It may not be the place you’d expect, but actual Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe is heading to Warrington for a gig.
In fact, would you even expect to hear that actual Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has ventured into music professionally in the first place? It’s the first we’re hearing of it, but it’s true – the massively-celebrated star of Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, The Insider,Les Misérables, and so much more is touring the UK with his live band this summer.
And, for some reason, he’s chosen Warrington as one of the places he’s stopping off at.
Manchester‘s music scene is undoubtedly world-famous, and most global artists will make a concerted effort to step on the stage in our city as part of the touring schedules, but the same cannot definitely cannot be said for the neighbouring Warrington.
At least Russell Crowe’s set to, quite-rightly, show some love to the Cheshire town this summer though, as he heads out on his ‘Indoor Garden Party’ tour of the UK and Ireland in July.
After first kicking things off in the Irish capital of Dublin at the prestigious Gaiety Theatre, Russell and his band of talented live instrumentalists – whose relationships with the actor-turned-musician all go back 30 years – will be making their way over to the fellow northern city of Leeds, Inverness in Scotland, and of course, London at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.
They’ll be entertaining crowds here in the North West at Warrington’s Parr Hall on Thursday 4 July 2024, and tickets are set to go on general sale this week.
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Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party 2024 Tour Dates
Monday 1 July – Gaiety Theatre (Dublin)
Thursday 4 July – Parr Hall (Warrington)
Wednesday 24 July – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (London)
Thursday 25 July – Brudenell Social Club (Leeds)
Friday 26 July – Eden Court (Inverness)
Irish singer Lorraine O’Reilly will also be joining Russell and his band The Gentleman Barbers as they head across the UK and Ireland this summer.
Russell Crowe is throwing a big ‘garden party’ gig in Warrington this summer / Credit: Russell Crowe (via Instagram)
Russell’s ‘Indoor Garden Party’ concept started all the way back in 2009 outside a pub in London, but this is the first time he’s bringing it back on the road in our country again since 2017.
What exactly is an ‘Indoor Garden Party’ though? Well, according to Russell himself, it’s “an event, a band, a happening. It’s fluid. The personnel changes, but it’s always big. It’s like a festival where I gather people I admire, musicians and storytellers, and we put on a show.”
Tickets to all 2024 UK and Ireland dates of Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party – including Warrington – go on general sale this Friday 8 March, with prices starting at £45 each.
Wigan favourites Stanleys release first single ahead of debut album next year
Danny Jones
Fast-rising Wigan band Stanleys have dropped the lead single from their debut album, which is finally on its way and will be coming sometime next year.
Entitled ‘Pass The Time’, the Stanleys’ latest outing arrived on Friday, 20 February, and while there’s still no specific release date for the first-ever full-length LP, we do know it’s coming at some point in 2027.
To simply label it as more catchy indie would be a disservice to the craft and graft these lads have put in: this is definitely a step forward and in a slightly different direction, with an even more guitar-driven feel and an extra bit of gruff about it compared to previous Stanleys material.
Our only minor complaint is that we wish it lasted a little longer – we want MORE.
An energetic two-and-a-half-minute track that we can already see becoming a fan favourite, it’s one we’re looking forward to hearing in the flesh.
We’ve caught the Stanleys boys live a few times now, both here in Manchester city centre and at their sold-out show in Wigan as part of The Monaco relaunch, as well as at the likes of Kendal Calling festival in recent years.
Safe to say, they never disappoint, and neither do their growing crowd of die-hards.
With lyrics touching on not just the passing of time but also that sense of youthful ambition and how it fluctuates with age, it feels like one of those defiant indie rallying cries we grew up listening to in our own adolescence, and it definitely has plenty of energy to it.
Both The Manc and our wider Audio North team had the pleasure of chatting with them back in November 2024, and you can tell they have big plans to take on not just the local music scene but the UK and beyond.
The release of ‘Pass The Time’ comes almost a year on from their last song, ‘Out the Door’: a similarly fast-run song, albeit with a different vibe.
Positioned as part of Wigan’s next generation of new bands and artists, Stanleys are clearly looking to keep developing as musicians, and if tunes like these are anything to go by, then we can’t wait for their first full record.
They’re also going to be playing a night here in Manchester city centre and beloved grassroots venue, Night and Day, this April; you can grab tickets HERE.
So get adding it to your Spotify playlists, watching the music video, and maybe we’ll see you at the gig.
New stage adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House to arrive in Manchester this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
A brand-new stage adaptation of a bestselling horror novel and TV series is coming to Manchester this Halloween.
Following the critically acclaimed Netflix hit series that introduced a new generation to the eerie masterpiece, author Shirley Jackson’s famous The Haunting of Hill House is being turned into a brand-new stage adaptation later this year, and will be taking to one of Manchester’s most iconic stages at the spookiest season of all.
Written by Olivier and BAFTA award-winner Stef Smith, and directed by Martin Constantine, the new production is set to conjure the iconic supernatural thriller on stage.
It will be making its world premiere with a UK tour this autumn, stopping off in several major towns and cities along the way.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story, The Haunting of Hill House follows a group of daring investigators who take on the mystery of Hill House, before their curiosity quickly descends into fear.
A new stage adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House is coming to Manchester this Halloween / Credit: Supplied
“The Haunting of Hill House is one of the greatest supernatural novels of the last hundred years and to have the chance to adapt it for the stage is a true privilege,” explained writer Stef Smith, as the UK tour was announced this week.
“I find Shirley Jackson’s world intoxicating, thrilling and gut-wrenching.
“I believe there is something so deeply theatrical at the heart of Hill House. From the spooky, to the surreal, through heartache and hope. I hope that our cast of characters will take the audience along for a ride quite unlike anything else. Above all we will examine that the biggest horrors are usually human.”
The brand-new stage adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House will arrive in Manchester and take to the stage at Manchester Palace Theatre from Tuesday 27 October right through to Halloween itself (Saturday 31 October 2026).
Emily Sergeant -
5th March 2024 
