A night like this – when Bastille took to the stage at the AO Arena – reminds you exactly why live music matters.
It felt like travelling back to our early teens – windows down, speakers up, yelling Bastille lyrics like our lives depended on it. That familiar rush came flooding back the moment we stepped into the legendary AO Arena.
And honestly, the whole experience, from securing tickets through AXS to walking into one of Manchester’s best venues, was seamless and stress-free, setting the tone perfectly for the night.
The band opened with a classic from their debut album Bad Blood. A single orange beam flickered across the stage, almost like a fire dancing in the dark, creating an intimate calm before the storm. Dan Smith’s slow, acoustic rendition of ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ pulled the entire crowd into silence. It was raw, emotional, and the perfect way to kick off a night dedicated to the anthems that shaped a decade.
From there, the pace picked up. The show unfolded like a living scrapbook of Bastille’s 15 years of music, skipping through albums and eras with effortless precision. Every transition felt like rediscovering a memory of songs we’d forgotten we loved, songs we never stopped playing, and songs that hit harder live than they ever could through headphones. It was a rollercoaster of indie brilliance, nostalgia, and the kind of energy only Bastille can create.
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Credit: Bastille at the AO Arena in Manchester
One of the biggest highlights of the night was the VS. (Other People’s Heartache) segment. We genuinely don’t talk enough about what a masterpiece that project is. The band stripped back their setup as two DJ decks rolled out centre stage, transforming the arena into a full-blown Bastille club experience. It was unexpected, refreshing, and showed off the band’s ability to bend genres without ever losing their identity. The lighting, the bass, the crowd reaction everything came together to create a completely different vibe, proving just how dynamic and experimental Bastille can be.
And then came ‘Pompeii’ and ‘Happier’ , two songs that feel almost woven into modern music culture at this point. Hearing thousands of voices echo those choruses back at Dan Smith was genuinely spine-tingling. It’s moments like that when you realise how much Bastille’s music has grown, evolved, and connected with fans over the years. Their audience now spans generations, and you could feel that unity in the room of parents with teens, old fans, new fans, and everyone in between, all sharing the same unforgettable moment.
What also stood out was the atmosphere. There’s something special about AO Arena: the acoustics, the crowd energy, the lights that sweep across the entire venue. Every detail enhances the performance, making even the quietest moments feel grand and the biggest hits feel monumental.
And honestly, the whole experience was made so much easier by AXS. Keeping track of gigs, managing tickets, and discovering upcoming shows is all right there in the app. No stress, no scrambling, just tap, book, go. It’s the perfect way to make sure you’re always one step ahead and never miss out on seeing your favourite artists live.
Last night wasn’t just a concert, it was a reminder of why we fell in love with Bastille in the first place. A celebration of their past, a showcase of their growth, and a promise that they’re not done surprising us yet.
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And if this tour is anything to go by, your next best memory might be only one AXS tap away.
Tame Impala at Co-op Live, Manchester – lasers, lights, and a bit of a hangover
Daisy Jackson
The coolest man in the southern hemisphere has finally made his way back up north, for his first Manchester gig in a decade.
That cool man in question is Tame Impala, the music project of what-the-hell-can’t-he-play multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker.
Sure, last year’s single release ‘Dracula’, and then its remix re-release with K-pop megastar Jennie, may have propelled Tame Impala up towards the top of the UK singles chart for the first time, but he’s got almost two decades-worth of music to dig through beyond that too.
It’s a hefty discography and it leads to a setlist that seems to almost peak about six times.
‘How could it possibly get better than this?’ we seem to ask as he plays The Moment, Elephant, Dracula, and Let It Happen pretty early on – but better it does indeed get.
It doesn’t seem to matter whether he’s up on the main space-ship-esque stage surrounded by lasers and lights, or sat on the floor of the B Stage playing around with a keyboard, Tame Impala has an irresistible, enchanting charisma. A lot more charisma that you’d expect from a man called Kevin.
Early on, he confesses that he’s quite severely hungover from last night’s show, where he had Dua Lipa (he wrote and produced her Radical Optimism album) as a surprise guest.
But you can see the hangover clear from his eyes in real time as 23,500 Mancs scream in his face. Which might not sound like a likely hangover cure, but who am I to argue with the evidence in front of me?
Although Kevin writes, produces, and records his music solo, he’s got half a dozen musicians up on the main stage with him, which looks like a convoluted space ship that fires confetti out of its thrusters (FOUR TIMES!).
With revolving lights, dancing lasers, and a metal grid base spewing out dry ice, it’s really one hell of a production.
It’s a light show designed to give us all a glimpse of his synesthesia (meaning he sees colours when he hears music (Billie Eilish has it too)) – essentially, if you couldn’t hear a thing and could only see the stage, you can still tell exactly what song is playing.
Still, when he saunters straight through the crowd to his smaller stage to mix tracks solo – no lasers, just a few lamps – flopping down onto a tangle of wires like a mad magpie building himself a nest, it’s a chance to remember this guy’s composing prowess.
A lot of the songs performed tonight are almost orchestral in their complexity, so that the whole show merges into one thundering, bewitching night of dancing and being blasted in the face by confetti.
It’s genius.
So can you not leave it another decade before you come back, Kevin?
Kahiki Soundhouse – the new Mint Lounge site is living up to the old name and its live music legacy
Danny Jones
If you went out in town back in the day (pretty much any time from the late 90s to the 2010s), or indeed have sampled a Funkdemia over the past couple of decades, chances are you tried or at least heard of Mint Lounge – but did you know it’s been replaced by a new kid on the block, Kahiki?
Kahiki Soundhouse, to give it its full name, is the new live music venue bar that has opened up the old basement space on Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter.
In truth, it’s now more of a classic lounge than ever before.
The large open-plan floor, which used to be filled with people standing/two-stepping inside a fairly barebones club room with no air conditioning, has now been traded up for a stylish space lined with plush padded seats, classy low-lit tables perfect to share a glass or two over, and lots of new features.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the old soundbooth/stage area that used to be way at the back has now been swapped for a central 360° podium that changes up each night.
It really is the star of the all-week-round Kahiki show, if you ask us.
This also means that no matter where you are in the main venue (there are other rooms, but we’ll get to that), be it tucked in a booth to the side, at the bar, or even ‘behind’ whoever’s playing, you’ll have a virtually unobstructed view of what’s happening from noon until night.
Seriously, thanks to their already jam-packed schedule, the reviews aren’t just off to a great start only a few days in, but people have been turning up in the early evening and staying well into the early hours of the next day.
They’ve got duelling pianos, live bandaoke, acoustic nights and straightforward DJ sets for those who still fancy a taste of the previous vibe.
Kahiki’s maiden Manchester city centre venue definitely harks back to the good times had in the Mint Lounge days, but the team, who possess decades of experience between them, have combined a retro feel almost more akin to 1960s speakeasies, cocktails and evening venues.
It’s no secret that clubbing and the UK nightlife scene have changed quite a bit since the pandemic, but these guys look to have found that perfect blend of more relaxed seating, along with plenty of room to get up and boogie; there’s even a raised mini-stage/dance cage for your main character moments.
Better still, if you do want something a little bit away from the crowds of punters that are continuing to make this one of the liveliest new additions to NQ, they also have adjustable karaoke rooms where bi-folding doors can make room for up to 50 of you and your lot to party in privacy.
Let’s just say the spirit of the Lounge is alive and well in the Soundhouse.
Just one corner of KahikiYour podium awaitsOne of the smaller karaoke rooms
Dec Kelly -
16th November 2025 
