Charli XCX is touching down in Manchester this week for the first night of her long-awaited BRAT tour.
The massive tour follows a huge summer for the British artist, where tracks from her sixth studio album – including Apple, Guess, and 360 – dominated festival circuits and dancefloors across the globe.
The 32-year-old star then took things a step further with her remix album, Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.
Her latest album was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, and it’s up for seven Grammy Awards early next year.
Charli XCX has even performed a huge surprise free gig at Times Square in New York City, no less, just last week.
This massive new tour will bring her back to the UK for just a handful of arena shows, including a gig at the Co-op Live in Manchester.
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Here’s everything you need to know.
Charli XCX 2024 UK tour dates
Wed 27 November – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live Arena
Thu 28 November – London, UK – The O2
Fri 29 November – Birmingham, UK – Resorts World Arena
Mon 02 December – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro Arena
Charli XCX has announced details of a huge UK tour. Credit: Hayley Weir
Charli XCX tickets for Manchester Co-op Live gig
No, you’re too late.
After such a hugely popular summer, Charli XCX has driven HUGE demand and her massive arena shows are totally sold out.
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Your only chance of getting tickets now is to check fan-to-fan resale sites like Twickets.
Who’s supporting Charli XCX?
Charli XCX is being supported by singer and DJ Shygirl on all her UK dates.
The British singer, rapper, songwriter and DJ, who also founded record label Nuxxe, is famed for her blend of dance, hip-hop, experimental pop, grime and deconstructed club music.
Her big hits include Cleo, encore, Mr useless, Nasty and BB.
What are the stage times for Charli XCX in Manchester?
These haven’t been announced yet by Co-op Live but we do know that doors to the venue will open at 6.30pm.
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The venue has said that there’ll be an 8pm start, which will presumably be when Shygirl takes to the stage.
Then Charli XCX herself should be on somewhere between 9pm and 9.30pm before a gig curfew of 11pm.
Once the venue shares official stage times we’ll be sure to update this article.
Expected setlist
Well, this is an unusual one – as Manchester gets the BRAT tour before anyone else, we actually have no clue what the setlist will look like.
There are sure to be plenty of club bangers and dance floor fillers from Charli XCX’s latest album as well as her earlier work.
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She recently held a joint tour with Troye Sivan in the states, so we’ve picked out her parts of the setlist there below to give you a rough idea.
365 360 Von dutch Club classics Unlock It Sympathy is a knife Guess Spring breakers Girl, so confusing Everything is romantic Speed Drive Apple Vroom Vroom 1999 Track 10 I Love It Talk talk
Boyzone to reunite for exclusive New Year’s Eve special on the BBC
Danny Jones
2025 has very much been the year of the comeback – be it Oasis, Britpop fashion in general, or short bobs and pixie cuts – so it’s only fitting that we round off the calendar with one last reunion, as throwback boyband Boyzone are set to feature on a TV special on the BBC this New Year’s Eve.
Turns out ‘All That I Need’ to make a year memorable is a load of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, obviously, despite plenty of other music names enjoying a second renaissance over the past 12 months or so, nothing is ever going to be quite as big as the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour.
However, if you asked us to guess which group from the era were also going to reunite this year back in January, there’s not a chance we would’ve said Boyzone.
Boyzone are telling us about coming back together for one final run in their most unforgettable concerts yet 🎤
After news first began circulating earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that musician turned presenter Ronan Keating will be getting back together with two of his former bandmates.
Joining the 48-year-old for ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’, ex-Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch are part of an exciting live music lineup.
Other names include actor and singer, Shona McGarty, who recently starred on season 25 of I’m A Celeb, as well as fellow 90s pop artist Louise Redknapp and singer-songwriter Calum Scott.
The exclusive reunion comes after the success of the recently aired Boyzone: No Matter What documentary show.
Spread across three parts on Sky, the docuseries (named after their hit song from 1998) looks back on the career and journey up the charts back in their heyday, all the way up to the present. After seemingly striking a chord with fans and the lads themselves, it looks like they’re not done after all…
Yes, not only is the festive TV special going to see three of the original members performing alongside each other again, but
Here’s hoping that turns into a springboard for something even bigger, and we get a Manchester arena show sometime soon.
As for the programme itself, ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’ will be broadcast on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit concert dedicated to the one and only Queen, with a spectacular West End Cast and a talented live rock band, is coming to Manchester city centre in January.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
Daisy Jackson -
26th November 2024 
