The beloved Lottery Winners of Leigh have announced their new album, featuring some seriously exciting collaborators, along with a trio of massive Manchester shows.
Flying the flag for the local hamlet and borough of Wigan as a whole since 2008, The Lottery Winners’ rise over the past few years has been a joy to watch, earning their first number-one record with A.R.T back in May 2023, headlining multiple festivals and supporting some seriously big names on tour.
Now, following on from that theme, the announcement of the fourth studio album is also accompanied by a fair few famous faces lending their musical talents to the project as well, already declaring this next chapter “without doubt our best ever work.”
Big words you can’t help but get excited about – especially given that they’re doing not one, not two but three Manc gigs. Roll on 2025.
The Greater Manchester band have just released the first single, ‘You Again’, featuring Sheffield favourite and Day Fever festival co-creator Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers – it’s a really uplifting and reminiscent indie banger, by the way – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
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Teasing some of the other collaborators who have worked on the new album, simply entitled KOKO (i.e. Keep On Keeping On), fans can expect the return of Frank Turner for a third time on a Lottery Winners record, fellow Northern icons Shed Seven and, get this: Chad Kroeger of Nickelback…
Unreal, we know.
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The four-piece supported the Canadian rockstars on their European tour and even joined them on stage for an epic Oasis cover when they landed here at the AO Arena this past May, so we already knew they were good friends – we just didn’t expect to hear Chad confirmed as a featured artist.
Sadly, the song he features on isn’t called ‘KOKO-graph’. A missed opportunity, we know.
It’s unclear as to whether they have any other surprise up their sleeves before the album drops early next year but we’ll settle for this being plenty, to be honest. As mentioned, not unlike the now sold-out Blossoms gigs, they all announced a mini-Manchester residency and none other than Academy 1.
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Dubbing the run of shows the ‘Burning House Party’ in honour of their much-loved single from last year, they’ll be playing what is Manc live music rite of passage, they’ll be closing out what has been an incredible 2024 for them with three special sets on December 27, 28 and 29.
KOKO is set to release on 21 February 2025 via the ever-growing Modern Sky record label and general admission for The Lottery Winners’ Burning House Party shows go live this Friday, 27 September at 10am, but you can access pre-sale by pre-ordering the new album now.
Boyzone to reunite for exclusive New Year’s Eve special on the BBC
Danny Jones
2025 has very much been the year of the comeback – be it Oasis, Britpop fashion in general, or short bobs and pixie cuts – so it’s only fitting that we round off the calendar with one last reunion, as throwback boyband Boyzone are set to feature on a TV special on the BBC this New Year’s Eve.
Turns out ‘All That I Need’ to make a year memorable is a load of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, obviously, despite plenty of other music names enjoying a second renaissance over the past 12 months or so, nothing is ever going to be quite as big as the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour.
However, if you asked us to guess which group from the era were also going to reunite this year back in January, there’s not a chance we would’ve said Boyzone.
Boyzone are telling us about coming back together for one final run in their most unforgettable concerts yet 🎤
After news first began circulating earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that musician turned presenter Ronan Keating will be getting back together with two of his former bandmates.
Joining the 48-year-old for ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’, ex-Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch are part of an exciting live music lineup.
Other names include actor and singer, Shona McGarty, who recently starred on season 25 of I’m A Celeb, as well as fellow 90s pop artist Louise Redknapp and singer-songwriter Calum Scott.
The exclusive reunion comes after the success of the recently aired Boyzone: No Matter What documentary show.
Spread across three parts on Sky, the docuseries (named after their hit song from 1998) looks back on the career and journey up the charts back in their heyday, all the way up to the present. After seemingly striking a chord with fans and the lads themselves, it looks like they’re not done after all…
Yes, not only is the festive TV special going to see three of the original members performing alongside each other again, but
Here’s hoping that turns into a springboard for something even bigger, and we get a Manchester arena show sometime soon.
As for the programme itself, ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’ will be broadcast on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit concert dedicated to the one and only Queen, with a spectacular West End Cast and a talented live rock band, is coming to Manchester city centre in January.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
Danny Jones -
23rd September 2024 
