In yet another absolutely random moment from the ever-ubiquitous Gary Neville, the former footballer turned businessman looks like he ‘might’ be joining Yorkshire band The Reytons on their upcoming tour.
Surely not?…
Yes, as per an announcement from this week, it appears Gary Neville could be set to head out on the road with Rotherham’s The Reytons as part of their ‘Right Back At It Tour’ next year.
As if the supposed reveal was random and amusing enough as it is, the unsigned and unapologetic Northerners confirmed the news with a hilarious promotional video that we’ve now watched multiple times – even if only for that final reveal and to try and convince ourselves it might actually happen.
Comments like that say it all: quality content and a genuinely funny way to unveil an already comical bit of music PR that goes on a long list of G Nev saying yes to pretty much anything. First Dragon’s Den and now a UK tour.
ADVERTISEMENT
Although the full press release itself opens with the Manchester United legend, pundit and local entrepreneur declaring, “I’m in The Reytons”, it does also caveat this with the disclaimer: “*Gary Neville may or may not be actually joining The Reytons”.
We presume this means it’s highly unlikely that the 49-year-old will actually be surprising fans on tour – maybe his various media commitments and other projects could also see him pull out – but until they say otherwise, or the four-piece finds someone else to fill in for bassist Lee Holland and his broken arm, we’re holding out a glimmer of hope, however small.
ADVERTISEMENT
To be honest, we don’t know what to think; however, given that Neville has already played guitar live with The Charlatans and then went on to do a b2b set with Tim Burgess himself at Kendal Calling 2024, this wouldn’t be so unbelievable.
Set to play a run of nine gigs including London’s O2 Academy in Brixton, Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom and Aviva Studios – the now permanent home of Factory International – in Manchester on Saturday, 8 March, The Reytons are sure to get a warm reception regardless.
ADVERTISEMENT
After forming back in 2017 and years at slogging away, record deal or no, the band made it to number one in the Official UK Album Charts with What’s Rock And Roll? last year and played a sold-out hometown date at Clifton Park to 20,000 fans. It’s some journey they’ve gone on.
That one might be sold out but if you want to be in the crowd when the ex-England international and Monday Night Football star walks out on stage with a bass strapped around his neck, you can get ready to grab your tickets for their Manc gig when they go live this Friday (20 September) HERE.
No backing, no label, all Reytons – with a little bit of Gary Neville now too, hopefully. Hey, we can dream, can’t we?…
This definitely isn’t happening but we enjoyed the skit nonetheless (Credit: Press Images – supplied)
Pussycat Dolls cancel wave of tour dates due to poor ticket sales
Daisy Jackson
Pussycat Dolls have finally addressed the swirling rumours that they would be cancelling their upcoming PCD Forever world tour.
The girl group announced a major comeback as a trio – Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt, and Ashley Roberts – and their biggest international run in years.
The new Pussycat Dolls tour included a significant run of shows in Europe, including a Manchester date at Co-op Live.
But now it appears the rumours of low demand are true, and the group are cancelling an entire leg of their world tour – though thankfully, Manchester appears to have made it through safely.
In an open letter shared with fans, Pussycat Dolls said that they have had to take ‘an honest look’ at the tour and have made ‘the difficult and heartbreaking decision’ to cancel a number of concerts.
The Buttons singers will now play just one of their scheduled dates in North America, which will be the WeHo Pride event in LA, acknowledging the importance of performing at the LGBTQ+ celebration.
Addressing rumours that European dates would also be cancelled, they wrote: “Our UK and European dates are still moving forward as planned, and the response has been incredible, with several shows already sold out.
“We are putting everything into making this show a true celebration of the music and the memories, for the fans who have been with us from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time.
“We’re working hard to create the kind of show we’ve always dreamed of bringing to you. We cannot wait to bring this reunion to Europe and make these nights unforgettable.”
Pussycat Dolls signed off: “Thank you for your love, patience, and support.”
Five Finger Death Punch announce massive anniversary show in Manchester
Danny Jones
Five Finger Death Punch have announced a massive Manchester gig as part of their newly announced 20th anniversary tour.
Still one of our favourite unapologetic band names ever.
The heavy metal outfit is celebrating two whole decades of smashing you in the face with their hard riffs and aggressive vocals, and they’re bringing some other big hitters on the road with them.
Booking Manchester city centre’s AO Arena for the big birthday bash, this is going to be one hard-as-nails show.
Toasting the milestone at the start of 2027, the long-standing Las Vegas outfit will be coming to Manchester for the first time in the best part of a decade.
‘FFDP’, as they’re often abbreviated to, have played several substantial shows here over the years, including arena slots, but fans have had to wait a long time to see them return.
With a new album coming at some point this year – this being their 10th studio LP – we might not have a release date just yet, but you can guarantee die-hards will be snapping up tickets to hear their latest tracks live whenever it does finally drop.
Better still for metalheads, they’ve got not one but TWO popular contemporaries joining them across their extensive EU, UK and IE tour.
In addition to support from Scotland’s very own Bleed From Within, they’ve also got fellow veterans Lamb Of God as another one of their ‘warm-up’ acts.
Yeah, right… This place will be absolutely bouncing by the time the main event makes it to the stage.
Having just dropped their 10th record this year, too, the two heavyweights have plenty of parallels in their increasingly seasoned and successful careers; you could say they’re the perfect touring partners.
Speaking of which, you can see the full list of Five Finger Death Punch dates on the UK leg of their European tour run down below.
Five Finger Death Punch UK show – 2026 tour
16 Jan 2027 – Manchester, AO Arena
17 Jan 2027 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro Arena
19 Jan 2027 – Dublin, 3Arena
22 Jan 2027 – Birmingham, BP Pulse Arena
23 Jan 2027 – London, O2 Arena
As always with the AO, you can enjoy early access if you’re a Three Mobile member, and the band’s official pre-sale will be available via their mailing list from 10am this Wednesday (6 May).
For those simply looking to grab general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch live in Manchester on from the same time on Friday, 8 May, right HERE.
Danny Jones -
16th September 2024 
