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Bastille announce blockbuster Manchester arena date for special anniversary show

Time really does fly.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 21st March 2025

Alt and indie-pop band Bastille are coming back to Manchester for another big gig, only this one is set to be bigger than ever as they celebrate a huge music milestone.

Having played Castlefield Bowl back in 2023 and recently returned to the city for a pair of more intimate shows at Manchester Cathedral and as part of Amazon’s ‘City Sessions’ at Aviva Studios, the Bastille boys have frequented 0161 pretty often of late.

With their latest LP Ampersand (or simply “&“) having dropped back in 2024, the London-formed outfit are now five studio albums and dozens of songs into their career. That being said, they’re set to look back on the journey up till now with some huge UK arena dates.

Announcing the ‘From All Sides’ tour this week, Bastille will be coming to Manchester and several other major cities to play their biggest, best and most beloved songs from the first 15 years.

Effectively being marketed as a greatest hits so far gig, these will be the band’s first UK arena tour in over three years.

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With each show featuring songs from across Bastille’s entire discography – everything from fan favourites to deep cuts and rarities from the Other Peoples’ Heartache mixtapes, as well as seminal moments from Bad Blood, Doom Days and more – it’ll be a long journey down memory lane.

Bastille will be returning to the AO Arena for their Manchester date, a venue they’re more than familiar with, but with a decade and a half of music to get through, it’ll be one of their biggest Northern gigs to date.

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Speaking on the tour, the band said: “We’re really excited to announce that we’re going on tour for the first time in a while to play the songs we all love from our first 15 years and beyond. Hope to see a load of you in November.”

You’ll definitely be seeing a fair few of us there, lads.

Bastille arrives in Manchester for one momentous anniversary night on Friday, 14 November and you can bet the arena will sell out quickly.

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They are also showing their support for grassroots youth music spaces by giving a tour donation to Youth Music’s ‘Rescue the Roots’ campaign, which helps raise money for the next generation of young creatives.

As mentioned above, there will be two opportunities at pre-sale: first for Three+ mobile members from 10 am on Wednesday, 26 March, and then again via the venue at the same time the following day; as for general admission tickets, they will go live next Friday (28 Mar), also at 10am.

You can get ready to grab yours HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Images (supplied)

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JLS announce huge UK tour including Manchester gig

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson JLS have announced a huge UK tour including a Manchester show

Boy band JLS have just announced a huge Manchester gig as part of a new UK tour.

The Everybody in Love singers will be heading out on a new tour, The Club Is Alive Tour, this autumn.

Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill shared the exiting news of the new tour dates this afternoon.

JLS will be performing at cities including Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield, as they head to arenas right across the UK.

And support will come from fellow noughties legend Example, who’s behind massive songs like Last Ones Standing, Kickstarts, and Changed The Way You Kiss Me.

JLS formed on the X Factor back in 2008, when they placed as runners-up to Alexandra Burke.

Then they went on to release five chart-topping angles and hit singles like Everybody in Love, She Makes Me Wanna, and One Shot.

The group parted ways in 2013 but reunited for a huge Beat Again tour in 2021.

And now they’re back again, heading to the Co-op Live this November.

Announcing the news this afternoon, they said: “It’s official! We’re hitting the road this year for “The Club Is Alive Tour” with our very special guests Example.

“Get all the info on JLSofficial.com and make sure to click the link and sign up for presale access to tickets. If you miss that, tickets will go on sale to the public on March 28th at 10 AM.”

Tickets will be on sale HERE.

JLS tour dates in full

  • 6 November – Glasgow OVO Hydro
  • 7 November – Aberdeen P&J Live
  • 8 November – Newcastle Utilita Arena
  • 10 November – Belfast SSE Arena
  • 11 November – Dublin 3Arena
  • 13 November – Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
  • 14 November – Sheffield Utilita Arena
  • 15 November – Manchester Co-op Live
  • 17 November – Cardiff Utilita Arena
  • 20 November – Leeds First Direct Arena
  • 21 November – Birmingham Utilita Arena
  • 23 November – Bournemouth International Centre
  • 25 November – Brighton Centre
  • 27 November – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
  • 28 and 29 November – London The O2

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Featured image: Publicity picture

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Sarah Harding breast cancer study has helped save over 80 women

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

A life-saving study set in memory of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding has seen her lasting legacy extend far beyond music, as now women across the country are getting cancer tests more frequently thanks to the research.

Funded by The Christie, The Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal began its first phase of the BCAN-RAY (Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Younger Women) back in May 2023.

Led by Dr Sacha Howell, who was Harding’s consultant, the work explores risk factors and creates personalised early screening options for women as young as 30.

This is extremely important as currently women are only invited for routine breast screenings every three years from 50 onwards. Awareness and being proactive are just as important as research.

Sarah Harding has a mural dedicated to in her memory situated in her hometown of Stockport.
Sarah Harding, who passed away in 2021, has a dedicated mural in her hometown of Stockport.
Credit: The Manc Group

The studies set up in Sarah‘s legacy are vital now more than ever as breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35-50 years in the UK.

These more frequent and routine checks from a younger age will be vital, especially since an estimated 10,000 women a year are diagnosed under 50. 

The BCAN-RAY study has recruited 500 women aged between 30 and 39 years old, who have had their risk assessment appointments.

Out of this number – 404 patients have been given their risks – 316 as ‘average risk’ and 88 were found as ‘increased risk’.

88 were found as ‘increased risk’ with 58 of these receiving telephone calls to discuss further implications and discuss strategies to reduce this such as diet, exercise and medication.

So far 18 women have had their first mammogram, with no recalls or cancer identified. Following this, each woman is offered regular screening every year until their NHS breast screening starts at age 50. 

Dr Sacha Howell commented, “We’re really confident that we have a system that is working, from the results so far, which is great news, these findings mean that we may be able to offer personalised ways to predict and prevent breast cancer more widely in the population in future”.

Just last year, Girls Aloud embarked on their first tour together in a decade and each night of the show featured a glorious tribute to the Stockport-born star.

Girls Aloud featured a glorious tribute to Sarah Harding each night of the show.
Girls Aloud featured a glorious tribute to Sarah Harding each night of the show.
Girls Aloud featured a glorious tribute to Sarah Harding each night of the show.
The lovely Sarah Harding singing to Manchester one last time.
Credit: Audio North

In 2022, The Christie art and relaxation room received a wonderful makeover from proceeds raised at the Primrose Ball organised by Girls Aloud.

Within this room, visitors can find a lovely framed picture of Sarah Harding with the quote, “The darkest nights produce the brightest stars” and with all the work accomplished so far, we couldn’t agree more.

If you would like to show your support and help fund this life-changing research set up in Sarah’s legacy, you can donate HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – The Christie (supplied)

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