Dance and electronic legends Basement Jaxx are coming to Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl next year for a massive outdoor show.
Summer 2025 is shaping up nicely.
The iconic DJing duo, famed for everything from disco and New York house to pure big-beat bangers, first formed back in 1994 and have created some of the most well-known hits to ever come out of the UK electronic scene.
Be it ‘Where’s Your Head At’, Do Your Thing’, ‘Romeo’ or one of their many other chart-toppers, they’ve been filling dancefloors all over the world
Starting from the base back in Brixton down in the capital, the expert disc jockeys and producers – real names Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe – are the latest act announced as part of the month-long festival Sound of the City Festival.
ADVERTISEMENT
The SOTC 2025 lineup is looking absolutely stacked, with the likes of Rizzle Kicks, Bloc Party, Elbow, Hacienda Classical and more already confirmed for the big summer celebration, but with Basement Jaxx now joining them too, it really is going to be a party atmosphere.
For the younger ones amongst you who might be wondering whether you know their music or not, even if you’re not sure of the song titles and can’t readily hum the tune etc., we promise you’ll know plenty of these once you hear them.
ADVERTISEMENT
Jaxx and co. are set to arrive at Manchester’s much-loved amphitheatre next July, the Castlefield Bowl show will be one of their first proper live headline shows in over a decade, along with slots at the likes of Latitude Festival, Wilderness and Camp Bestival, as well as just a handful of other dates.
Speaking on the announcement, one-half of BJ, Buxton, said: “After a few years DJing around the globe, it’ll be great to return to the live stage and the Live Show Experience; to connect to people with life-affirming energy and give people a great time.”
ADVERTISEMENT
He went on to add: “It feels like 2025 is the beginning of a new era for many and I think that’s probably true for Basement Jaxx too.”
Basement Jaxx will be landing at Castlefield Bowl on Saturday, 12 July 2025 and tickets go on sale this Friday, 29 November from 9am onwards.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”
Major star pulls out of Parklife festival due to ‘scheduling conflict’
Daisy Jackson
One of the biggest attractions of this year’s Parklife festival line-up has pulled out just weeks before the event.
Rising star and TikTok sensation Lola Young will no longer be performing at the huge Manchester festival.
She’s the voice behind ‘Messy’, that song you can’t get out of your head (or off your For You Page), and has already earned herself two BRIT Award nominations.
Lola Young was one of the biggest names announced on this year’s Parklife line-up, which has headline slots from Charli XCX, 50 Cent, Jorja Smith and Peggy Gou.
She was set to perform on the Saturday of the festival, taking place on 14 and 15 June.
But Parklife has now confirmed that Lola Young has dropped out of the lineup owing to a ‘scheduling conflict’.
In a post on Instagram they wrote: “Due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict Lola Young will not be performing at Parklife 2025.
“We would like to apologise for any disappointment.
“Full set times will be published at 5pm Tuesday 20th May on the PL25 App where we will also be announcing some surprise additions to the weekend in the run up to the festival.”
Parklife will be taking place next month in Manchester – you can keep up with the latest HERE and grab final tickets HERE.
Danny Jones -
26th November 2024 
