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Bastille at Sounds of the City, Castlefield Bowl — supports, stage times, setlist and more

Literally already humming Pompeii.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 7th July 2023

We’ve already had the likes of The Lathums, Pulp, Hozier, The Blossoms and more at this year’s Sounds of the City festival, and now it’s time for Bastille to bring their best to Castlefield Bowl.

The alternative/indie-pop hit-makers of the 2010s are fittingly celebrating 10 years since their seminal album, now being re-released as Bad Blood X, and their anniversary tour sees them return to Manchester just over a year on from their massive AO Arena show.

Bastille haven’t stopped pumping out music but it’s hard to believe it’s been a whole decade since the debut record and it’s got us feeling all nostalgic for old FIFA soundtracks, their massive sets at Glastonbury and Radio 1’s Big Weekend and just a great time for music in general.

That being said, the boys are still going strong and are next up in what has already been an immense lineup for Sounds of the City 2023, so just like with all the other headliners, we thought we’d give you a rundown of everything you need to know ahead of their big gig on Friday, 7 July.

Tickets — we have bad news…

Oh dear, Bastille at the Bowl is all sold out, what a shocker.

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In all seriousness, this lot are one of the biggest bands in Britain and you were always going to have to get in early if you wanted to stand a chance of getting a ticket, especially considering they sold out the Arena last year.

Of course, it’s worth keeping your eye out for spares on resale sites like Twickets and TicketSwap but, as always, we advise being cautious when dealing with any resellers and urge you to stay away from ticket touts at all costs. No point in getting stung and making the problem even bigger, folks.

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Who’s supporting Bastille in Manchester?

Before the Bastille boys themselves, you’ll be treated to three different support acts over the several hours you’ll be spending in the glorious outdoor arena.

Starting with a warm-up from a DJ that is yet to be announced — as has been the case every night at this year’s festival — you’ll then get to see one of Merseyside’s rising stars in 21-year-old, Michael Aldag, who’s opened for the likes of the Lightning Seeds, Miles Kane and many more.

After that, your second support will come from popular Irish singer-songwriter, Orla Gartland, who’s been on the scene for some time now and will also be returning for her own headline show later this year at Manchester Academy 2.

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Bastille Castlefield Bowl stage times

As for when everyone’s turning up, doors will be open from 5:30pm as it has every night in this series and the DJ will be pumping out the tunes from the moment you walk into the venue.

The first support Michael Aldag is due to kick things off at 6:45pm, followed by a short interval before Orla Gartland comes on at 7:45pm, as well as one last break before the main event.

Bastille are due to come on stage at 9pm and the curfew is likely to land around 11pm, so you’ve got a good couple hours of partying. Enjoy!

Setlist (have a guess …)

Listen, this is the ’10 Years of Bad Blood’ anniversary tour: it pretty much does what it says on the tin and considering this was the first time we were introduced to Bastille, we’re more than happy to roll back the years.

As verified by previous shows on Setlist.fm, the band will be playing the album in full as well as an encore where they might mix things up a bit more, but here’s the previous order they played things in:

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  1. Pompeii
  2. Things We Lost in the Fire
  3. Bad Blood
  4. Overjoyed
  5. These Streets
  6. Weight of Living, Pt. II
  7. Icarus
  8. Oblivion
  9. Flaws
  10. Daniel in the Den
  11. Laura Palmer
  12. Get Home
  13. Weight of Living, Pt. I

Encore:

  • Good Grief
  • WHAT YOU GONNA DO???
  • The Draw
  • No Angels (with BIM)
  • Happier (Marshmello & Bastille cover)
  • Million Pieces
  • Of the Night
  • Shut Off the Lights

About Castlefield Bowl

If you’ve never been before, Castlefield Bowl is a beautiful amphitheatre-style outdoor venue right here in Manchester city centre. Although all tickets are billed as unreserved standing, if you’re quick you can take a seat on the large concrete steps that curve around the stage.

Best view in the house and you can obviously stand throughout; plenty of people also take a perch up on the grassy banks at the back of the venue too, which gives you a great view of the stage and the rest of the roughly 8,000-strong crowd.

Castlefield Bowl is located at 101 Liverpool Road in the city centre, with the closest tram stop being Deansgate-Castlefield just a six-minute walk up the road; you can also walk it from the major train stations, or use the 101, 197, 255, 256, 41, 50 or X50 buses.

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Weather forecast

It’s looking like it’s gonna be a hot one on Friday, with temperatures set to peak at around 26C between 5 and 6pm, i.e. just as you arrive at the venue.

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Luckily, it’s set to be clear skies pretty much all day apart from very early in the morning, so you’ll be able to soak in all the proper festival vibes.

Once again, this is an outdoor venue and there’s only coverage on the canopied section of stone steps towards the back of the amphitheatre, so get plenty of fluids down you, whack on some suncream and maybe take a hat — you can always throw it on stage at the frontman and his glorious hair at the end.

We’ll cheers to that. Another night of Sounds of the City is nearly here and Castlefield’s going to popping yet again — bring on Bastille at the Bowl!

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

Featured Image — Bastille/Joe Horridge (via Instagram)/Wikimedia Commons

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Blossoms credit Courteeners as ‘a big reason that we’re a band’

Danny Jones Danny Jones Blossoms say The Courteeners are a big reason they're a band

High-flying indie five-piece Blossoms have credited Courteeners as a “big reason” that they became a band in a recent interview.

The Stockport outfit – who enjoyed an utterly stellar 2024 amidst the release of their critically acclaimed album, Gary – have not long finished their most recent tour, but they claim it may never have happened without the Middleton group.

And they don’t just mean in terms of inspiration: as they explained, it was the Courteeners’ generosity and support during their early days that helped them get a foot in the door.

Speaking to Radio X earlier this week, Blossoms were invited to look back on what was unquestionably a massive year for music and review it from A-Z; when they arrived at the letter C, there was only one answer that came to mind.

Drummer Joe Donovan said of the fellow Greater Manchester music icons: “They’re a big reason that we’re a band – having a band so close to home, that felt like we can do this.”

Speaking about the Middleton-based indie rockers, he went on to insist, “We can’t thank them enough for being so kind to us.”

Blossoms not only supported Courteeners at their massive 2023 Heaton Park show but have twice been warm-up acts for Liam Fray and co. at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

The first occasion came back in 2017 towards the start of their career, having not long released their debut record and still a year before they would release their sophomore outing.

All three gigs were obviously massive, both in helping put the local lads on the map and get their music out to new audiences and in helping nurture what is clearly a close relationship between the two bands.

During lockdown, Fray and the Blossoms combined for an ‘isolated’, stripped-back and ultimately viral cover of the classic 2008 Courteeners track, ‘Please Don’t’, from their first-ever LP St. Jude, which was recently re-released as a 15th Anniversary Edition.

Cut to a few years later and each band is still riding their own waves of popularity, with the Stopfordians only getting bigger as time goes on and Courteeners returning with their seventh studio album, Pink Cactus Café, back in October – on which Blossoms bassist Charlie Salt featured.

As they put it, their forerunners turned collaborators gave them “the belief” to not just play but keep making music and releasing it into the world, not to mention giving them the confidence to perform the kind of charismatic and much-talked-about live shows they’re known for today.

We have no doubt Blossoms x Courteeners connections will remain strong for years to come and you can almost bank on them sharing a festival stage or big headline billing again in the near future.

It won’t be long before the former are back on the road either, with plenty of gigs coming up this spring and summer, and we’re sure you’ll hear more live news from the Courteeners soon enough too.

Read more:

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Press Image (supplied)

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Liam Gallagher sheds light on potential reunion setlist for Oasis Live ’25

Danny Jones Danny Jones Liam Gallagher hints at Oasis reunion setlist Live '25

Liam Gallagher is perennially on social media these days and in his latest spell killing time online, the Oasis frontman has hinted at a potential setlist for the long-awaited reunion tour.

We’ve still got to wait until summer before the Oasis Live ’25 world tour fully kicks off, with Manchester’s Heaton Park set for five massive hometown dates in July, but people are already starting to lick their lips at the mere idea of what songs the legendary Britpop band might play now they’re back.

Now, of course, you can rightly assume we’ll hear the likes of ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Champagne Supernova’ and all the other hits, but it’s trying to fill in the blanks between the famous singles that people are having most fun with.

One Twitter—sorry, X user looks to have come pretty close in fact, as Liam Gallagher himself replied to a fan asking if a rumoured Oasis reunion setlist ‘leaked’ online was genuine – to which the 52-year-old had this to say.

As you can see, his reply to the heavily reshared mock-up of the suspected Oasis Live ’25 setlist looks to be one largely of confirmation, admitting that it’s not far off what the Burnage boys have cooking up.

LG himself confirmed that rehearsals had begun back in October which means that, yes, the Gallaghers haven’t just been in the same room as each other for a few quick pictures but they’ve actually played music together for the first time in over 15 years – and have been doing so for the past few months.

Whether or not the creator of this supposed setlist has managed to guess roughly the right running order or manage to guess a few of the less obvious album tracks that the Manchester icons, we’ll just have to wait and see.

If it’s even a little bit the latter then fans of deeper cuts like ‘The Hindu Times’ and ‘Shakermaker’ will be buzzing, but the greater likelihood is that the duo have just packed their upcoming performances with as many well-known and much-loved bangers as possible.

We’ll be happy with whatever they come out with, to be honest – we just want to finally see scenes like this in this flesh.

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If it’s any indication whatsoever, not too long ago Radio X shared the final list of tracks the pair played together at V Festival 2009 before the infamous row in Paris that saw them split.

That being said, they were of course still touring the last album they put out, Dig Out Your Soul (2008), back then and, as much of a soft spot we have for some of the tracks on there, we expect much very few of the songs off that record will make the final cut.

What about you lot, then: what tunes would you most like to hear on the ‘Oasis Live ’25’ setlist when the reunion finally rolls around?

We’ve certainly got our favourites – and in order, no less…

The 30 greatest Oasis songs of all time

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

Featured Images — Stefan Brending/Warner Music Sweden (via Wikimedia Commons)/Press Image

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