Audio

BBC Radio 6 Music Festival to make return to Greater Manchester next month with massive line-up

The station's flagship event is back in town this March with a belting line-up

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 15th February 2023

The BBC Radio 6 Music Festival will return to Greater Manchester this March with a massive line-up of musicians performing in our home city.

Set to take over the O2 Victoria Warehouse between Friday 24 and Sunday 26 March, the bill of performers includes Loyle Carner, Christine and the Queens, and Arlo Parks.

They’ll also be joined by the likes of Wu-Lu, Lava La Rue and The Big Moon, not to mention DJ sets across the weekend and a warm-up show at Band on the Wall from BBC Music Introducing Live.

The station’s flagship event will include global premieres of new live shows, music debuts, surprise guests and major collaborations.

The O2 Victoria Warehouse was the site of the first-ever BBC Radio 6 Music Festival back in 2014, and Greater Manchester will now be the event’s permanent home.

ADVERTISEMENT

Loyle Carner will use the festival to showcase a brand new collaboration with the AMC Gospel Choir on Friday 24 March, while Christine and the Queens will bring the global premiere of his new live show on Saturday 25 March, and Arlo Parks will perform new music with special guests on Sunday 26 March.

DJ sets across the weekend will come from the likes of AFRODEUTSCHE, Erol Alkan, Daniel Avery, Don Letts, Good Future, Hot Chip, Jamz Supernova, Steve Lamacq, Tarzsa, The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, Yard Act and BBC Introducing DJs, Emily Pilbeam and Phoebe I-H.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loyle Carner 2022
Christine and the Queens

The main live shows at O2 Victoria Warehouse are set to be complimented by club nights at Band on the Wall and Victoria Warehouse, themed around 6 Music’s Indie Forever and Rave Forever shows and a Morning After Mix live broadcast on the Sunday at RAMONA.

Highlights from the festival will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio Manchester from MediaCityUK in Salford, as well as on BBC Sounds, BBC Four, BBC iPlayer and BBC Music’s YouTube channel.

Tickets for each separate event will be available from 10am on Thursday 16 February at bbc.co.uk/6musicfestival

ADVERTISEMENT

Loyle Carner says: “Mad. Six years since we last played 6 Music Festival. Feels good to be back. The show’s evolved a lot since back then, lucky to share the stage with some of my musical heroes. Got a few extra voices coming through to lift us up too. See you soon.”

Arlo Parks

Chris says: “What I will be very eager to share with you for the first time ever will be a glimpse into the second part of the big journey that I started with you guys, with Redcar. Redcar is the first iteration of a very intense musical journey that occupied my two last years. I was heavily inspired by this piece called Angels in America by Tony Kushner when I wrote the music I will unveil to you at that moment. I’m literally so excited to do it that I am for the first time of my life at loss of words in the best way. The follow up of the journey gets into territories that I never explored myself musically before, really. I was a bit obsessed with what rock and roll means today. Very much related to the flesh and to transcendence – to how an incandescent presence inside your own flesh just can transform everything.”

Arlo Parks says: “This is the first time I’ll be introducing my new album in a live setting and I’m so excited. To be surrounded by such innovative, singular artists is a real joy and I genuinely can’t wait for this.”

Wu-Lu says: “I am super excited about playing Manchester again – haven’t been back there in a while! Definitely going to show out, just going to try some new songs and try and do some exclusive stuff! Big shout to 6 Music for showing so much love over the course of our career.”

Lava La Rue says: “The first artist to bring me on a run of shows with them was Christine and the Queens – one of those first shows being in Manchester. It’s going to be exciting joining him on the line up for the 6 Music Festival back in Manny for a full circle moment. I was playing my debut single back on that tour with Chris and now I’ll be playing songs off my debut album at 6 Music Festival.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Big Moon says: “We’re so excited to be coming back to Manchester for the 6 Music Festival! Playing Manchester has always been a highlight of our tours, so we’re really excited to be back and this time with a super special surprise.”

Read more

Mary Anne Hobbs says: “The most exciting element about the 6 Music Festival is the coming together in a physical space, of our beloved 6 Music listeners, all the crew at the station and artists we love.”

Mark Radcliffe says: “It’s great to welcome the 6 Music festival back to Greater Manchester and particularly exciting that the focus this time will be on new work. It’s all at the Victoria Warehouse. It’s quite dark in there so I have booked an eye test in order to make sure I have the right glasses to see everything.”

Samantha Moy, Head of BBC Radio 6 Music says: “6 Music will be rooted in Salford over time, so we’re bringing the festival back home to Greater Manchester, where it all began, with some incredible performances. You may have seen Arlo Parks, Christine and the Queens and Loyle Carner before, but you won’t have seen them like this before. It promises to be a very special weekend indeed.”

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham said: “We are delighted to welcome the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival to Manchester. There is a rich musical heritage in Greater Manchester, and a real pride in the independent music scene, and as BBC Radio 6 Music has always supported new and alternative artists, it’s a perfect fit for the festival to have its permanent home in the city for the years to come. There’s so much new Greater Manchester music out there right now that deserves to be heard, which is why we started Artist of the Month with BBC Radio Manchester, and like BBC Radio 6 Music, we want to give emerging talent a platform.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Full line up for the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival 2023

Friday 24 March, from 6.30pm, O2 Victoria Warehouse

  • Tarza (DJ set)
  • Wu-Lu
  • Loyle Carner

Saturday 25 March, from 6.30pm, O2 Victoria Warehouse

  • Jamz Supernova (DJ set)
  • Lava La Rue
  • Christine and the Queens

Sunday 26 March, from 6.30pm, O2 Victoria Warehouse

  • Don Letts (DJ set)
  • The Big Moon
  • Arlo Parks

Thursday 23 March, from 7.30pm, Band on the Wall

BBC Music Introducing Live at Band on the Wall

  • Afflecks Palace
  • Antony Szmierek
  • Phoebe Green

Club nights

Friday 24 March, from 9pm, Band on the Wall

6 Music’s Indie Forever – nothing but solid gold, upbeat indie bangers from 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq and guest DJs:

  • BBC Music Introducing’s Emily Pilbeam (DJ set)
  • Good Future (DJ set)
  • Yard Act (DJ set)
  • Tim Burgess (DJ set)

Saturday 25 March, from 11pm, O2 Victoria Warehouse

6 Music’s Rave Forever – rave classics that listeners know and love with a sprinkling of the finest new club sounds from 6 Music’s AFRODEUTSCHE and guest DJs:

  • BBC Music Introducing’s Phoebe I-H (DJ set)
  • Hot Chip (DJ set)
  • Erol Alkan (DJ set)

Sunday 26 March, from 12pm, Ramona

Morning After Mix – Daniel Avery providing a two hour-long DJ set.

Featured image: BBC

Audio

16-year-old Manc busker, Alex Spencer, bags record deal with the same label that launched The Lathums

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manc busker Alex Spencer musician record deal Modern Sky

16-year-old busker Alex Spencer’s career has gone from strength to strength in the past couple of years. Now, after starting out singing on the rainy streets of Manchester, he has managed to bag himself a record deal.

You absolutely love to see it.

Young Alex from Droylsden has been entertaining passersby on Market Street and people all around Greater Manchester for some time now, and after years of graft that only a true music-loving Manc could muster, the local lad is taking the next step in his promising career.

Having made the step up from being one of many talented Manc buskers to playing plenty of proper gigs and even serenading the likes of the City squad, he has now been signed by record label Modern Sky and is set to release his first official single this April.

Credit: Alex Spencer (via Instagram)

Since stepping out of his home with a borrowed guitar under his arm as a young boy, Alex Spencer has gone from covering classics by 10CC, Arctic Monkeys and Sam Fender, to playing at the likes of New Century, Band on the Wall, Manchester Academy 3 and even in front of 20,000 at the AO Arena.

After securing an Arena slot as part of Young Voices’ ones to look out for in 2022 and even getting some airplay on Radio X, the teenager was spotted by the very same record company that launched The Lathums, Jamie Webster, Brooke Combe and even The Coral back in the day.

Now, Alex is focusing on writing songs of his own and has recently finished five for his upcoming EP, one of those being his lead single, ‘A Night To Waste’, with all of them set to be released via Modern Sky.

This, however, isn’t the first time we’ve come across Alex; The Manc Audio has had the pleasure of chatting and watching him busk on a number of occasions. This was the most recent.

Read more:

We’re beyond chuffed to see how far he’s come in such a short space of time and can’t wait to see him go far — which, of course, he definitely will.

Speaking ahead of the release of his debut record, Alex said: “It’s about the life of a teenager who wants to live their life a little and get out of the same old boring suburb. It’s about enjoying a good time with your friends and reminding you that none of us have a night to waste.

“It’s the same for so many people my age, especially after all the setbacks we’ve had over the past few years with lockdowns stopping us in our tracks.”

‘A Night To Waste’ drops on 25 April 2023; we were fortunate enough to get a sneak peek and, believe us, you’re in for a treat. This boy’s going to be big, so be sure to keep up to date with what he’s got coming next.

Featured Image — Alex Spencer (via Instagram)

Audio

Snoop Dogg says he’s a massive Coronation Street fan and is ‘determined’ to get a role on the show

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Snoop Dogg says he’s a massive Coronation Street fan.

Yes, it’s true – in what is news that admittedly sounds fake, but somehow actually isn’t, one of the best rappers of all time has revealed himself to be an avid watcher of Britain’s longest-running soap, and is such a fan of it, in fact, that he said he’s “determined” to make an appearance on it sometime in the future.

The iconic ITV soap – which is set in the fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield, and celebrated an impressive 60 years of entertaining the masses back in 2020 – currently averages around six million viewers per episode, and has developed a well-deserved legion of loyal fans over the last six decades.

And it turns out, one of those loyal fans is chart-topping rap superstar Snoop Dogg.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun this week, the 51-year-old first spoke about how he’s “down to perform” at King Charles III‘s Coronation in a couple of months time, before he launching into how much he loves another type of coronation.

“Coronation Street, I love it,” the 17-time Grammy Award nominee admitted.

Snoop Dogg says he’s a massive Coronation Street fan / Credit: ITV / The Manc Group

“If they call me I’ll do it. I’ll play whenever they need. I love the cinematography, acting, the storylines and just the reality.

“I’d like to be a part of it because they’ve been a part of my culture.”

As bizarre as it all sounds, this surprisingly isn’t the first time the rapper – whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr – has publicly revealed he’s a fan of the soap, and even famously admitted all the way back in 2010 that he had his agent get in touch with ITV to see if there was any chance he could make an appearance.

“I had my agent reach out to them to see if they could try to get me on and they said they were interested so hopefully it might happen,” Snoop told the BBC.

“It would be perfect for me to be on the show.”

The chart-topping rapper says he’s ‘determined’ to get a role on it / Credit: ITV

The Drop It Like It’s Hot and The Next Episode rapper isn’t the only famous name who’s revealed himself to be a fan of Coronation Street in recent months.

One of the greatest and most well-respected singer songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan, also admitted in an interview with WSJ back in December 2022 that he loves binge-watching the soap.

Read more:

Dylan explained that that he’s “no fan of packaged programs or news shows”, and that the ITV soap makes him “feel at home” despite being “old-fashioned”.

Featured Image – ITV / The Manc Group

More Audio

Craig David

Audio

Craig David announces huge outdoor gig at Barton Aerodrome in Manchester

Rockstock 2023 tickets

Audio

Rockstock, one of the UK’s biggest and best tribute festivals, returns to Stockport this May

The Chemical Brothers

Audio

The Chemical Brothers announce massive homecoming gig in Manchester

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches