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The Charlatans to play huge outdoor Manchester gig at Castlefield Bowl this summer

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Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 26th February 2025

The Charlatans are the latest act to join the stellar Sounds of the City lineup this summer.

Set to return to Manchester‘s iconic outdoor venue Castlefield Bowl for the first time in 10 years, during what is the height of the summer live music season this July, The Charlatans will stage a major headline show as part of Sounds of the City’s already-stacked lineup for 2025.

Elbow, The Black Keys, Rizzle Kicks, and Hacienda Classical are among the other headline acts previously announced for the festival.

As one of the UK’s best-loved and most enduring rock bands, The Charlatans have crafted a back catalogue of depth and variety over 35 years, scoring several hit songs and claiming three UK number one albums along the way.

‘The Only One I Know’, ‘One To Another’, and ‘North Country Boy’ are just a few of their well-known songs to hit the mainstream.

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“Castlefield Bowl is such a brilliant venue,” commented the band’s frontman Tim Burgess, on the announcement of the Manchester gig. “Our previous show there was one of my favourite Charlatans gigs ever, so we can’t wait to play again in July.”

The West Midlands four-piece are set to be joined by some very special supporting guests when they take to the Castlefield Bowl stage on 3 July.

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A previous Sounds of the City gig at Castlefield Bowl
The Charlatans will play a huge outdoor Manchester gig at Castlefield Bowl this summer / Credit: FAC51 The Hacienda

Yorkshire rock band Embrace will be joining The Charlatans following the 20th anniversary of their massive selling album Out Of Nothing and a huge sold out tour, while also joining the lineup is the Wirral five-piece The Coral – who have a legendary status on the 21st century British music scene, thanks to their impressive run of hit singles.

The Charlatans will play Castlefield Bowl as part of Sounds of the City 2025 on Thursday 3 July, and tickets go on sale this Friday (28 February) at 10am.

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Get your tickets here.

Featured Image – Supplied

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2000s indie rock icons The Enemy continue comeback trail with must-not-miss UK tour

Danny Jones Danny Jones The Enemy UK tour dates 2025

For fans of old-school indie and noughties contemporary rock, you do not want to miss the one because The Enemy are not just back making music but they’re heading out on a pretty big UK tour and, of course, they’ll be stopping right here in Manchester.

The Enemy first reformed back in 2022 for a limited run of shows, but it turns out the Coventry-formed trio were satisfied with a one-off reunion and a fifth studio album officially being worked on, the fierce Brit rock throwbacks have announced a series of pretty large UK tour dates.

Following on from some hugely successful comeback performances at TRNSMT, Isle Of Wight and a headline slot at Godiva Festival 2023, not to mention the instantly hit ‘Indie Til I Die’ shows last year – including an absolute stormer at Victoria Warehouse – they returning for more.

If you saw the scenes at that most recent gig, you’ll know that skipping this one just isn’t an option.

One of the few bands to make their way back to the live music circuit fully intact, with all three members still performing together, nothing has changed other than a few more grey hairs.

If you weren’t there at the outset, The Enemy’s debut LP We’ll Live And Die In These Towns (2007) was one of the most seminal domestic releases of its time, with songs like ‘You’re Not Alone’ going on to become indie anthems of the era.

To be honest, we’d argue their sophomore outing Music For The People just two years later is the better album, with tracks such as ‘Be Somebody’, ‘Elephant Song’ and ‘No Time for Tears’ still in plenty of our playlists to this day – but, you know, each to their own.

The point is, we’re very glad these lads are back and having played with everyone from Oasis and The Killers to even The Rolling Stones, we’d wager lots of other music lovers are too.

Set to play New Century Hall in Manchester as well as the legendary Leadmill in Sheffield, Beckett Students’ Union in Leeds, Rock City in Nottingham and more, it’s going to be a big tour.

Frontman Tom Clarke, who has put out two solo records of his own in past years, said of the announcement: “We’ve been working long days in the studio recording new material, so we’re really excited to get out on the road again.

“The plan is to experiment with some of the new tunes, maybe different ones on different shows to see how the crowds react and which ones connect with fans, and let that guide the track listing on the record which is nearing completion.”
 
Co-songwriter and bass player, Andy Hopkins, added: talking about the upcoming tour: “My favourite part of being in a band is having those nights with the fans where the atmosphere is electric – I think this tour is going to be really special for the 3 of us.

“It’ll be the first time we’ve been back to some of these cities in a long time, in venues we absolutely love and have been really important to us on the way up – Electric Ballroom was the first venue we ever played in London supporting The Fratellis, I drove us there with all the amps & guitars in my Fiesta!”
 

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The Enemy come to New Century, one of our favourite live music venues in all of Greater Manchester, on Saturday, 1 November.

Pre-sale has already been snapped up in the blink of an eye, which is no surprise whatsoever, but general admission will go live from 10am this Friday, 28 February.

You can get ready to grab your tickets HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Emilie Cotterill (supplied)/Audio North

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Mercury Prize-winners English Teacher announce big Manchester gig next year

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Yorkshire high-flyers and Mercury Prize-winners, English Teacher, are embarking on a UK tour with a date set for Manchester at the end of the year.

It has been quite a whirlwind experience for this four-piece from Leeds recently and now they’re taking their hits on the road to play across the UK.

In September last year, they bagged the 2024 Mercury Music Prize for their landmark first album This Could Be Texas, beating the likes of Charli XCX’s Brat and Early Twenties by Cat Burns, as well as a big nod at the inaugural Northern Music Awards.

They kicked off 2025 with a bang too getting a spot on BBC Radio 1’s Sounds of 2025 list, ranking at number five and performing a rousing rendition of their track ‘Nearly Daffodils’.

The indie rockers have also managed to use their Northern charm enough to bag a support act slot for Franz Ferdinand, joining them for a one-off gig in Glasgow this August. 

And finally, the band are nominated for ‘Best Newcomers’ at this year’s BRIT Awards, they’re quite literally making history.

It’s fair to say English Teacher have already left an impression on music critics but now they’re continuing to put themselves out there to the UK public who are already becoming firm fans.

This won’t be their first time educating a Manchester audience either, as the band brought their unique energy backed up by some Lancashire roots to Gorilla back in May last year.

English Teacher’s 2025 UK tour sees them travelling all around the country with stops at Nottingham, London, Newcastle and obviously Manchester.

Set to play songs from last year’s debut ubiquitous LP, expect to hear favourites such as’R&B’, title track ‘This Could Be Texas’ and, of course, hit single ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’

If the Manchester date isn’t the one, you still have another chance to catch them as they’re playing just over the hill in their hometown of Leeds two days after. 

You just know that’s going to be a belter of a show.

English Teacher are coming to Albert Hall in Manchester on 20 November with pre-sale tickets live on 26 February and general on sale from 10 am on 28 February HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image: Publicity Picture via Denmarc Creary

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