After continued and increasingly huge success, Day Fever is coming back to Manchester once again this spring and it’s going tobe as brilliant a knees-up as it always is.
For those of you who don’t know, you’re about to.
Co-created by Line of Duty and This Is England star Vicky McClure, as well as Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation, just a fun coincidence), Day Fever invites fellow veteran floor-fillers all those who remain forever young at heart to indulge in a daytime disco experience.
Essentially, this day into evening party is a welcoming space where adults can relive their glory days on the dance floor without sacrificing their beauty sleep. After all, that precious kip gets more important the older you get, am I right?
Day Fever has become an instant hit here in Manchester. (Credit Supplied)
It’s hard not to be a part of the wellness era that we all seem to have entered since the start of the decade, but if you’re not yet ready to shake off those early carefree and rebellious party days from years gone by just yet, then Day Fever really does make for the best of both worlds.
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Starting at 3pm, the event has a strict curfew of 7pm, so you’ll be back in time to bid adieu to the babysitter or settle in for a few episodes of your favourite series before clocking in those crucial eight hours plus.
Everyone’s seen those AI-generated photos of what workers will look like in 50 years due to the incessant screen time consumption, right? What better way to give those eyes a break and loosen those stiff joints than by dusting off those disco shoes for an afternoon groove?
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As Sheffield-born and bred musician Jon McClure is not only a Northern favourite but, naturally, a bit of a dab hand behind the DJ decks, you can expect nothing but bangers from an equally beloved venue, with New Century Hall returning as willing volunteers for the Day Fever Manchester date.
We spoke to Jon briefly before the most recent run of special New Year’s Eve shows back in December and you could tell how excited he was to see the event going from strength to strength in 2025.
Described as ‘the daytime disco that doesn’t ruin your Sunday’, Day Fever will be an event not to miss with nostalgic TV shows, films and adverts shown on a big screen during the event so you can relive those good old glory days.
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The first Manc date of this year’s programme takes place on 22 March with a following event on 19 April and a third – but hopefully not final – one on 10 May. There are also regular equivalents happening in the likes of Leeds, London, Glasgow and pretty much every major city in the UK now.
Day Fever is steadily becoming more and more massive with each edition, so we’re just keeping our fingers across this just the first handful of many shows in 2025.
You can grab your tickets HERE but be quick about because they’ll be gone before you know it.
Featured Images —Press Shots (supplied via Day Fever UK)
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Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Danny Jones -
7th March 2025 
