Manchester
Gorilla FINALLY confirms reopening plans after mysteriously closing for months
People feared it was gone for good.
Beloved Manchester gig venue Gorilla has finally confirmed its reopening plans, after quietly closing due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’ back in the spring.
The intimate music space and bar had said in April that it would be ‘temporarily closed’, with most assuming it would be back open after that weekend.
But then forfeiture notices appeared in the windows and gigs there kept getting moved to other, similar-sized venues around the city.
Today, Gorilla has finally confirmed that it will be reopening – we’ll just have to sit tight for a bit longer yet.
They wrote on Twitter that the space is having some ‘essential building work’ done by its landlord.
The statement also addressed the ‘quiet’ couple of months and thanked everyone for the support during the closure.
Gorilla said: “G O O D N E W S ! ! We have exciting news!
“Gorilla is in the process of having some essential building work done by our landlords, but We are not going ANYWHERE!
“We are so excited to continue having the best gigs, with the best bands and by far the best fans for a very long time.
“We get that we’ve been quiet the last couple of months and moving the gigs that we have has been sad, but we are so thankful to all our music industry friends for supporting us whilst we have been unexpectedly closed.
“Keep an eye out for some exciting news & big parties, see ya in in September! Love Gorilla xx”
Gorilla gigs up to and including Amigo the Devil on 24 June have already been rearranged to other venues.
Ticket-holders will be contacted about any other rearranged shows.
If Gorilla opens in early September, gigs already lined-up include Manchester Psych Fest, Wheatus, and Coach Party.
Read more
Featured image: The Manc Group
Manchester
Inspiring new 360° immersive David Bowie experience to open in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Music lovers will get a glimpse inside the mind of a creative genius when a new immersive experience opens later this year.
Factory International has this week announced its programme of events for the upcoming autumn-winter season, and by far one of the stand-outs on the list has to be the return of Lightroom for a new 360° experience called David Bowie: You’re Not Alone – which is set to immerse audiences in the iconic performances and creative mind of one of the world’s most visionary and influential artists.
Bringing together a wealth of visual material from a wide range of sources, the experience combines rare performance footage, photography, drawings, lyrics, personal notes, and audio recordings from the late Bowie himself.
You’re Not Alone will showcase some of Bowie’s landmark performances that redefined popular culture, using a mix of iconic, rarely seen, and even never-before-exhibited material.
Selected from thousands of hours of film in the vaults of the David Bowie Archive in New York, you can expect to see everything from Space Oddity and Diamond Dogs, through to Heroes, Black Star, and more.
Each track has been newly reconfigured by multiple Olivier and Tony award-winning sound designer, Gareth Fry, to utilise Lightroom’s specialised spatial audio system.
The 360° experience is set to be both a multimedia spectacle and an intimate self-portrait in one, giving audiences a unique insight into Bowie’s perspective on the subjects that were most important to him, like theatricality, spirituality, songwriting, and the transformative power of creativity.
Read more:
David Bowie: You’re Not Alone is being made in close collaboration with, and has been authorised by, the David Bowie Estate.
It’ll run at Aviva Studios from 8 December 2026 through to 10 January 2027.
Featured Image – Supplied
Manchester
Parklife has quietly added a major DJ set from Happy Mondays’ Bez
Daisy Jackson
Parklife has quietly added a DJ set from Bez this afternoon, joining an already stacked festival line-up.
Eagle-eyed users of the Parklife app (aka, us) have spotted that as the big weekend nears, a few new stages have popped up on the plans.
And that’s included a new Beatbox Stage, which on Saturday will host a mega set from the icon that is Bez, from Happy Mondays.
Bez isn’t the only nostalgic name who’s been added to the line-up for Saturday – the Beatbox Stage will also host a set from Artful Dodger.
The 2000s garage icons will be taking to the stage at 3pm for a set that will hopefully include their massive hits like Moving Too Fast, Re-Rewind (with Craig David), and Woman Trouble.
On Sunday, the newly-added Beatbox Stage will be hosting DJ Fat Tony, who you might know for getting stuck into the middle of the Beckham family feud – but he’s also one of the most in-demand A-list DJs, having spun for icons like Madonna, Prince, and Elton John.
Parklife has also quietly added a few secret sets to the bill, which we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
They join existing Parklife headliners including Calvin Harris, Zara Larsson, Chris Stussy, Sammy Virji, Skepta, and East End Dubs.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June, thousands of music-lovers will be flocking to the fields of Heaton Park ready for this year’s instalment of Parklife.
Read more
Featured image: The Manc Group
Daisy Jackson -
19th June 2023 
