The Clone Roses, alongside a host of other Manchester band tribute acts, will be taking to the stage at Heaton Park next summer.
The massive outdoor gig will celebrate our city’s rich musical heritage, with names like Oas-is, The Smiths Ltd, and Courtbetweeners all performing.
The show comes in celebration of The Clone Roses’ 25th anniversary and follows the success of last year’s Spike Island gig.
‘Heaton Park – The Resurrection’ will see the much-loved The Stone Roses tribute band follow in the footsteps of their idols Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani and Reni.
The Clone Roses. Credit: The Manc Wanderer
A decade after The Stone Roses’ 2012 reunion gigs at Heaton Park, The Clone Roses will be commemorating their own milestone.
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Gav Scott (aka ‘Ian’) says: “We’ve been wanting to do Heaton Park for ages but it’s such a popular and busy park. When the opportunity finally came, we couldn’t say no!
“Over the years, we’ve played the Blackpool Empress Ballroom, Spike Island, and now this… it feels like we’ve completed The Stone Roses cycle to a certain degree!”
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The Stone Roses at Heaton Park in 2012. Credit: Flickr
Speaking of those 2012 Heaton Park gigs, which Gav watched from the crowd, he said: “We went on the Saturday and it was strange for us as we weren’t really getting into it like everyone else… we were thinking things like ‘what’s Mani wearing’, ‘what’s the guitar John is playing,’ making notes on setlist!
“Still loved it mind, and we never got to see them first time round so it was an incredible moment for us… That Roses Heaton Park setlist was all the classic songs you’d hope them to play so I’ve no doubt our show will be very similar to their set in 2012.”
He continued: “We’d love to celebrate our 25th Anniversary in the city that have been so loyal to us from day one.
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“I think people have accepted that we really put the effort into recreating a Roses show and they are really supportive of what we do. In terms of the day itself, there’s going to be an absolute feast of Manchester music!”
Warm-up acts will include famous faces from the original Madchester era, like DJ sets from Bez and Clint Boon.
There’ll also be other ‘cloners’ (or tribute acts) including Oas-is, The Smiths Ltd, The Courtbetweeners, Happy Mondaze and The James Experience.
Heaton Park: The Resurrection will take place on Saturday 13 May 2023.
Tickets will be priced from £22.50, with VIP packages available, and go on sale on Saturday 5 November at 10am. You can get yours at www.the-resurrection.co.uk.
Gig tickets, signed merch and more up for grabs in important Headstock charity fundraiser
Daisy Jackson
Some huge music-related prizes have been announced as part of a major charity fundraising campaign for the music industry.
Headstock, a Manchester-based music and mental health social enterprise, is running a Crowdfunder campaign with prizes including tickets to huge arena shows, signed merch, and loads more.
Headstock has announced the campaign to raise funds for the support of MUSIC 85258, a 24/7 confidential text support service launched last year to support those working in the music industry.
The text support service is run in partnership with Music Minds Matter and delivered by Shout.
Headstock’s mission since its inception has been to deliver music-led solutions to tackle the growing mental health crisis, both within the music industry and beyond.
The dedicated mental health text support service has already drummed up loads of support, including being signposted back-of-house in key venues like the AO Arena, Co-op Live, and Warehouse Project.
Now, Headstock is running a fundraiser campaign to keep this vital service thriving, pulling together some major prizes across multiple prize draws.
These prizes have been donated by local Manchester bands and venues, and include VIP Parklife tickets, VIP to shows at the AO Arena and Co-op Live, season passes for WHP, and signed merch from the likes of Elbow, Courteeners and New Order.
To enter each prize draw, make a donation to the Crowdfunder – the bigger your donation, the more entries you will receive.
You can see all the prizes up for grabs and make a donation below – or you can just donate to Headstock HERE.
All the prizes in the Headstock fundraiser
Aitch – A pair of tickets to see Aitch’s headline show at Mayfield Depot + 4x signed albums – HERE
Parklife – 2x pairs of VIP tickets to Parklife 2026 – HERE
All money raised will be donated to mental health charity, Shout, who deliver MUSIC 85258 – a free, confidential and 24/7 text support service for anyone working within the music industry.
MUSIC 85258 is a de-escalation service for anyone working in the music industry who is struggling with their mental health. It is a partnership between Headstock, Music Minds Matter and Shout, with Mental Health Innovations providing the underlying service through Shout’s network of trained volunteers. To use the service, anyone that is struggling simply needs to text the word “MUSIC” to 85258 to connect with a volunteer for in-the-moment support.
Richard Ashcroft announces all-North West lineup of support acts for Alexandra Palace headliner
Danny Jones
Wigan’s finest, Richard Ashcroft, has announced an all-North-Western lineup for his upcoming headline show at ‘Ally Pally’.
The former Verve frontman is not only riding a fresh wave of popularity thanks to supporting Oasis on their incredible Live ’25 world tour, but also recently released his long-awaited new album, Lovin’ You.
Not just a Manc music icon but one of the biggest names to have come out of his borough, specifically, the legendary lyricist is finally getting more like the kind of recognition he deserves, and is making sure to pay that exposure forward in the best way possible.
He could have picked from all manner of big British acts as supports at Alexandra Palace, but Richard Ashcroft has chosen to keep flying the regional flag by picking a group he’s spent the last few months with, as well as a fellow Greater Manchester act.
That’s right: as well as signing up Liverpool’s very own Oasis Live ’25 openers, Cast, as one of the warm-up acts, the 54-year-old has also chosen another native Wigan artist in the form of The Lathums to join him for the momentous headline show.
Much-loved not only in their hometown but across Manchester and beyond, the indie favourites – who also released their latest studio LP, Matter Does Not Define, back in February – the young band are only getting better and becoming more established as time goes on.
Having already played the likes of the AO Arena here in Manchester and booked numerous big festival slots of the past few years, we reckon you can pretty much bank on them headlining this historic and bucket list venue for themselves in the future.
In terms of Cast, the scousers continue one of the busiest years for touring in their career by supporting ‘King Richard’, having followed up supporting ‘LG’ in 2024 to both Gallagher brothers over the summer.
As for Ashcroft himself, we’re glad to see him back releasing new music, and can confirm his seventh record is a great listen.
By no means our favourite, but just a taste of his latest sound.
Now, if you were wondering why we’re talking about this show over any of the other gigs (namely the Northern ones) on his upcoming UK run, it’s because most of the tour has now sold out.
His Co-op Live date was obviously the first to go, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium going shortly after, and extra dates being added in the likes of London, Liverpool and over in Leeds.
If you do happen to be in the capital already or are willing to make a trip to London for the show, there are still some tickets left for Richard Ashcroft at Ally Pally in July 2026.
Cannot wait to hear how this sounds in that storied room:
Daisy Jackson -
3rd November 2022 
