Can someone please check on East 17, because their current promotional tour is so bizarre I feel like someone must have spiked my eggnog.
Not only are the 90s boyband legends currently promoting a new Christmas single they’ve made in collaboration with a vape brand (I KNOW), but they’re also doing a completely free tour of people’s doorsteps too.
The public will have the chance to book a free doorstep concert with East 17, who’ll rock up to sing Stay Another Day live and in person.
The trio are behind one of the country’s most popular festive tunes, which even beat Mariah Carey to the top of the charts the year of its release.
This year, they’re back in their giant white puffer jackets and hitting the streets around Greater Manchester, to serenade Mancs in their own homes.
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The stunt has been created in partnership with Ring, and anyone who manages to book East 17 for a performance will also win a Ring Battery Video Doorbell Plus and a lifetime subscription to Ring Protect.
More tickets are being released each day, so you’ll need to have your wits about you to grab one.
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The band, which currently consists of Terry Coldwell, Robbie Craig and Joe Livermore, are also promoting this year’s festive single… which is about quitting smoking (?!?!).
Merry Quitmas tells the tale of a Santa Claus whose lungs are too knackered to do his present deliveries – much to the annoyance of Mrs Claus and the reindeer.
At one point, Father Christmas is chastised by Dancer.
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Lyrics of ‘Merry Quitmas’ include gems like this: “I thought smoking was amazing and I would always be tokin’. The cigarette it would be blazing, like Rudolph’s nose would be glowing.”
The chaotic music video also features a host of celebrity lookalikes including Elton John, George Michael, Cliff Richard, Noddy Holder and Ed Sheeran.
East 17 have released the song with Riot E-Liquid, a vape brand, and will donate proceeds to cancer charities.
Speaking of their doorstep concerts, East 17 said: “It never gets old performing a song that means so much to us, especially around Christmas time, where Stay Another Day really took off.
“We’re so excited to hit the road with Ring to perform to several of our fans, right on their doorstep!”
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So I guess the only question left is for East 17’s management. And it’s this… ARE YOU OKAY?!
Noel Gallagher says he’d be ‘bang up’ for an Oasis reunion… kind of
Emily Sergeant
Noel Gallagher has given fans fresh hope, yet again, after he’s admitted that he’d be “bang up” for an Oasis reunion in the future.
Well… kind of.
Considering it’s been going on for well over a decade, Manc music lovers worldwide are more than well-versed in the neverending Oasis ‘will-they, won’t-they’ reunion saga by now, with the Gallagher brothers known to dangle a carrot in front of fans’ noses at every chance they get, despite no concrete claims or plans ever materialising.
And by the sounds of things, Noel Gallagher‘s most recent reunion comments are no different either – but they are pretty funny, we will say that.
Oasis infamously parted ways for the final time back in 2009 after Noel made a shock exit following a fight with Liam at a music festival in France, and despite the constant calls for them to do so, the pair have never been seen on stage together since.
Now though, Noel reckons he’s found a way to reunite the band without actually having to reunite the band, and he’s “bang up” for it too.
We’re talking about holograms.
“I went to see that Abba show. Have you been? It’s f**king unbelievable, Noel commented as he appeared on the Matt Morgan podcast.
“An hour and a half gig, it was very, very impressive. I genuinely thought at one point that the people on the stage, which were holograms, were… they looked that real that I thought they were actors, like playing.
“The way they walk to the stage is so realistic.”
The elder Gallagher claims the key to an Oasis reunion is a hologram / Credit: ABBA Voyage
After claiming he was “very impressed” by the show and urging everyone to go and see it if they can because “it’s well worth it”, Noel then turned the topic onto Oasis and whether or not this hologram format could be the key to getting Manchester‘s most famous band back together, adding: “If anybody wants to do an Oasis one, give us a shout. I would be bang up for it.”
The current High Flying Birds frontman then also set out his conditions for the potential hologram reunion, explaining: “I’d say ‘great’, speak to that guy over there, and then come up with a figure and then he’ll relay it to me, and I’ll say either yes or no.”
Well, could this be it then? Could this actually be the key to reuniting Oasis after all these years? It’s definitely a long shot, but not something to rule out entirely, if you ask us.
As usual, only time will tell.
Featured Image – Anthony Abbott (via Flickr)
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Neighbourhood Festival returns to Manchester city centre for 2024 with stellar first-wave lineup
Danny Jones
After a year’s hiatus, Neighbourhood Festival is officially returning to Manchester later this year and the first wave of the 2024 lineup is already out.
You’re in for a treat, you lot.
The city centre spin-off of Warrington’s popular Neighbourhood Weekender has become one of the most popular music festivals in the North and was sorely missed when they took a break last year, but luckily is back with a bang this fall.
Rocking up to a number of beloved Manchester music venues including the Ritz, Gorilla and Albert Hall, the all-dayer is set to be a stormer.
As you can see, there are some seriously good names on the list too, including lots of local talent like Anthony Szmierek, Seb Lowe, Balancing Act, Corella and Manc headliners, Pale Waves.
There are also lots of other acts from in and around the North West like Liverpool stars Red Rum Club, Courting and The Mysterines, as well as artists who’ve gone big on TikTok such as indie pop group Daydreamers and Bradley Simpson of The Vamps.
Other names we’ve picked out include Birmingham boys, Overpass, Brighton’s Chappaqua Wrestling and Portsmouth four-piece, Crystal Tides.
Honestly, there are so many ones to watch on the 2024 Neighbourhood Festival lineup and this is only the first wave of artists, we honestly can’t wait.
Manchester’s biggest city centre festival has welcomed all manner of names that have gone on to do massive things in the past, including the likes of Sam Fender, Declan McKenna and The Last Dinner Party; Yungblud, local lads The Lathums and many more.
With Neighbourhood Weekender also having been postponed until 2025 as the organisers looked to ‘take a break’ and fine-tune the event, seeing the city centre day festival back in the interim is music to our ears – literally.
NBHD returns to Manchester city centre on 5 October and tickets go on sale at 10am this Friday, 24 May at 9am. You can grab yours HERE.