Coldplay will finally touch down in Manchester this month for their long-awaited Music of the Spheres World Tour.
The group, fronted by Chris Martin, will be performing a whopping four nights at the 60,000-capacity Etihad Stadium, home ground of Manchester City.
It’s the first time they’ve brought this tour to the city, choosing London and Glasgow on last year’s run of shows.
Coldplay are one of the most successful and popular bands of the last three decades, with nine albums and endless sold-out concerts in their back catalogue.
They’re also famed for putting on a staggering live show.
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This 2023 tour promises to be as environmentally beneficial as possible. They’ve even added a kinetic dance floor that harvests energy from the audience’s dancing, and installed electricity-generating pedal bikes so that the crowd can recharge the band’s battery by having a little cycle.
If you’re heading to see Coldplay at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, here’s everything you need to know.
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When are Coldplay performing in Manchester?
Coldplay at Wembley. Credit: Robert Mallows
Coldplay will be taking over the Etihad Stadium for FOUR nights – quite a feat.
They’ll be performing on Wednesday 31 May, Thursday 1 June, Saturday 3 June and Sunday 4 June.
So as you might expect, tickets are extremely hard to come by at this point.
At the time of writing, there was one single, lonely seat left in the entire venue for the band’s opening show – and absolutely nothing for subsequent dates.
According to the Man City site, these are the stage times for Colplay and their support acts.
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Campus opening time – 2pm
Doors open – 5pm
Porij – 6pm-6.30pm
Chvrches – 7pm-7.45pm
Coldplay – 8.15pm-10.15pm
What’s the expected setlist?
Coldplay. Credit: Stevie Rae Gibbs
Setlists will always be subject to change as artists hone their live show, but this is what Coldplay played on their most recent gig in Barcelona.
Higher Power Adventure of a Lifetime Paradise The Scientist Viva la Vida Something Just Like This (The Chainsmokers & Coldplay cover) Magic What’s Love Got to Do With It (Graham Lyle cover) (with Lauren Mayberry) Charlie Brown Yellow Human Heart People of the Pride Clocks Infinity Sign Hymn for the Weekend Aeterna My Universe (Coldplay x BTS cover) A Sky Full of Stars Sunrise Bamboléo (Gipsy Kings cover) (with Gipsy Kings) Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Domenico Modugno cover) (with Gipsy Kings) Humankind Fix You Biutyful
How to get to the Etihad Stadium
A map of Etihad Campus.
Public-transport wise, the Metrolink is the most direct way to get to the Etihad Stadium (and its dedicated tram stop Etihad Campus), which is just a few stops away from Manchester Piccadilly.
Both Holt Town and Velopark Metrolink stops, located on either side of the Etihad Campus stop, will not be open for at least an hour after an event at the stadium.
The trams will be very busy though, and the weather looks good, so you might prefer to walk – it’s around a 30 minute stroll from town with this safe walking route recommended.
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If you need to drive, official car parking is priced at £25 for cars, £50 for coaches, and £40 for mini buses.
There are unofficial car parks near the stadium too but make sure you’re not getting ripped off.
Weather forecast in Manchester for Coldplay
Oh guys, you’re in luck – for once in its life Manchester has a stunning weather forecast for the entire run of Coldplay shows.
It’s set to be sunny with highs of 19 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday, then there’s more sunshine with a high of 20 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. Glorious.
Featured image: Publicity picture
Feature
Inside Butter Bird – Ancoats’ hottest new neighbourhood rotisserie with a menu dedicated to butter
Clementine Hall
A new restaurant has opened its doors in Ancoats serving up two of life’s greatest pleasures.
Those two things being chicken and butter. And coincidentally, they go very well together.
Introducing Butter Bird, a new neighbourhood rotisserie restaurant that has taken over the old Counter House site on Blossom Street.
If you’ve been living under a rock or you have a healthy relationship with social media, then you won’t know that rotisserie chicken is very much ‘in’ for 2026.
Images: The Manc Eats
So of course, just like anything, Ancoats is first to hop on that trendy bandwagon.
When simple things are done properly then they’re very satisfying indeed, and that’s exactly what Butter Bird have achieved.
Built around classic spit cooking and time honoured technique, with an impressive Rotisol Millenium rotisserie oven at the heart of the space, the chickens are seasoned and brined in house, then slowly rotated over open heat so the meat self bastes as it cooks.
Images: The Manc Eats
The result? Moreish, crisp, golden skin, succulent meat and deep flavour.
If that doesn’t sound enticing enough, they’ve also got a section of their menu dedicated entirely to their house butters.
Flavoured, complex butters designed to compliment your bird in however you desire.
My personal favourite was the moroccan-spiced Chermoula, but the tarragon with wildflower and mustard was also stellar.
Images: The Manc Eats
Drinks wise they’ve got a great selection of Crémant, chosen to cut through the chicken fat, as well as fun cocktails and decent wines.
Obviously you’ll need some sides to go with your bird which you can order as a quarter or half, and they’ve got everything from rotisserie potatoes which you can douse in chicken gravy to a Caesar salad stuffed with enough croutons it’s probably not classed as a salad anymore.
Butter Bird opens to the public on Thursday 29 January, with a launch offer offering 50% off rotisserie chicken when booked in advance for the first two weeks.
Quiet Corners: Cult and Coffee – the barbershop bar doing butties, beats and bags more
Danny Jones
Every now and again, we stumble upon one of those places that just gives you a great vibe from the moment you step in the door, and Cult & Coffee is one of those places.
Truth be told, we had been in here two or three times before: a couple of times before heading to Old Trafford, when it was packed with both home and away fans, and on a third occasion in the hopes they’d let a young nephew use the loo. They did, by the way (thank you again, guys x).
On all of these visits, we got a good feeling about it – especially from the staff – and in every single instance we said to ourselves, “we really need to go back there soon.”
Well, we finally did just that, and this time it wasn’t just a fleeting visit; we made sure to properly introduce ourselves and see just how much different stuff they had going on.
Partners Jordan and Harriette James are the husband and wife couple behind this jack-of-all-trades treasure trove that deserves a lot more hype than the largely local and cult following they have most weeks. See what we did there?…
In all seriousness, multi-purpose gaff like this can often feel like a bit of a discordant mix of things cobbled together and concepts shoehorned in on a whim – but not this place.
Somehow, it only takes a few minutes to get used to the open-plan space that rolls from casual cafe and remote workspace to barbers, listening bar, and a handy spot to grab a quick bite to eat.
Maybe it’s something about the largely open-plan nature of the hallway-centric room that simply has to flow from one portion into another, or the fact that there’s just an effortlessly laid-back and cool vibe to the entire venue.
Located over in Clippers Quay on the edge of Salford Quays, with their shopfront tucked just behind some residential railing and quite literally on a stairway leading down to the towpath next to the River Irwell, it simultaneously feels like a tad too hidden and yet also like, dare we say it?… A ‘hidden gem’.
That’s certainly the case when you look at their recently expanded menu, which has since gone from predominantly revolving around brews, bakes and the bar offerings, to a fuller spread than ever, including colourful macro-friendly health bowls and delicious, freshly-prepared focaccia sandwiches.
For those who fancy grabbing a coffee whilst getting a haircut, there was already plenty of reason to pop in here, but what Jordan, Harriette and their team have managed to do is turn it into somewhere you can spend the better portion of a day just sat, well, chilling.
In fact, on follow-up visits, we fully intend to order a cuppa and a butty to go, walk down the steps leading down from the door towards the public canalside benches, while we enjoy our dinner (lunch) whilst looking over the water. Preferably on a sunny day, please.
Even if it is a grim day, you already have a slick soundtrack sorted, thanks to their dedicated ‘Cult Sounds’ page, which is even accompanied by regular livestreams.
Barbering, butties, beats and a bar suddenly doesn’t seem so random, does it? Honestly, try Cult & Coffee over in Ordsall for yourselves sometime soon, and you’ll see what we mean.
As for other quiet corners across Greater Manchester that are still criminally unsung, you recommend trying the award-winning Oldham pub that might just be one of the cosiest spots in the whole region.
Daisy Jackson -
30th May 2023 
