Hollywood actor Jeffrey Wright recently mused over his love of Manchester music in a recent radio interview and now he’s probably our new favourite A-lister.
Speaking on a recent BBC Radio 6 interview with host Deb Grant who was subbing in for Lauren Laverne’s regular show, the Batman, Westworld and James Bond star was discussing his passionate obsession with lyricists and named Manc songwriters in particular as among those he admires the most.
Clearly a man of culture and who knows what he’s talking about, ‘r Jeff.
With Grant broadcasting from MediaCityUK, Wright saw his moment to dive into a subject he clearly knows and loves, starting off by saying: “I’m fascinated by the music that comes out of Manchester”.
As you can see from the brief clip, the 58-year-old American film and TV star goes on to state that it’s “Particularly the lyricists” that have arisen from this city’s music scene that he reveres the most.
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Citing the work of Morrisey and Johnny Marr, as well as Joy Division‘s late great Ian Curtis, it was yet another reminder of just how international music from our region has been over the decades.
He even details having played The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths non-stop during his college (university) years, insisting that it “stayed on our turntable, my last year, for an entire semester. I don’t think we took it off.”
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“The lyrics, the poetry — is there something in the air that builds these people out here, what’s the deal?”, asked Wright, to which Grant quickly replied: “Rain, mist, cold weather. It’s kind of famous for it, isn’t it? That kind of acerbic, sort of, turn of phrase which is kind of unique to Manchester”.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons (via Picryl.com)Credit: Remko Hoving (via Flickr)Jeffrey Wright named The Smiths lads and Ian Curtis as two of his favourite Manchester music names.
Confessing that he’s never visited the city before but would love to come and see it for himself — quipping that maybe he’d be able to “‘drink the water’, or whatever, be so inspired” — the BBC host said that he’d “be so welcome”. Amen to that.
Let us know whenever you fancy popping over to 0161, mate, we’ll show you ’round and town, make you a proper brew and we can just sit and listen to tunes all day. Sounds heavenly, to be honest.
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You can listen to his full interview on Radio 6 HERE or via BBC Sounds.
Featured Images — BBC Radio 6 (via TikTok)/Gage Skidmore (via Flickr)
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Appeal launched to find the owner of live chickens found at Creamfields festival
Daisy Jackson
The hunt is on to find the owner of a pair of chickens who were discovered at Creamfields festival.
The two birds were spotted on the grounds of the huge electronic music festival by bewildered festival-goers.
The cockerel and hen were trapped in a hedge, after it appears they wandered onto the festival campsite before the security barriers were installed.
The birds then found themselves trapped inside as around 70,000 music fans poured into Cheshire for a line-up that included Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Disclosure, and Tiësto.
The chickens have been safely rescued from the Creamfields festival site and are recovering at a wildlife centre, and now the RSPCA is on a mission to find their owner.
Festival-goers first called the RSPCA on Saturday 29 August to alert them to the cockerel and hen trapped inside the festival, one of whom assisted in the rescue mission.
RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper: “I was surprised that they were inside the festival site and I needed to get through the road blocks and security before reaching them on foot through muddy fields. I met the caller who helped me as they were just running up and down the hedge line where there was a wire fence blocking access.
Where the chickens were discovered at CreamfieldsThe RSPCA wants to track their owners down
“We managed to guide them out and I caught both of them with my rescue net which was a bit of a sight for the festival campers.
“I don’t think they were abandoned and they’re more likely to be stray because it’s farmland all around the festival site. They don’t have any health issues, apart from being quite underweight.
“With the fences going up a week before the festival starts they’d probably been unable to get out for some time and had been left foraging in the hedge. Someone mentioned that a third bird was also trapped, although we couldn’t find any others.
“I am really grateful to the festival-goer who found them and alerted us to their plight.”
Data reveals Manchester hotel prices have ALREADY surged by 462% on rumoured Oasis tour dates
Emily Sergeant
Manchester hotel prices have apparently already surged by 462% on rumoured Oasis tour dates, some new data has revealed.
Of course, absolutely nothing is set in stone yet and we are still yet to receive any form of announcement.
But with rumours having been swirling for months now that Oasis will be touring again in 2027, and several videos shared on the band’s social media platforms this week also hinting at that, it’s been revealed that searches for ‘when are Oasis tickets going on sale?’ have soared by 5,000% in the last seven days alone.
After recent data has pointed towards soaring searches for tickets, the experts at SeatPick decided to analyse the average cost of accommodation in Manchester on the suspected concert nights in June 2027 to uncover if prices have surged along with the searches.
Data reveals that Manchester hotel prices have already surged by 462% on rumoured Oasis tour dates / Credit: The Manc Group | Simon Emmett (Press Picture)
And lo and behold, it appears that they have.
The ticketing platform has revealed that hotel prices have surged by up to 462% during Oasis’ rumoured concert nights in Manchester.
The rumoured weekend date of 19 and 20 June has experienced the most noticeable price surge – with a two-star hotel costing an average of £216 for just one overnight stay.
The data also reveals that the rumoured finale on the 27 June has just a £95 difference between two-star hotels (£200) and five-star hotels (£295).
“Our analysis uncovered an enormous markup for local accommodation on nights that Oasis is rumoured to perform in Manchester,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO at ticket platform SeatPick.
“Being aware of these accommodation costs and additional expenses can help fans plan and avoid being caught off guard by inflated prices on concert nights.
“To find the best deals on hotels, concertgoers should scan budget chains in the city or look slightly outside of the centre in hotspots served by local bus routes or regional trains, such as Salford and Trafford.
Danny Jones -
20th March 2024 
