Legendary soul singer Gladys Knight is heading out on her final ever tour – and will be performing in Manchester this month.
The seven-time Grammy-award winner, known as the ‘Empress of Soul’, has included an evening at the O2 Apollo Manchester as part of her tour.
Known as the voice on iconic songs like Midnight Train to Georgia, the 78-year-old star will be performing her final ever shows this summer.
Gladys Knight’s Farewell Tour will be in Manchester on 27 May – one of only two gigs here in the UK.
She’s a bona fide hit-maker who has written more than 40 albums, and scored countless chart successes across genres such as pop, soul and gospel.
Gladys Knight. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Gladys launched into the world of showbiz when she was just eight years old, and has gone on to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an inclusion in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
She’ll be playing a huge range of songs from her arsenal of hits, such as the standout Motown gem (and The Greatest Songs Of All Time according to Rolling Stone), ‘Midnight Train To Georgia, plus ‘Help Me Make It Through The Night’.
Her back catalogues also includes the James Bond theme tune ‘Licence To Kill’, ‘Baby Don’t Change Your Mind, and ‘You’re The Best Thing (That Ever Happened to Me)’ all well as all new material from her latest album, Where My Heart Belongs.
Gladys Knight will bring her Farewell Tour to the O2 Apollo Manchester on Saturday 27 May. Tickets are available now through Skiddle and Ticketmaster.
Featured image: Publicity picture
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Sugababes announced as headliner for this year’s Homobloc queer block party
Daisy Jackson
Homobloc has unveiled its line-up for this year’s massive queer block party, and they’ve roped in Sugababes as a headliner for 2025.
The phenomenal LGBTQ+ party, which takes over Depot Mayfield every year as part of the Warehouse Project season, will also see performances from Honey Dijon, The Blessed Madonna, and Beth Ditto.
The huge line-up also includes Patrick Mason, Slayyyter, Peaches (DJ) b2b Erol Alkan, Hercules And Love Affair – Live, Todd Edwards and many more.
As well as music, there’ll be performance art from queer collectives like Pxssy Palace, Butch Revival, T4T, Feel It, Ghetto Fabulous, House of Spice x Zindagi, and Red Rodeo Club.
Taking place in December, Homobloc will be returning for its sixth edition, with its most diverse line-up yet.
Once again, it’ll be an all-evening-and-into-the-night party that’s all-inclusive to all artists, performers, spectators and clubbers.
Homobloc is one of the biggest dates in the calendar for Manchester, with a diverse line-up of live acts, DJs and performers, showcasing rising talent and queer icons alike.
It’s a party with purpose, too, raising £137,399 for vital LGBTQ+ charities since its inaugural event in 2021.
This year, the team have hosted a series of one-off events, including events with Romy, Princess Superstar, and closing Manchester International Festival, as well as making its Ibiza debut at Amnesia.
This winter, Homobloc will be lead by pop royalty Sugababes, fresh from their European tour.
Sugababes will headline Homobloc 2025. Credit: Jody HartleyCredit: Jody Hartley
Homobloc favourites Honey Dijon and The Blessed Madonna will be back once again, plus Berlin-based techno powerhouse and creative director Patrick Mason, the iconic Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters fame, and a rare DJ set from Gossip’s magnetic frontwoman, Beth Ditto.
The line-up also includes American singer Slayyyter, a special b2b DJ sets from electroclash icon Peaches and Erol Alkan, live performance from dance music project Hercules & Love Affair, and a set from Grammy Award-winning house legend Todd Edwards.
There will be DJ sets from Sally C b2b I.Jordan, Roi Perez, Eliza Rose, Joshua James, Fat Tony, Grace Sands, and Manchester’s Aiden Francis, Gina Breeze and Kim Lana.
It’s all taking places across all three main stages at Depot Mayfield, as well as The Plant Room, the Star & Garter pub next door, and the Loft up on the rooftop.
Rod Connolly, Promoter from Homobloc, commented: “We can’t wait for people to dive into our 2025 lineup of queer excellence, proudly merging global and local artists, returning friends, and scratching the underbelly of the scene to showcase the rawest talent from the queer underground.
“In a time of rising division, events like Homobloc matter more than ever. We deserve a space for our community and allies to come together and hold each other up on a dancefloor full of love and resistance.
“We are the beings the bastards can’t grind down and we invite everyone to join us to shake off the bullshit, recharge, realign and carry our queer power back out onto the streets of Manchester.”
Sophie Bee, Homobloc Creative Director, added: “The team are super excited to be back. We’ve got some unreal collaborations booked in for this year, from Jodie Harsh and Clayton Wright’s London community strong, weekly club night Feel It to local hot talent Rojak.
“Loads of favourites are back like the Fvck Pigs, Sue Veneers, Ghetto Fabulous, Cute Cartel and Jay Jay Revlon, and there’s some really exciting b2b’s. We’re working with mind blowing producers such as Runway X Banksie and the nations favourite, Lill, producing a fabulous line up of queens.
“We’re also cooking away at some special happenings with Sam Buttery and Beau Azra. As always, we just want to blow your socks off and have the best time with all our pals.”
House Of Spice commented: “Homobloc is more than a festival to us – it’s a celebration of queerness, music, and chosen family.
“As a South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African queer brown collective, House of Spice is proud to bring our flavour to 2025, featuring Club Zindagi, Armana Khan, Shanika Sunrise, DJ Chafik, and our performers Lucky Roy Singh (Mother), Mixed Spice, Chilli Spice, Saffy Saffron Spice, and Rachel Pro-Filing.
“Together we’re excited to create a space that is unapologetically free, joyful, and rooted in community. Homobloc represents unity and visibility, and we can’t wait to dance, perform, and celebrate with everyone under one roof.”
This year’s Homobloc is set to take place on Saturday 6 December – grab your tickets HERE.
Pre-sale will be live on Thursday 11 September at 10am ahead of general sale from 10am on Friday 12 September.
Country star Tyler Childers is coming to town for his biggest Manchester show to date
Danny Jones
US country music star Tyler Childers is returning to Manchester for his biggest ever show in this city, and tickets go on sale very soon.
Fresh off the back of his new album, Snipe Hunter – which was only just dropped back in July – the 34-year-old singer-songwriter is riding a fresh wave of excitement after years of hard work within the genre, mixing in plenty of classic bluegrass and folk into his modern take on the classic American sound.
As one of the most-streamed and well-respected contemporary country musicians on the scene right now, the Kentucky-born solo star and understated acoustic guitarist often falls into that category of your favourite artist’s favourite artist.
Now Tyler Childers is coming to our most legendary arena as part of his UK and European tour early next year, and we’ll certainly be queuing online for tickets.
As far as AO Arena shows booked in for the new year go, we’re very excited about this one.
His seventh studio album has been well-received by his die-hard followers and newcomers alike, delivering that same traditional Appalachian storytelling and hard-bitten humour, as well as plenty of attitude and anecdotal idiosyncrasies, not to mention plenty of vocal range as always.
Having not long come back from a pilgrimage to India, Lawrence County king teamed up with legendary producer Rick Rubin (along with some help from Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn) to create one of his most eye-opening, broad and best records yet.
Post-release, the Associated Press went on to label him “one of country music’s most compelling and unpredictable artists”, and we tend to agree.
The LP immediately spawned plenty of fan favourites, and we certainly have ours – and the video has definitely had a hand in it:
It may just be his best work yet.
Experimenting with his current unique take on country rock sound more than ever, you couldn’t ask for a better time to go and see him live.
Once again, Tyler Childers comes to the AO Arena in Manchester on Sunday, 8 March 2026, with an official pre-sale available via Three+ from 9am on Wednesday, 10 September.
As for general admission, tickets go live at the same time on the following Friday (12 Sep); you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
We don’t know about you, but we’re very much enjoying our country moment at the minute…
Daisy Jackson -
11th May 2023 
