Peter Kay has added even more dates to his already-massive UK after teasing a “big announcement” was on its way.
In case you somehow missed it, Greater Manchester – and much of the UK, to be honest – went into a bit of a meltdown last month when the legendary Bolton-born comedian and actor announced that he is to play a whole slew of huge Manchester shows from this month as he makes a return to live comedy on his first stand-up tour in 12 years.
Rumours began circulating that the 49-year-old was preparing for a 2023 comeback tour earlier this year, but it was first confirmed that Kay was to first kick things off by doing two massive shows at the AO Arena on Friday 2 & Saturday 3 December 2022.
After that, the comic announced he would head on over to Birmingham to close out 2022, before making his way across the rest of the UK and Ireland in 2023.
Peter Kay has added even more dates to his already-massive UK tour / Credit: Peter Kay
Due to the absolutely overwhelming demand to see the comedy legend take to the stage for the first time in over a decade, with hundreds of thousands of people in online queues and tickets being snapped-up almost instantly when they went on sale, Kay decided to keep adding extra dates to the tour schedule to give all fans the chance to catch his comeback moment.
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It may have just started out as two humble shows, but now, Kay is set to play a total of 42 gigs just at the AO Arena alone – running from December 2022 until May 2025.
Sales for this tour have also significantly surpassed the record Kay back in 2010 too, where he played to more than 1.2 million in a single tour.
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The comedian said he was “absolutely blown away” by ticket sales.
His return to the stage after 12 years last weekend not only visibly moved Kay to tears, with heartwarming footage of the moment going viral on social media, but it also proved to be such a success with audiences that he took to Twitter on Wednesday to tease that more could be on its way – but didn’t reveal what exactly.
In a heartfelt message to fans, Kay said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to the first shows in Manchester. It was incredible to be part of such a happy experience. Everybody deserves a bit of joy.
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“Here’s to a lot more in the shows to come.”
He then added that a “big announcement” was coming on the Sara Cox Drivetime Show on BBC Radio 2, and urged fans to tune in after 6pm.
While many were speculating, given the fact he had chosen to reveal the news on a Drivetime radio show, that Kay would be announcing more episodes of his beloved smash-hit TV series Peter Kay’s Careshare, but while that was a pretty educated guess, it wasn’t the announcement lined up.
Instead, Kay confirmed that, yet again, he would be adding more dates to his tour schedule.
Peter Kay announces extra dates have been added to his live stand-up tour for 2023 and beyond!
Telling the also Bolton-born radio DJ, Kay said: “First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who’s bought tickets to my tour, and I really do appreciate it.
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“We’ve finally managed to book some more extra dates.”
Promising to keep prices as low as they were for his last tour, tickets for Peter Kay shows this time round start from £35 and go all the way up to £50, £65 and £135.
Tickets will go on sale this Sunday from 10am for shows in cities including Manchester at the AO Arena, as well as in Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Glasgow, and a whopping record-breaking 28th night at London’s O2 Arena as part of his residency.
Find out more and grab yours from See Tickets here when they go on sale.
Featured Image – BBC
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World premiere of A Knight’s Tale The Musical to open in Manchester next year
Emily Sergeant
A brand-new stage adaptation of a beloved early 00s film is set to have its world premiere right here in Manchester.
That’s right – A Knight’s Tale has been turned into a comedy musical.
A Knight’s Tale may be one of Chaucer’s most well-known Canterbury Tales, but for most of us, we tend to be more familiar with Brian Helgeland’s iconic 2001 medieval action comedy film of the same name instead, which of course starred the late great Heath Ledger, alongside Paul Bettany, Rufus Sewell, Mark Addy, and more.
And its the latter that has now been reimagined for modern day and turned into a brand-new comedy stage musical that will charge into Manchester early next year.
From the production team behind recent stage smash-hits including Disney’s Newsies, and 2:22 A Ghost Story, the brand-new A Knight’s Tale The Musical has been adapted for the stage by Irish comedy writer and actor Brona C Titley, directed by the award-winning Rachel Kavanaugh, and choreographed by Olivier Award-winning Matt Cole.
MANCHESTER: get ready for a Knight you won’t forget 💘
The brand-new comedy musical A KNIGHT’S TALE (based on the iconic 2001 film) is charging into @PalaceAndOpera for its WORLD PREMIERE from April 2025.
— A Knight’s Tale Musical (@ukknightstale) July 23, 2024
It’s gearing up to be a “rip-roaring tale of chivalry, jousting, heroes, and villains”.
Not only that, but just like the popular film, audiences in Manchester are being told to expect a “truly rockin’ soundtrack” that’s packed with chart-topping hits.
Unfamiliar with the premise of the cult-classic film? Ledger plays William Thatcher – a 14th century peasant squire who breaks all the rules when he passes himself off as a nobleman and takes the jousting world by storm. The only thing that stands between Will and his dream of becoming the World Champion of the most extreme of sports, however, is the bad boy of the sport Count Adhemar.
The two rivals then go lance to lance at the world finals, and it’s a pretty epic finale to say the least.
The world premiere of A Knight’s Tale The Musical is to open in Manchester next year / Credit: Columbia Pictures | Wikimedia Commons
Just like the film, A Knight’s Tale The Musical apparently “has it all”, so you’re invited to join Will Thatcher and his band of merry misfits for “a Knight like no other” when the show takes to the legendary Manchester Opera House stage next April.
“Over 20 years ago, I had the time of my life surrounded by a supreme cast and crew making a film we all fell in love with while we were joyfully making it,” commented Brian Helgeland ahead of the musical’s Manchester debut.
“Sitting at a recent read through of the stage version, I could feel that same joy and love emerging, and I am grateful for the new life they are creating and very eager to see it in all its fully staged glory.”
A Knight’s Tale The Musical will take to the Manchester Opera House stage on 11 April 2025, and run right through until 10 May 2025, and tickets go on general sale next Thursday 1 August at 10am – with members’ pre-sales running prior.
Stanleys announce landmark hometown gig at an iconic Wigan venue
Danny Jones
Wigan band Stanleys have just announced a landmark headline show back in their hometown at the legendary Monaco later this year.
One of the borough’s most iconic and longest-standing venues located over in the town of Hindley, The Monaco has hosted many a noteworthy name down the years, from Dusty Springfield and Lonnie Donegan back in the day, to The Lancashire Hotpots and local lads The Lathums more recently.
With live comedy, theatre, music and lots of other live entertainment (not least their regular Bongo’s Bingo events these days) contributing to the venue’s rich heritage, it’s arguably one of the most unsung venues in Greater Manchester.
Having been returned back to its original moniker in 2019 after being known as The Rose Club for a time, the rising indie stars are the latest act trying to put it back on the back by confirming one of their most momentous gigs to date.
Fresh off opening up for fellow Wigan native and Britpop veteran Richard Ashcroft during his highly-anticipated double bill of shows at Robin Park Arena this month, the fast-growing four-piece are now set to have their own homecoming moment at the much-loved art deco building.
Having already been on the road with the likes of The Libertines, Inspiral Carpets, The Lathums; Jamie Webster, The View and more, they’re coming back home a much bigger name than they left it.
From George Formby Senior and Junior to The Verve, Starsailor and The Lathums before them, they’re hoping to be the next gem to come out of Wigan, which Ashcroft himself recently said has long been overlooked.
With tunes like this coming out of the nearby town, we’d wager that’s finally starting to change:
Wigan outfit Stanleys released their latest EP, The Gallery, back in June.
The lads rock up to The Monaco on Friday, 29 November, with support acts still yet to be revealed.
We’ll make no secret of being big fans of the Stanleys and the material they’ve put out so far, having recently named them on our list of new Manchester bands we’ve been listening to just last month, so we’ll be first in line for this special hometown gig.
Tickets for the Stanleys’ headline show at The Monaco go on sale at 9am on Wednesday, 24 July – you can grab yours HERE.