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Take That announce Etihad Stadium gig as they bring back legendary The Circus tour

Can practically hear our mums screaming from all the way across Manchester.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 19th September 2025

Take That are back – and they’re rolling back the years to reignite their record-breaking ‘The Circus Live’ tour from 2009.

The much-loved trio will be performing at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester as part of a run of 11 stadium gigs across the UK.

‘The Circus Live’ is one of their most iconic live shows, originally staged in 2009 and breaking records as the fastest-selling tour in history, attracting one million fans.

And now the remaining members of Take That – Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – are hitting the road once again, more than 17 years after that iconic tour.

Take That will be back with The Circus Live for summer 2026, with two gigs at Etihad Stadium in Manchester
Take That will be back with The Circus Live for summer 2026, with two gigs at Etihad Stadium in Manchester

It’ll give fans who were there the first time around a chance to relive the magic, while new fans can see one of the most groundbreaking live productions in pop history for the first time – this time even bigger than before.

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In 2009, the tour featured fire-breathers, stilt-walkers, clowns, acrobats, tap dancers, and a huge 30-foot-tall mechanical elephant, which carried the band through the audience.

Take That have been teasing the tour all week with videos hinting at clown paint and unicycles, sending fans into a frenzy.

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They’ll be performing the original 2009 setlist, with a few surprises thrown in.

Take That said upon announcing their Etihad Stadium shows: “The Circus tour was one of our favourite experiences as a band and, in the years since, we’ve talked many times about how much we’d love to do it again one day. Well, that time has come!

“We’re so excited to welcome audiences old and new across the UK and Ireland to the spectacle of The Circus Live next summer. See you out there!”

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Take That have so far announced two nights at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester (though we’re willing to bet they’ll add more), on 19 and 20 June 2026.

Take That will be supported by The Script (who supported on the original Circus Live Tour) and Belinda Carlisle.

Tickets for Take That at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester will go on sale from 9:30am on Friday 26 September HERE, or you can pre-order their upcoming tenth studio album for first access.

Take That – The Circus Live – Summer 2026 Full Tour Dates

  • Friday 29 May – Southampton St Mary’s Stadium
  • Friday 05 June – Coventry Building Society Arena
  • Saturday 06 June – Coventry Building Society Arena
  • Tuesday 09 June – Sunderland Stadium of Light
  • Friday 12 June – Glasgow Hampden Park
  • Tuesday 16 June – Cardiff Principality Stadium
  • Friday 19 June – Manchester Etihad Stadium
  • Saturday 20 June – Manchester Etihad Stadium
  • Friday 26 June – London Stadium
  • Saturday 27 June – London Stadium
  • Saturday 4 July – Dublin Aviva Stadium *
  • *support acts to be confirmed

Praying for more of this, too – naturally…

@the.manc

Couldn’t resist using this sound, Take That in Manchester bringing your favourite Wii games to life 🤣 #takethat #aoarena #manchester

♬ confuse the kids –

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Featured Images — Jason Hethertington (supplied)

Audio

Five Greater Manchester-based music artists you should listen to | April 2026

Danny Jones Danny Jones Best new Manchester music bands and artists to check out

Ay up, you lot – we’re back with another box office batch of music from in and around Greater Manchester for you to get your teeth stuck into.

We’d like to think you know the deal by now, but if not, here’s a quick rundown for you…

Every month, we look back on the local bands and artists, either hailing from or now based in the area, that are spending regular time in our rotation.

It doesn’t matter if they’re still just young prospects or they’ve been at it for decades: if it’s good and it’s been in our ears, it goes on the list. Ready? Let’s go, then.

Five Manc bands and artists we’ve been listening to recently

1. Harry Lyon

First up is April’s cover star: the wonderfully talented Harry Lyon, who is another born and bred and now quietly plying his trade here in Greater Manchester and already showcasing a great level of versatility early in his career.

He moved to the city from Sheffield not too long ago, and his creative output has only ramped up since he got here. Toying with everything from alt-pop/indie to straight singer-songwriter stuff that wouldn’t sound out of place on the radio, his often R’n’B-esque vocals mean he can turn to multiple styles.

We actually lucky enough to bump into him in person earlier this month over in Stretford, and you’ll be glad to hear he’s also as sound a person as we hoped he’d be; he even teased a new single on the way, but for now, we’ll recommend ‘Violet’, ‘Backwards’ and the piano version of ‘While We’re Still Young’.

In fact, he does acoustic versions for most of his songs, and a fair few of them genuinely rival the originals in their own way.

@harrylyonmusic

Can't a guy worry about violet in peace

♬ original sound – Harry Lyon

2. Black Grape

From an up-and-comer to some Manc veterans that often get overlooked in the shadow of their even longer-standing and more well-known predecessors, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say something controversial here… We think we might prefer Black Grape to Happy Mondays.

Before you bite our heads off, let us explain: while the Mondays are obviously way more iconic and had a huge influence on the overall Madchester scene, we would argue that their progenic spin-off are almost a more honed evolution of at least some of what the Ryders and co. first created a buzz around.

Not only do the likes of ‘Kelly’s Heroes’, ‘Nine Lives’, ‘String Theory’ and more have so much more guitar in them (which will always score extra points for me), but more importantly, there is so much more successful experimentation with different instruments, cultural sounds and blends of energy.

It can be hard to know where to start, but those three examples aren’t bad options, and ‘In The Name of The Father’ is also such a vibe – we’re hoping we see it on the setlist for Outwards Fest next month.

3. Hungry

For fans of Sports Team, Spangled, Deadletter, and pretty much any current post-punk pioneers, these former students who originally hail from Cambridgeshire but have come up in and around the local rock scene have been making a splash for a little while, and now it feels like things are hitting a fever pitch.

Sometimes the idiosyncratic lyrics put you in mind of rising Oldham star, Seb Lowe; there’s even one intro that could be the start of a more upbeat and melody-forward King Krule, and you even get notes of Slaves/Soft Play at times. Whatever you hear, personally, you won’t find a bad song – we haven’t yet.

As the lyrics on ‘Are You The Best Yet?’ state, some of this stuff literally makes our knees go weak. We can’t remember the last time a band came around that has you eagerly awaiting the inevitable guitar break, let alone when you fully lock into one and pull a face (we’ve all got our own).

They’re so, SO good, and they help prolong some songs that, while brilliant, could feel more like fast-paced flashes in the pan without them. It all amounts to something extra and ups an already healthy dose of swagger: that’s definitely what you get on the recent ‘Cambridge Is On Fire’ and most of their tracks.

4. Dead Stilettos

In at number four is another one to watch within the genre. Some industry figures have equated them to the likes of the Amyl and the Sniffers, Lambrini Girls, Viagra Boys, and so on, but we think there’s a much cooler sense of darkness going on with their approach – however familiar the repetitive guitar playing and aggressive, shouty vocals may be.

Luckily, their discography – not unlike that of their aforementioned punky peers – isn’t that extensive just yet, so you can easily work your way through all their releases soon enough, and they’ve also got a big gig at White Hotel coming up just after they drop their debut LP, Hodge Podge. Watch this space…

Our present picks would be ‘American Boy II’, ‘Marina’ for the foreboding sense of build and that central riff alone, and you simply have to listen to their latest single, ‘Creeping Offences’, which, understandably, is the best track in terms of production they’ve dropped yet.

We want to see them live before passing any decisive judgement, but we like what we’re seeing so far.

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5. A Certain Ratio

Now, we’ve touched on electronic-influenced alternative group in Black Grape, but what about another truly influential act from within that fluid space? Probably one of your bands/favourite DJ’s favourite artists, whether you know it or not, A Certain Ratio were tastemakers long before even they knew.

If the previous two are post-punk, then these lot are the funkier forerunners, known for their trademark muted strumming patterns, heavily distorted, codified and multi-layered mixes, ACR have been going nearly half a century now, and they were doing all this stuff long before virtually anyone else.

You’ll inevitably fall down a bit of a rabbit hole listening to their stuff, but ‘All Comes Down To This’ is a good starting point, and ‘1982’ has always made us think of what a Doctor Who-themed rave might sound like.

Oh, and purely because it still sticks with us as an eye-opening first listen, it really doesn’t get much better than this one:

And once again, that’s all she wrote.

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We hope you dive into at least some of these names over the long bank holiday weekend, as three uninterrupted days of listening couldn’t have timed any better.

As always, if you have any local shouts that you think we need to get on like yesterday, please let us know in the comments; it’s also worth checking out our new dedicated monthly and regional artist spotlight series over on Audio North.

Last but not least, be sure to check out last month’s list down below, and we’ll catch you again for another load of listening at the end of May!

Five Greater Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this past month | March 2026

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Featured Images — Press shot/Lucy Craig)/Southdown Sessions (screenshot via YouTube)

Audio

Billie Eilish reveals the reason why she chose Manchester to film her new movie

Danny Jones Danny Jones Billie Eilish on filming new live tour content movie in Manchester

Global superstar Billie Eilish has revealed the reason why she chose Manchester, of all places, to film her upcoming new movie.

The answer won’t surprise you, but we were buzzing with it nonetheless.

In case you were unaware, Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour is the new documentary and live concert film directed by Billie herself, along with some help from none other than James Cameron.

Being screened not only in cinemas but also in 3D (yes, that’s still a thing), the performance-based movie captures content taken from her run of gigs right here in Manchester. Here’s why she picked us:

Though it’s still no surprise, really, we always find it so surreal seeing some of the world’s most famous artists speaking so highly about our city.

As you can see, while she did quip that the schedule lined up production-wise, it was an easy decision to pick her four – yes, FOUR sold-out nights at Co-op Live, as the place to film the project based on the atmosphere alone.

“I fricking love Manchester”, said the 24-year-old, going on to add, “Honestly, Manchester is one of my favourite audiences ever.”

Manc fans simply couldn’t get enough of her, hence why she was able to book so many big dates at the massive arena.

Here’s the big surprise she brought out for the show we were lucky enough to be at:

We love Billie and, as it turns out, she feels the same about us.

The release date for Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft tour movie is coming around early next month, with the film set to be screened in selected cinemas across the UK and beyond on May 8, 2026.

Speaking in the recent interview on the red carpet with the BBC, she also detailed how fellow Academy Award-winner Cameron contacted her first about the prospect of creating this immersive music project.

Imagine just picking up the phone to James Cameron – as you do…

Will you be watching? Better still, were you at one of the shows and plan to look out for yourself in the crowd, which is now soon to be splashed on the big screen?

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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