A huge virtual reality festival from Glastonbury’s Shangri-La team is happening this weekend
Users will be able to navigate their way through four stages of music via PC, VR or mobile app (iOS and Android), diving onto dancefloors, discovering secret headliners, and wandering into art performances.
An enormous, interactive virtual reality dance music event is streaming across the globe this weekend.
The team behind Glastonbury’s legendary Shangri-La, in partnership with VRJAM and Sansar, have announced the launch of Lost Horizon – the world’s largest VR music and arts festival.
Taking place on July 3 and 4, Lost Horizon features an line-up of superstar DJs, underground acts and visual artists – with proceeds going to The Big Issue and Amnesty International.
Users will be able to navigate their way through four stages of music via PC, VR or mobile app (iOS and Android), diving onto dancefloors, discovering secret headliners, and wandering into art performances.
Guests can even interact with fellow festival attendees as they explore the site.
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Alan Fitzpatrick, Carl Cox, Eats Everything, Fatboy Slim, Francesco Mami, Jamie Jones, John Digweed, Mella Dee, Nastia, Pete Tong, Sasha, Seth Troxler and Skream will all feature on the bill, among many others.
The SHITV (Shangri-La International Television) stage will be showing films, documentaries, theatre, live art, comedy, animation and talks, along with a special Nomad stage featuring artists from 24hr Garage Girls, Amen4Tekno Records, Born on Road, Critical Records, Hospitality, Hold Tight Records, Kaotic Kartel, Run Tings Records and UnCommon Records.
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More than 200 visual art pieces will also be on display at the festival, whilst Design Manchester has curated an exhibition around the main music stage.
Further billboard art based on the Lost Horizon artwork will be contributed by Manchester’s Instruct Studio, which created Lost Horizon’s brand, campaign and website.
Creative Director, Kaye Dunnings, said: “Shangri-La has brought many world firsts since its creation in 2008, from the first to use video mapping in a festival environment and an immersive storyline, to the first woman only space or Heavy Metal area at a mainstream festival, incorporating creativity at its core and as a direct response to the world we live in.
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“Our mission is to pioneer new ways of sharing culture and creating a global community that we feel defines us and our ethos.
“We need unity more than ever right now, in an industry that is falling away in front of us. By creating a digital platform to experience art and music in a new way, we are at the forefront of defining the next generation of live entertainment and creative communities as we know them.”
Sheri Bryant, President of Sansar, added: “Now more than ever, fans are looking beyond traditional live shows to connect with the artists they love. They’re online, they’re savvy about streaming, they’re eager to experience music unconstrained by where they live, and there’s a clear demand for events that transcend old boundaries.
“With Shangri-La presents: Lost Horizon, we’re delivering the music festival of the future: deeply immersive, fully online, accessible to anyone and anywhere with a PC or phone at their disposal. Shangri-La presents: Lost Horizon exists at the vanguard of something truly incredible, and we couldn’t be more excited to turn this page.
“The future of live events is virtual and we’re incredibly excited to be bringing it to fruition.”
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Lost Horizon tickets are free but if you can afford to contribute, you can purchase a ‘premium’ ticket with proceeds going to charities.
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
Daisy Jackson
Niall Horan will be back in Manchester this year on a huge newly-announced European arena tour.
The former One Direction star (and chart-topper in his own right) has just announced his Dinner Party Live On Tour tour.
The tour comes in support of his upcoming fourth solo studio album, Dinner Party, which promises to be ‘cinematic and organic’.
Niall Horan will be performing at the Co-op Live in Manchester this September, along with gigs in other UK cities including Sheffield, Glasgow, and Newcastle.
He’ll then head right across Europe, playing music from his multi-Platinum-selling songbook.
Niall first shot to fame as one-fifth of One Direction, but has one of the group’s strongest solo careers, with three chart-topping albums and massive hits like Slow Hands, Heaven, and Our Song.
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
He’s also worked on some exciting collaborations with the likes of Anne-Marie, and most recently Myles Smith.
£1 from every ticket sold for Niall Horan’s Dinner Party tour will be donated to the LIVE Trust, which is dedicated to protecting, expanding, and supporting grassroots music across the UK.
Niall Horan will be at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Friday 25 September.
Tickets will go on sale from 10am on Thursday 2 April HERE.
The Manc -
30th June 2020 
