process what happened at Parklife last weekend, and I wanted to share a few words.
“This one was always going to mean a lot. Growing up in Manchester, I’ve been going to Parklife since I was 16, so to be booked for such a big slot felt like a proper full-circle moment. But just as I stepped on stage, the music had to be cut. When I came on there were too many people trying to get into the arena and it quickly became unsafe, and therefore the stage had to be closed for the rest of the day.
“It’s gutting, but I want to be clear – the organisers made the right call. Safety has to come before everything. After seeing a few of the videos from the crowd, I’m just relieved the situation did not escalate and everyone remained safe.
“Still, it’s hard to explain how much it hurt not being able to play. I know so many of you were excited for that set and it honestly blew me away seeing that many people turning up.
“Over the last few days, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it right. I looked into doing a free follow-up show in Manchester, but the reality is, there are no suitable or possible venues which would hold anywhere near the amount of people who were trying to get in to see me play.
“The last thing I’d want is to announce something and end up disappointing even more people who couldn’t get tickets. After a lot of conversations and digging behind the scenes, we’ve had to accept that there’s no realistic way to do something that feels fair right now.
“I’m honestly so sorry to everyone who didn’t get to see the set. It was completely out of my hands, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Just know I’ve felt every bit of frustration with you.
“I really hope to see loads of you at Creamfields because I’m already planning something ridiculous to try and make this up to you in some way.”
Legendary funk and soul act Kool and the Gang are finally coming back to Manchester
Danny Jones
In case you hadn’t heard already, iconic funk, soul, and R’n’B artist Kool and the Gang are finally coming back to Manchester after far too long away from our musical city for a massive arena gig later this year.
Coming back to 0161 ‘For One Night Only’, the award-winning US supergroup and industry giants are set to make their first appearance here in over 15 years.
With a rich back catalogue and a career spanning six decades, not to mention multiple genres including funk, soul, disco, jazz (how they first began as an ensemble) and more, it’s only fitting they be given the top billing at the one and only AO Arena.
After Manc fans have had to wait for long, this is sure to be a night of ‘Summertime Madness’.
Though they need no real introduction if you know your music history, specifically African-American and Black music culture, Kool and the Gang are arguably one of the most influential acts to ever make it.
Having performed together longer than other R’n’B outfit on the planet, stood as one of the most sampled artists of all time and released a staggering 34 studio albums to date, they’re nothing short of foundational.
While, sadly, there is only founding member Robert ‘Kool’ Bell left from the original lineup formed back in 1964, the various iterations of the surviving live band have captured that same effortless cool, charisma, and effortless control of a crowd on the road that made the OG Gang such a toue de force.
As well as touring with everyone from Elton John and the Dave Matthews Band to The Roots and even a 50-city tour alongside equally legendary rock group, Van Halen, they have no shortage of accolades to their name.
How does two Grammys, seven American Music Awards (AMAs), a BET Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award; a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a place in the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine top ten hits in the pop charts, as well as 31 gold and platinum albums, strike you?
— Melodies & Masterpieces (@SVG__Collection) May 27, 2025
Best known for beloved tracks like ‘Celebration’, ‘Get Down On It’, ‘Cherish’ and ‘Jungle Boogie’, just to name a very small few (again, their discography is huge), you’ve most likely heard their songs or at least one of their serially sampled beats more times than its possible to count.
Yep, if there’s anyone that deserves the ‘icon’ moniker, it’s these lot.
Kool and the Gang come to the AO Arena in Manchester next month on Friday, 11 July and will have fellow British soul counterparts, The Real Thing, who looked to mirror their success throughout the ’70s, along for the ride.
General admission tickets are already on sale as we speak – you can grab yours HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
18th October 2022 
