Audio
Biig Piig brings home the bacon at Manchester’s New Century Hall
What a night.
After releasing her long-awaited debut album, Biig Piig delivered an electric performance at one of the city’s coolest venues.
Oversized satin bomber jacket slipping off her shoulders, Biig Piig aka Jessica Smyth, wasted no time jumping around the stage to an audience equally as energetic.
The Irish artist’s headline tour is in celebration of her debut album 11:11, but the night was scattered with tracks from her prolific seven-year discography.
Biig Piig has two methods to her madness which she effortlessly switches between. Her chilled-out atmospheric songs inspired by R&B and jazz alongside her club dance tracks with heavy drops and mesmerising synth.
Throughout the night we were treated to both, receiving a masterclass in finding the balance between the two.
“You guys have filled out this room. I love Manchester there is so much energy”, she says just moments after opening with track ‘4am’.
“I’m out and I’m back and I’ve missed you”, she pleads to the crowd whilst parading up and down the stage adorned with hot pink strobe lights.
Her band, which features a bassist/saxophonist and drummer, adds nice bits of detail to her songs, specifically ‘Roses and Gold’ which won itself a groovy sax solo which was met with rapturous applause.
Moments later she picks up the pace with a few welcomed dance party throwbacks, ‘Sunny’ had everyone two-stepping along with her whilst flirty ‘Favourite Girl’ transformed the venue into an underground dance party.
Ending the night with a bang was ‘Kerosene’ for which she got the crowd to get low on the ground and bounce together as one, a request which can often prove risky but one which was pulled off without hesitation.
It was clear to see the fun that Jessica, her band, and the crowd were having throughout the hour-long show.
But what’s even clearer is Biig Piig’s path to the top of dance music stardom.
Read more: A club night dedicated to the emo anthems of your youth is heading to Manchester
Featured image – The Manc Group
Audio
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
Audio
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
Clementine Hall -
22nd February 2025 
