Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is going to get back behind the DJ decks in Manchester in the next few weeks.
The mayor will be playing a setlist of Manchester classic tunes on Wednesday 3 August.
It’s not the first time the 52-year-old has moonlighted as a DJ either – he once performed a set at Jimmy’s, back when it was in its original home in the Northern Quarter.
This time, Andy will be heading down to Ramona on Swan Street to spin the tunes.
Andy Burnham doing a live-streamed DJ set during lockdown. Credit: GMCA
The venue said that the public figure regularly pops in for a slice of its Detroit-style pizzas, so he’s already a familiar face around this neck of the woods.
Every Wednesday, a different artist will take over the playlist both in the venue and on a live stream.
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The line-up for August includes hip-hop pioneer Mikey D.O.N., British soul star Mica Millar, and writer and DJ Bill Brewster, as well as Andy Burnham himself.
The popular venue also serves up £5 margaritas on Wednesdays, so it’s quite the night out.
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Ramona wrote: “Yes the mayor! He swings in for pizza quite a bit so we asked him if he fancied Djing, He said…He’d absolutely love to!
“Expect lots of New Order, Manchester classics and 90s summer Jams. Bring the party Andy Burnahm you got this.”
Featured image: GMCA
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Lily Allen to play smash-hit new album in full on first tour in seven years
Danny Jones
Lily Allen has returned with one of the best comeback albums the British music scene has witnessed in decades, and it’s been received so well that she’s set to play the record IN FULL on a new tour – her first in more than seven years – and, yes, she’s coming to Manchester.
The noughties popstar and daughter of fellow musician and actor, Keith Allen, isn’t just having a renaissance, the 40-year-old singer-songwriter is now riding arguably one of the biggest waves of popularity in her career following the release of her fifth studio LP.
West End Girl, released earlier this month, has not only gone down a treat with die-hard Lily Allen listeners but has earned her plenty of new fans too, as well as winning over numerous critics.
Notching multiple five-star reviews, a shout for album of the year from Variety, and even being labelled “one for the history books” by the BBC, the demand to see her back on the road was ready and waiting, and now the genre-hopping Hammersmith heroine is giving the people what they want.
Without giving too much away for those who haven’t listened to it yet, the deeply honest and no-holds-barred material dives into her divorce from ex-husband, David Harbour, of Stranger Things and Thunderbolts* fame.
Leaving no stone unturned, it’s a deeply personal, scorched-earth kind of album that has resonated with a lot of people, it seems.
We’re not going to say any more than that; just strap in, give it a go and thank us later. You can see the full list of her newly announced domestic tour dates, where she’ll be playing West End Girl in its entirety, down below.
Lily Allen UK live tour shows, including multiple Northern dates
Here’s a little taste of just one of the tracks from the acclaimed new album, which is already being heralded as her best to date.
So many great tracks on this album.
Honestly, there’s plenty more where that came from…
If you’re looking to hear the explosive 14-track diatribe from start to finish in person, she’ll be playing not just one but two nights at the Factory International’s Aviva Studios.
Tickets for all Lily Allen live tour dates, including her Manchester shows next spring, go live on Friday, 7 November from 10am – and given the reaction to the album itself, you can bank on them selling out fast.
Featured Images — Charlie Denis/press shots (supplied)
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Fast-rising alt-rock cult favourites Keo announce Manchester gig on new UK tour
Danny Jones
Up-and-coming alternative rock band Keo have just announced a new UK tour and “most ambitious chapter yet” in terms of live performances, including a Manchester gig that we CANNOT wait for.
Combining the likes of post-grunge, garage rock and more, Keo are one of the most exciting and fast-emerging new acts in the space right now, having seen their recent run of half a dozen domestic shows sell out completely.
Pulling influences from artists of The Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, as well as most notably fellow contemporaries and former tour partner, Wunderhorse, they’re well-positioned at the front of the guitar-driven revival and are bound for big things. We’re by no means the only ones banking on it either…
Having been described as “already that band” by Dork and delivering “a sound that has given UK guitar its biggest kick up the fretboard in years” by Rolling Stone, you can bet tickets for these shows will be snapped up in seconds, too.
UK and Europe spring 2026. Pre-sale: 03 Nov 2025 10AM GMT On Sale: 05 Nov 2025 10AM GMT pic.twitter.com/Xz1km0Z93O
Set to play their biggest Manchester venue to date, Keo will be playing the O2 Ritz on Whitworth Street next spring, and let us tell you, that sprung floor is not ready…
Co-fronted by two brothers, Finn and Conor Keogh (originally from Devon before ultimately getting their music careers underway in the capital), the now London-based group make quite a racket for just the four of them.
That being said, they also do quiet moments well, too, as seen in several of the ‘calm before the storm’ breakouts in songs like ‘Thorn’, ‘Fly’, ‘Crow’ and many more.
If you like anything close to grunge or even just shoegazey riffs, trust us, they’ll be right up your street.
One of the most exciting parts about this lot is how feverishly their fans have packed out their audiences all over the country, somehow learning every single word to every song before most of the material had even been released on any kind of platform. They’ve led with their live reputation – and it shows.
Case and point – the crowd at The Key Club in Leeds, where our mates over at The Hoot got to witness them up close and personal as the entire room erupted in a chorus of screams about a girl called Amber:
“To be playing venues like these with only five songs out still feels surreal”, says lead singer Finn Keogh. “We always imagined we’d reach this level after years of supporting other bands, but somehow we’ve skipped that step.
“It’s mad, come March, our biggest indoor shows will have been our own. Electric Ballroom [in London] is a special one for me personally; I’ve seen some life-changing gigs there. To be on that stage this time around is going to feel unreal.”
Listing a total of 16 live show dates up and down the country throughout March and April of 2026, it’s fair to say we Mancs are excited to see them playing their biggest room in our city to date, having absolutely smashed Gorilla this past October.
Tickets for Keo at the O2 Ritz in Manchester go on sale next Wednesday, 5 November at 10am; you can get ready to grab yours right HERE.
The debut release from Keo has delighted fans and critics alike, and their Manchester gig is sure to be a stormer.
Daisy Jackson -
20th July 2022 
