Greater Manchester holds a lot of records, but did you know that we’re the proud title holder of the world’s biggest pancake?
Yep, cast your mind back to Rochdale in 1994 and you may remember a Guinness World Record-breaking attempt to create the biggest pancake ever seen.
Tens of thousands of Mancs poured out to watch the enormous breakfast item being flipped.
The event took place several months outside of Shrove Tuesday, aka Pancake Day, in August, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of The Co-operative Union Ltd.
And it’s a record Greater Manchester still holds today.
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It took a tanker full of pancake mixture made using Co-op products, and a 50ft pan to create the massive pancake in Rochdale.
Actual cranes had to be brought in to do the flipping throughout the day, to ensure both sides cooked evenly.
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At the end, it measured 15 metres in diameter and weighed three tonnes, measuring an inch thick.
After a few complicated flips, the finished product was dusted off with lemon and sugar, which seems like the safer option than an industrial vat of Nutella.
The world's biggest #pancake was created here in #Rochdale in 1994. Measuring 15.1 metres diameter and 2.5cm thick, it weighed 3 tonnes! #PancakeTuesday The feat was organised by The Co-operative Union Ltd. Flippin fantastic! @GWR 👏😋 pic.twitter.com/fDdvB9Zrdf
Guinness World Record experts were in town to confirm that it was in fact the world’s largest pancake and not just a massive waste of flour eggs and milk.
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And actually, none of it was wasted – the giant Rochdale pancake was cut up and divided into 15,000 individual portions, sold at 24p a pop.
Apparently, and unsurprisingly, the 50ft crepe tasted crap.
According to the Co-operative Heritage Trust, 40,000 people attended to witness the great pancake flip.
Were you there? Did you eat it? Share your memories with us on Facebook here.
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | February 2025
Danny Jones
Well, how now music fans!? We’re back again for February with five more Greater Manchester-based artists, be they new, old or already high-flying, that we’ve been listening to over the past 28 days in this case.
And believe us, this month’s a corker.
If you’re new to the series this year, it’s pretty self-explanatory: every month we round up five up-and-coming or just downright entertaining artists from around the region to spotlight and remind ourselves why our hometown is the absolute best place for music in Britain – nay, the planet.
Hyperbole? Maybe. Do we care? Nah, so let’s waste any more time and introduce to to some Manchester artists that might be new to you.
Greater Manchester artists of the month
1. Bou
First up on our list new Manchester music you need to be listening to is, rather fittingly, Bou. We didn’t plan for that to rhyme, but what we can tell you is that the 25-year-old producer and DJ is making some serious waves.
Having just announced a tour of the USA and Canada this spring into summer, the Algerian-British beatmaker’s name could soon go stratospheric as our friends across the pond continue to immerse themselves in more UK dance and electronic music, as well as grime and DnB.
Bou made a big name for himself in 2023 after hopping on ‘Baddadan’ with the legendary Chase and Status; he’s just dropped a big new track with Aitch too but he’s actually been grinding since 2015. He’s only getting better but we’d say start with ‘Raving In The Studio’, ‘Wicked & Dark’ and ‘Streetside’.
From the EDM side of things to indie excellence from over Wigan way and one of the most promising bands to have come out of Greater Manchester—sorry, Lancashire* (they were insistent on that) and that is, of course, The Lathums.
We’ve made no secret of our love for these lads over the last few years in which they’ve seen a meteoric rise and now their third studio album, Matter Does Not Define, has officially dropped, we were more than willing to dive back in. Interview dropping on socials soon, by the way, so keep your eyes peeled…
You’ll get more of those charming folk vibes with plenty of swaggering guitars, trotting drums and more of their trademark “dark Western” approach intros and riffs, but the decibels, rock feel and vocals have been dialled up a notch. ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’, ‘No Direction’ and ‘Long Shadows’. You’re welcome.
TRUCK FESTIVALLLL!!!🚛🎪
We are absolutely buzzing to announce we’re back at @TruckFestival this year🔥
We cannot wait for this, gonna be one to remember 🫡 (vid is from last year😮💨) pic.twitter.com/cVOxS8dMhI
Now this one is for all the moshers, throwback rock and pop punk fans, as well as anyone who loves it when British rock bands aim to recreate that unmistakably American sound – only this stuff is contemporary.
Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but we’re pretty confident if you regularly tuned into the likes of Kerrang TV, NME and Scuzz back in their heyday, not only would you instantly fall in love with them but they’d already be massive now.
We saw these local lads live and Night and Day recently and not only were they brilliant but their unapologetic frontman was great value. They’ve just released their debut EP Northern Blood, on which you can see the Manchester skyline and hear ‘Can’t Get Over It’, ‘Principles’ and ‘Remember His Name’.
As far as new Manchester music goes, we’re glad the city is pumping out stuff like this.
4. Oceans on Mars
Next up is another band we saw that very same random weeknight on a whim and also managed to get us very excited. Opening up for All Now were fellow Manc rockers Oceans on Mars, who provided everything from Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains to Nirvana, hints of Soundgarden, Deftones and more.
It felt rather fitting that we got all these vibes before the headliners finished with a cover of ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’, but it’s also rare that you get a night full of growly-guitar, gravelly-throated grunge like this in 2025. Not that we were complaining. It was ace.
The intro to ‘Mousetrap’ makes us instantly think of ‘All Apologies’ only instead of Kurt Cobain you get Haydyn Biddle’s voice and it certainly sticks with you. ‘Let Me Know’ is another catchy track and third place goes to ‘Mirror’, which kicked off the post-2020 era with their new frontman. Give them a go.
Last but not least is a reminder that not every new discovery necessarily has to be new; in this case, it can just be a rediscovery of an experimental genre-bending collection of musicians that were way ahead of many other Manchester artists of the time.
If you’ve never taken a deep dive into the world of Durutti Column, we will warn you that it can turn into a bit of a rabbit hole. In fact, beyond the most well-known tracks like ‘Otis’, ‘Jaqueline’ and so on, we’re not going to even recommend tracks this time: just immerse yourself in the incredible soundscapes that Vini Reilly and co. built over several decades.
Be it making a sandpaper LP sleeve that damaged other records stored around it (so nonchalantly punk), or their sheer amount of variety in the discography, we firmly believe they’re among the most overlooked artists in Manchester music history. They even featured in the soundtrack of the most recent series of The Bear, which gave us an immense amount of joy, especially with just how well they used it.
Oop! Would you look at that? Once again, we’re out of time already. Sad face.
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We hope you enjoyed digging into more Manchester music, both new and old, that you might not have heard before. Do go away and do your extra research on them too, that’s part of the fun.
In the meantime, you can find out our first picks of the year in our list of new Manchester bands and artists we were in January, but for now, we’ll catch you next time.
Oh, and don’t forget to keep it locked to Audio North for more round-ups, music news, gig guides and interviews like this one:
Featured Images — Press Shot (supplied)/@djenvert (via Flickr)/The Manc Group
Feature
Review | Snow Patrol roll back the years at Co-op Live for a mini-Manc’s first gig
Danny Jones
This weekend we enjoyed a new kind of live music experience: rediscovering the joy of listening to a childhood favourite by watching it through the eyes of the next generation – that was how we witnessed a fully-fledged arena return to Manchester for Snow Patrol at Co-op Live.
And it was special for lots of reasons.
Taking a little one to their first gig is something you’ll never forget and sharing a new-found connection with a band that you loved when you were their age is one of those magical things about music that we’re eternally grateful for.
You might assume the Snow Patrol crowd one skews a little older for the most part but we were pleased to see there were more than a few kids and teenagers donning tour tees, looking wide-eyed at the sheer size of the Co-op Live arena, and singing the words back better than Gary Lightbody at times.
Sees the sign: ‘Race you there!’ (Credit: Audio North)
Yes, the Belfast-born frontman made a few mistakes on the night, but it did add a rather laid-back quality to what many acts might have found a daunting performance: playing a sell-out night to around 23,500 fans inside the enormous state-of-the-art venue.
But, obviously, there wasn’t even a whiff of nerves from these lads.
You don’t get to have been around for this long and become as successful as they are without being able to relax on stage and lean into those idiosyncratic perfections that feel more like private moments shared between the artist and the crowd.
The young lad sat watching it with us certainly got a kick out of it and though we might not have been able to cover his ears in time to censor some light but ever-charming swear words (it always sounds better in Irish, don’t you think?), it made for some nice banter between him and the crowd.
Big props must go to Johnny McDaid on the keys too, who besides having written for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Biffy Clyro and countless others over the years, also managed to impress by playing the majority of this entire tour after having trapped his hand in a train door. OUCH.
Credit: The Manc Group
Not only was that little interlude up there with one of the most applause-worthy parts of the entire show, but we were always pretty blown away by what we saw, as we all as what we heard.
Be it watching a digital tree come to life, shed its leaves and then fall as petal confetti, two sheer semi-opaque paper-thin screens swirl to create the album cover art for their latest album, or kicking the gig off with ‘Take Back The City’ as a multicoloured skyline appeared behind them, it was all pretty incredible.
We even got to hear a personal favourite of ours, ‘Set Fire To The Third Bar’, complete with a virtual performance from the voice that truly makes the song: Martha Wainwright.
It was in moments like this when we turned to see a 10-year-old’s face not quite sure of what it was seeing but an open-mouthed expression confirming they were finding it as stunning as we were.
We thoroughly enjoyed going through the back catalogue and working our way right up to plenty of the songs from The Forest Is The Path – which Gary himself firmly believes is their best work yet when we interviewed him – but it was as visually stunning as it was to the gorgeous sonically.
Both proved to be a brilliant way to see the contemporary rock, indie and alternative veterans, but there’s something about giving them a stage as big as this that reminds you of just how much they deserve it.
Up there with one of the prettiest gig snapshots in our memory.Not quite a hologram but very cool nonetheless.The production levels are always top-tier at Co-op Live but the Snow Patrol set was much more impressive than we expected.
Last but not least, thanks to Co-op Live not just for having but for creating a little boy’s memory that he’ll never forget.
Harry Quick -
3rd March 2025 
