Tuesday night saw thousands head towards the Etihad Campus for two massive events: one of them being Man City playing in the Champions League and the other one, arguably the biggest metal gig of the year as Sleep Token made their Co-op Live debut.
The alternative prog metal group have had an unreal 12 months or so and while the mysterious, masked rockers have actually been around since 2016, the past year has been truly seismic for their now global profile – hence why they were able to sell out Manchester’s biggest arena at the first time of asking.
Bands don’t just walk into places like the 23,500-capacity Co-op Live arena; anyone playing gigs of that size needs to have earned a rather massive audience in order to do and, in the case of this particular artist, that following feels a little bit more cult-like and fanatical.
We mean that in the nicest way possible, by the way, and we now well and truly have faith in the musical and slightly macabre church of Sleep Token. It all started with an unforgettable intro.
Actually, first off, we have to give a huge hand to warm-up act Bilmuri. We were admittedly almost just as excited to see these guys for the first time and they pulled an absolute blinder landing the support slot for this modern metal gig as, much like the main event, their music is just a bit different.
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In the same way that Sleep Token aren’t just straight-up heavy, thrash, death or any particular kind of metal for that matter, neither are Bilmuri. For one, they’re straight-up hilarious, with frontman Johnny Franck spending lots of time both cracking up and ‘cranking’ up the crowd by ‘the hog’ in between songs, amidst playing a mix of alternative metal, post-hardcore and pop-punk.
The various genres being fused on stage are truly wild. Growling and Kevin James at the Daytona 500 samples (yep) are followed by everything from catchy pop choruses to wonderful jazzy solos from their incredible saxophonist and backing singer Gabi Rose, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Point is, us fans in the crowd may have only been few, but it worked because their style is every bit as sprawling.
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Bilmuri will be back playing the Ritz here in Manchester in March of next year; we sincerely recommend you give them a listen and grab a ticket because they were just non-stop fun. We can only imagine how good value for money a full headline show in a smaller venue filled their listeners is. Now onto the ‘cult’.
We love these guys so much – give them a try. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Sleep Token took Manchester to mass
Although the London-formed five-piece has fully lent into this whole semi-religious angle – even labelling attendance to one of their gigs and singing along to the often celestial vocals of their once anonymous frontman as ‘worship’ – it’s a theme that’s sadly been used as a stick to beat metalheads with in the past.
There is undoubtedly a gothic and somewhat satanic element to their aesthetic, especially on the face of things with the painted black arms, Japanese-influenced masks covered in ritualistic markings and dripping with blood etc., but when you actually look beyond the surface it’s simply good world-building.
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Lead singer ‘Vessel’ (all of the band members go by specific monikers) had his identity figured out not too long ago, but the whole idea of his overall style, purpose and allure is that he’s supposed to be the physical embodiment of something bigger and a conduit within the wider Sleep Token lore.
Oh yeah, this stuff is super detailed.
Most notably, though, it was probably the visuals overall that really struck us the most. It wasn’t just in looking at the various slightly demonic-looking characters on stage and hooded figures that served as the most enchanting backing singers, it was the utterly stunning production levels.
When we say it was possibly the most impressive use of lighting and effects we’ve come across in our many years of gigging, we’re not exaggerating. From that incredible entrance and hanging LEDs dripping with colour throughout slow songs, to the smoke literally creeping along broad beams of light like some kind of ghostly presence, it felt like we were in a trance at several points throughout the gig.
Mesmerising (Credit: The Manc Group)
Metal isn’t just lots of aggressive guitar and drums – at least not any more
It was in moments like this that we were taken aback by just how wholesome the crowd had been all night – again, something that heavier rock gigs never get credit for. In fact, a current trend at metal shows is for people to hold up pictures of their cats and that was exactly what we walked into. Adorable.
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The point we’re getting at is that while this particular show had plenty of headbanging of course, especially with how insane some of the bass and drum work is in Sleep Token’s many breakdowns, Co-op Live wasn’t pure moshpits and carnage. Far from it, to be honest.
When those aforementioned lights were tracing around the massive arena, we constantly found ourselves looking around the room and staring up at the sky, before immediately noticing thousands of other people doing the same. There were just as many heart symbols in the air as there were devil horns.
Phone torches were held high during ‘Euclid’ and the room lit up like a night sky. That’s nothing at gigs these days, we know, but it’s worth noting just to put things into perspective for those who may have long misunderstood the metal crowd, ‘moshers’ and ’emos’ – whatever meaningless word gets thrown around most these days.
Who wore it better?He truly was a godly figure up there on that stage at times.Cosplays and a Manc choir? There was nothing ‘devil-worshipping’ about this crowd, they were wholesome AF. (Credit: The Manc Group)
The highlights were as you would expect if you’re a fan: ‘The Offering’ got those grumbly distorted guitars in nice and early, ‘Granite’ had everyone from the goth girls to the middle-aged blokes doing their very best sexy dance; ‘Alkaline’ put literal chills on our spine – as did all of the vocals from start to finish.
It may have just been our ears playing tricks on us but Vessel’s voice and quivering hands were so full of emotion that we swear we could hear him crying through the lyrics on more than one occasion. Whether for the pageantry or not, there were plenty of very real people smiling up at him with teary eyes.
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You’ll never hear quite as much genre-bending as you do in ‘The Summoning’ and watching everyone change gears from just pure, no-nonsense heavy metal to grooving out to the sudden shift to funk rock was a real joy. It was probably the standout of the whole night, but it was a triumph all-round.
We’ve been enjoying Sleep Token from afar for a while now and always really appreciated how technically impressive and groundbreaking the music felt, even just on a pure sonic level, but it’s only now we’ve been to one of their shows that we think we ‘get‘ the obsession and why more and more followers are flocking to see them live in the flesh.
Call it unique, strange, disturbing — call it whatever you want, the fans couldn’t care less. It was a pseudo-religious experience for a lot of people in that room and while it may take us a while to fully convert, we’re very open to the concept. Even if just for that magical intro alone, to be honest.
Live music has always been like church to us, so we can always get behind hero-worshipping like this.
Catfish and the Bottlemen at Heaton Park, Manchester – support acts, stage times and more
Danny Jones
One of the most momentous live music weekends in Manchester is fast approaching, as even before Parklife 2025 gets underway, we must first prepare to welcome Catfish and the Bottlemen.
The Welsh indie rock band remains one of Britain’s biggest and best contemporary exports, even with a fairly substantial hiatus; the proof is in the pudding too, with their huge Heaton Park headline gig selling out and the fandom not fading even one iota in the time between their last album and now.
Are there tickets left for Catfish at Heaton Park?
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but unsurprisingly, Catfish’s Heaton Park – their first Manchester headline gig in many years – sold out very quickly.
On the other hand, you’ll be glad to hear that there are some official resale tickets and VIP packages listed on Ticketmaster.
You can grab your tickets HERE and, of course, you can always keep your eye out for spares on trusted resellers like Twickets and TwicketSwap. Proceed with caution, though, and don’t risk getting stung.
Support acts
Now, for those who don’t know who is supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen at Heaton Park, you’re in for an absolute treat, because this is a great little lineup that includes a much-loved Manchester band.
As well as a set from London-based DJ and producer Katie Owen to kick off the day, local legends and fellow indie rock favourites James are the main warm-up act.
In terms of when you can expect the action to get underway, Katie Owen is expected to get underway right from doors at 5pm until approximately 7:05pm; there will then be a roughly 25-minute interval before James take to the stage at 7:30pm.
Following a slightly longer break in play, the main event kicks into gear at 9pm, with Catfish expected to play a roughly 1h30m set.
Curfew is at 11pm, so you can expect people to start filing out of the park promptly after the end of the show. We’d also urge attendees to arrive nice and early and get in the queue from 4:30pm.
Setlist
Now, while the setlist obviously hasn’t been confirmed yet (that would spoil the fun now, wouldn’t it?), for the more impatient among you who are trying to figure out what the boys might play, you can check out the most recent running order of tracks from their comeback at Reading Festival last year on Setlist.fm.
It looks a little something like this:
Intro: ‘Aint That a Kick in the Head’ (Dean Martin song) and ‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles song)
Longshot
Kathleen
Cocoon
Soundcheck
Pacifier
Twice
Fallout (‘Bartender and the Thief’ snippet in outro)
2all
Rango
Outside
Fluctuate
7 (Extended outro)
Cocoon
Who knows what the encore will be at this point, but one thing we will see is that the above setlist will surely include their most recent song ‘Showtime’ as well as persistent die-hard fan favourite ‘ASA’, which was recently released as a single at long last – maybe a bit of ‘Glasgow’ and ‘Hourglass’ too.
To be fair, we’d be happy with just about any of their tracks.
Last but not least, if you’ve never been to the massive green space before, your best bet is to travel via tram or other Bee Network public transport. Metrolink services will be running direct from Victoria to the venue during the day, and thankfully, it’s just a case of getting off at the Heaton Park tram stop itself.
From there, you can enter the event site via the North Gate; after the party is over, the Bowker Vale tram stop located near the East Gate is your quickest exit. Please also be mindful that Heaton Park station will also be closed from 9pm due to help with congestion and safety reasons.
Otherwise, the usual Big Green Coaches will also be running from the city centre, which can be booked in advance, and taxis home will be available from Blackley New Road and along Bury Old Road.
And that should be just all the important key information you need to know ahead of what is sure to be a memorable night. Touch wood and keep everything crossed, folks…
James’ Tim Booth is the ‘only person in Britain insured to crowd surf’ – here’s the story behind it
Danny Jones
Legendary Greater Mancunians James are currently back out on the road and delighting fans as per, especially with their ever-energetic lead singer, Tim Booth, doing his thingboth up on stage and out in the audience too.
But did you know that Bradford-born Booth claims to be the only person who is actually insured to crowd surf in the entire UK?
Well, neither did we until this week.
Playing another pair of massive shows at Halifax’s unbelievable amphitheatre, The Piece Hall, following their two sell-out shows at the amphitheatre back in 2023, the Yorkshireman spoke to Chris Hawkins about how the whole thing came about – and how he earned himself this unique title.
You heard it here 👀
@wearejames 's Tim Booth is the only person in Britain insured to crowd surf 🏄♂️⚡
Joined by bandmate and founding member Jim Glennie for a lengthy interview, Booth was asked just how “high-risk” his infamous crowdsurfing is these days, explaining that although he does “choose [his] moments, there’s little more thinking that goes into it than making sure they don’t have their phones up.
Not because of filming concerns or anything like that, mind you, simply because catching him one-handed wouldn’t be safe enough.
The BBC Radio 6 DJ and presenter then asked if being “insured to crowd surf” is a possibility, at which point he singer-songwriter and actor revealed, “I’m the only person in Britain insured to crowd surf.”
While we’re sure some international acts take out some kind of policy to protect themselves when interacting with the crowd, the liability usually falls on the venue – unless you’re Tim Booth, apparently.
Hence why he can do stuff like without almost any hesitation:
As you can see, the frenetic frontman is still jumping up and down as he always has; even at 65 years old, he’s not afraid to get amongst it and bring their party vibes to their gigs.
He goes on to add that despite a company threatening to remove that particular clause around five years ago, he said that after seeing some of his performance in person, they joked that it was more like the crowd was merely ‘passing him around.’
When we spoke to bassist Jim ourselves earlier this year, he said of his long-time friend: “He’s not as young as he used to be, none of us are, but it’s what he does and he loves it – we’re still amazed by his energy to this day.”
You only have to look at his antics over the years for it to click that interacting with the crowd in this way is something he’s always done, and given his special and seemingly unprecedented protection, we imagine he won’t stop until his body physically won’t let him.
Tim Booth crowd surfing at Athen’s Ejekt Festival back in 2016.…and at Franklin Music Hall in Philadelphia just last year.Christos Gaifyllias/Jim Powers (screenshots via YouTube)
In terms of all-out performers who leave everything up there on the stage, Booth may just be up there with one of the most underrated this country has ever produced.
And we’re not just saying that because he’s a Northerner and Manc adoptee, though the group’s much-loved local status does grant them bonus points.
We certainly enjoyed seeing them at Neighbourhood Weekender this year and, much like Tim himself, we have no intention of sitting down to see a James gig.
Danny Jones -
27th November 2024 
