Bluedot festival is finally set to return next weekend after two years of cancellations.
The much-loved festival marries together the worlds of music and science and takes place at arguably the most beautiful location in the UK.
Some of the world’s biggest artists will be performing beneath the awesome sight of the 76-metre-wide Lovell Telescope, which will be lit up with projections as a huge digital artwork for the first time.
Bluedot will be back between 21 and 24 July for its fifth instalment.
Here’s everything you need to know about the massive festival near Greater Manchester.
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Who are the headliners?
Bjork and Metronomy will both headline Bluedot 2022. Credit: Supplied
This year, headliners at Bluedot will include Groove Armada (as part of the band’s final live tour), post-rockers Mogwai, and Metronomy.
In a UK festival exclusive, Bjork will perform a uniquely commissioned performance with the Halle Orchestra to close the festival.
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Bluedot’s now-traditional opening concert on the Thursday evening will see Mercury-nominated Hannah Peel and Paraochestra take to the stage.
Also confirmed on the bill are psychedelic space rockers Spiritualized, current chart-toppers Yard Act, Warp Records mainstay Squarepusher, multi-instrumentalist composer Anna Meredith, the legendary likes of A Certain Ratio and Tim Burgess, and techno producer and creator of the official theme for the 2023 Women’s World Cup Kelly Lee Owens.
Bluedot 2022’s science programme will welcome key speakers including Radio 4’s Jam Al-Khalili, British filmmaker David Olusoga, space scientist Monica Grady, and many more.
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Comedians such as Desiree Burch, Olga Koch, Robin Ince and Ahir Shah will also be making appearances as part of the culture programme.
How much are tickets?
Bluedot Festival. Credit: Lucas Sinclair
There are still some tickets available for Bluedot festival.
Last release weekend tickets for adults are £205.25 including booking fees (then it’s £87 for 11-15 year olds, and £27.50 for children aged between six and 10 years old).
If you want to add on early Thursday entry, it’s £31.90 for adults.
You can also add on access to the VIP Village for £110.00 including booking fees.
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Where is Bluedot festival and how do I get there?
Bluedot Festival. Credit: George Harrison
Bluedot takes place at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
If you’re making your own way there, you’ll need to use the postcode SK11 9DW.
There are also coach travel packages available with National Express from cities around the UK.
What are the gate times?
The weekend campsite will open from midday on Thursday 21 July for those with a Thursday add-on ticket. For everyone else, it will open from 9am on the Friday.
For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, gates to the festival will be open between 9am and 9pm.
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What’s the camping situation?
Bluedot Festival. Credit: Scott Salt
There are several camping options to choose from at Bluedot, and general weekend tickets include access to the standard camping site.
There are also a limited number of boutique campsites at The Colony, which are selling out quick – you can browse remaining availability at discoverthebluedot.com/accommodation.
Bluedot has included family-only areas within the standard campsite for those bringing children, and space for live-in vehicles.
Bluedot is a fully cashless festival across its bars, food stands, merchandise and other points of sale, in a bit to improve customer experience with faster service and shorter queue times.
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Unlike 2019, the festival won’t be operating a payment wristband system and will instead just be using standard payment methods.
That means all major credit and debit cards can be used, either as contactless or chip and pin, as well as wearable forms of payment like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Featured image: Lucas Sinclair
Audio
Fall Out Boy announce massive Manchester gig on upcoming tour – how to get tickets
Daisy Jackson
Fall Out Boy have announced a huge UK and European tour, including a massive gig here in Manchester.
The legendary pop-punk group, who were behind hit songs like Sugar, We’re Goin Down and Dance, Dance, will be heading this way on their headline tour, So Much For (Tour) Dust.
Today, the Grammy Award-nominated noughties rock icons announced 15 dates, including a stop at the AO Arena on 29 October.
The new Fall Out Boy tour is in support of their forthcoming new album So Much (For) Stardust, which is due for release on 24 March 2023.
Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman surprised fans with a homecoming show in Chicago’s 1000-capacity Metro, which sold out immediately.
They first played the same venue back in September 2002, a pivotal gig in their huge career.
Patrick said on their return: “Twenty years ago, I told my mom I was going to take a semester off [college] because we were headlining Metro and I wanted to see how that would work out…”
Pete Wentz added: “Walking up those stairs is the closest thing this band will have to church.”
The show also featured the live public debut of both Love From The Other Side and Heartbreak Feels So Good, two tracks from the new album.
Fall Out Boy have recently taken part in The Hella Mega Tour, alongside Green Day and Weezer, playing in front of more than one million fans across the globe.
So Much (For) Stardust is Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album and first since 2018’s M A N I A, which garnered a GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Album.
Fans who pre-order the new album from falloutboy.lnk.to/store/ will get exclusive pre-sale access to UK and Europe tour tickets, with the pre-sale going live at 4pm on Wednesday 8 February.
General tickets will be available for purchase from 10am Friday 17 February.
Fall Out Boy will be joined by PVRIS and nothing.nowhere. on all European dates.
Fall Out Boy’s UK tour dates in full
October
27 October – Leeds, First Direct Arena
28 October – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
29 October – Manchester, AO Arena
31 October – Birmingham, Utilita Arena Birmingham
2 November – London, The O2
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
People can’t decide whether or not Liam Gallagher did a surprise gig in a random pub
Danny Jones
People on social media are torn over a clip that appears to show Liam Gallagher, or a very impressive lookalike, doing an impromptu performance at a local pub in Kent.
The video has had thousands of likes and shares, not to mention countless views, as people online are struggling to suss whether it is actually Liam or not.
Originally shared to TikTok by user Jake Body, the video of the supposed surprise Liam Gallagher gig was captured in a local pub in Halling, a small village located in the North Downs part of Kent and seems to have plenty of people commenting that it was indeed him.
That being said, there are just as many saying the opposite and we’re now at the point where we really don’t know what we believe anymore.
As you can see, it doesn’t just look like him, the individual (whoever he is) sounds and stands exactly like him too. It’s beyond uncanny.
Again, it’s not like we haven’t seen lookalikes and people doing that very recognisable impression before but to have all three in one video, you have to admit there’s part of you that makes you second-guess yourself.
Many online have noted that the 50-year-old has recently had hip surgery and so it’s unlikely that he just decided to head down to a random boozer and do a surprise performance.
On the other hand, he did recently decide to book a skiing holiday for the following week just days later.
Busy bloke but he could have squeezed in a quick set, we suppose? That being said, someone did rather amusingly remark that he had to cut his performance short by 30 minutes.
Despite several people commenting and tagging the man himself and saying things like “thanks for the picture!” and so on, they do fail to provide any further evidence to prove whether it was actually him.
However, it’s worth noting that the younger Oasis brother has unassumingly popped into his fair share of watering holes in the past and even did enjoy a jamming session with some other locals in County Mayo, Ireland a few years back, so a surprise Liam Gallagher gig in a pub isn’t as unlikely as it sounds.
Guess the only way we’ll find out for sure is to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Fingers crossed he clears up the debate.
Daisy Jackson -
20th July 2022 
