Last night finally saw the inaugural Northern Music Awards take place at the iconic Albert Hall, a night celebrating everything we know and love about the North: we love our music and we’re bloody good at it, and we also know how to have a knees up better than anyone.
The landmark awards ceremony, put on by music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins and backed by dozens of local, national and global brands (including our lovely selves here at The Manc) has been 18 months in the making and faced plenty of obstacles, but nothing us Northerners couldn’t overcome.
More importantly, it was well worth the wait. Hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music presenter and passionate Nordoff and Robbins ambassador, Chris Hawkins, the night was packed not only with handing out shiny gongs but moving speeches, live performances from some big acts and a great ol’ boogie at the end.
From digs about Co-op Live not quite being ready and jabs at the government, HS2 and investment in Northern infrastructure when an award-winner couldn’t make it on time, to Gary Neville telling City fans to “f*ck off” and Andy Burham giving a rousing speech about why the North is top banana, it had it all.
So who picked up what at the first-ever NMAs for 2024?
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The winners of the very first Northern Music Awards
Although a few acts recognised on the night had to phone in, the overall turnout was incredible, with speeches and a stunning stripped-down performance by Liam Fray, household names like Simon Rimmer helping hand out the gorgeously floral and abstract trophies, it was a truly special night at Albert Hall.
It was also wonderful to see how many people were getting involved with Nordoff and Robbins’ charity raffle and silent auction, with all the proceeds going straight back into helping the non-profit carry out its heartwarming work across the country.
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But let’s get into who took home the bit of bronze, shall we?
Music and Culture for Wellbeing: Dance Syndrome – Lancashire
Inspirational Venue of the Year (under 500 cap): Brudenell Social Club – Leeds
Inspirational Venue of the Year (under 2000 cap): Band on the Wall – Manchester
Festival of the Year: Beat-Herder – Lancashire
Well, look who it is!
Industry Icon Award: Michael Adex – Manchester
Newcomer of the Year: English Teacher – Leeds
DJ of the Year: DJ Paulette – Manchester
Breakthrough Act of the Year: The K’s – Earlestown
Artist of the Year: Louis Tomlinson – Doncaster
Band of the Year: The Courteeners – Manchester
Music Moment of the Year: Aitch, Glastonbury – Manchester
Disruptor in Music: The Reytons – Rotherham
Northern Icon Award: Lisa Stansfield – Manchester
Special Recognition Award: Melanie C – Merseyside
LiveNation’s Northern Music Award: Tim Burgess – Salford
Congratulations to all of the winners – so well deserved and all spoke so well about why a dedicated Northern Music Awards matters, embodying exactly why we love it so much up here.
Host Hawkins said it perfectly on the night, these posh dos could take place at who knows where in the future just so long as the only rule is: “insert Northern town or city here“. It was an honour to kick off the Northern Music Awards here in Manchester but we’ll happily big up our Northern cousins any day.
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As he reminded us by expertly reeling off a lengthy list of the iconic names to have come out of not just 0161 but the North in general – he even managed to make it rhyme, for the most part – it’d be greedy try and keep it all to ourselves when there are so many other top-tier venues that deserve spotlighting.
Who knows, maybe it’ll head Yorkshire way and our friends over at The Hoot will help take on that difficult second album in 2025.
Regardless, we’ll remember the legend that is Lisa Stansfield still not even breaking a sweat as she got the Albert Hall up on its feet forever and we cannot wait for next year, wherever it may be.
‘Manc the Biff’: the Co-op Live crowd made the Clyro boys welcome on debut
Danny Jones
It feels like we’ve been waiting a long time to welcome Biffy Clyro back to Manchester, and they really didn’t disappoint on their Co-op Live debut.
Here’s our review of what was a proper rock show.
After a strong lineup of support acts with The Armed and Soft Play (formerly Slaves) injecting plenty of early energy into the crowds, already knew two things: the Scots wouldn’t disappoint, and a Manc crowd NEVER lets you down.
We knew everyone was on top form from the moment the Kilmarnock icons stepped out on stage under a swathe of blankets to the opener from their latest album, Futique.
Once the curtain was eventually lifted during ‘A Little Love’, which has quickly become one of the most popular singles for some time, you could see the sea of fans below start bouncing.
Rolling into the likes of ‘Hunting Season’ and Only Revolutions classic, ‘The Captain’, those bounces quite quickly turned into a healthy-sized pit, and those up in the stands with us finally got on their feet.
That was maybe our only complaint: we love seeing a seated section pretending they’re in standing from their start, but we get it and each to their own, of course.
In fact, the same goes for the rest of the session players joining them on the road this year.
One thing we weren’t expecting was quite how cool the production levels were going to be. We’ve never been Biffy fans for their creativity when it comes to toying with stage design or lighting rigs, but they threw in some fun effects regardless.
Highlights from the night included ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks’, ‘Bubbles’, and ‘Black Chandelier’, though we were sad not to hear ‘Victory Over The Sun’, and it was especially gutting that one of our favourite tracks from the new record, ‘True Believer’, didn’t end up on the setlist.
Again, you can’t have anything – we’re just glad we got to be there and see a truly great British rock band proving that they are well and truly an arena-level band.
Lastly, even after all the years and an X-Factor cover trying its hardest to take the credit away from them, ‘Many of Horror’ is still an unbelievable rock ballad, and d’ya know who is an unbelievable rock band? “Biffy. F***ing. Clyroooooo.”
Johnny Depp supergroup Hollywood Vampires have announced an arena gig in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Hollywood Vampires are heading back out on tour, with a huge Manchester gig announced for this year.
The supergroup, which consists of one of the biggest names in Hollywood as well as one of rock’n’roll’s most iconic names, are set to perform at the AO Arena as part of a run of shows.
Hollywood Vampires is made up of A-lister Johnny Depp, as well as rock royalty including Alice Cooper, and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, plus Tommy Henriksen.
They last performed in Manchester with an arena gig back in 2023, making these their first gigs in almost three years.
Hollywood Vampires have now announced a return to the stage, with an AO Arena show on the cards for Tuesday 18 August 2026.
They’ll be supported in Manchester by The Jesus and Mary Chain, who marked their 40th anniversary in 2024 with a new album, Glasgow Eyes.
Johnny Depp supergroup Hollywood Vampires announce Manchester gig. Credit: Aaron Perry
Hollywood Vampires formed in 2012, named after Cooper’s celebrity drinking club of the same name where the aim was reportedly to ‘drink until no one could stand up’.
Over the years, the supergroup has worked with the likes of Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, and Zak Starkey (formerly the drummer for Oasis).
They’ve now announced a massive UK tour , including a date at the AO Arena.
A Three Presale for tickets will take place from 10am on Wednesday 21 January, followed by a venue presale on Thursday 22 January, then general sale from 10am on Friday 23 January.
Danny Jones -
24th April 2024 
