Bloc Party have just announced a trio of massive summer shows next year and one of them is right here in Manchester as part of the Sounds of the City lineup for 2025.
The seasoned indie rock icons have been around in some form or another for over two and a half decades now, if you can believe that, and they’re still one of the most influential contemporary bands to have come out of Britain in a very long time.
With that in mind, the news that they’re not only returning to Manchester but set to return for another Castlefield Bowl concert – a feat few artists are given the chance to do – has absolutely made our week.
Landing at the legendary outdoor gig venue on 10 July, the show will be in line with the 20th anniversary. of their much-loved debut album, Silent Alarm.
Also set to play Brighton On The Beach as well as headline next year’s Live At Leeds In The Park festival lineup as part of the wider celebrations, it’s going to be a big summer for the veteran of the UK alternative scene.
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Therefore, it’s only fitting that the London-formed quartet perform the seminal album in full along with a selection of the greatest hits. These are the tracks that helped influence the likes of Foals, Manchester’s very own Everything Everything; Paramore, The Maccabees and many more.
With our much-loved amphitheatre boasting a capacity of around 8,000, we can’t wait to see a sea of Mancs bouncing around to ‘Banquet’, ‘Helicopter’, ‘Flux’ and more.
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Given that the 2005 LP was their breakthrough record – and it still slaps just as hard to this day, by the way – it’s also a celebration of more than 20 years of Bloc Party as a whole, so you best put in some proper effort, Manchester.
Just picture these scenes only under the shadow of the Castlefield Bowl canopy. Sublime.
It’s been two years since their last album Alpha Games but we have heard our first taster of their newest and as yet untitled project following the release of their summer 2024 single, ‘Flirting Again’. We don’t have a release date just yet but, believe us, it’s coming.
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If you haven’t heard it already, it won’t surprise you one bit to hear that they sound as good as ever.
Pre-sale access to their Castlefield Bowl starts from 9am on Wednesday, 30 October, and can be accessed by signing up for their mailing list.
As for general admission, tickets to see Bloc Party in Manchester go live at the same time on Friday morning, 1 November – you can grab yours HERE.
Featured Images — Press Image (supplied)/The Manc Group
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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 -
25th October 2024 
