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.
Manc rock band left ‘broke as f***’ despite just finishing EU arena tour as industry concerns grow
Danny Jones
Manchester musicians Witch Fever have revealed that they are now almost completely “broke” despite having just finished touring with a major rock band on a lengthy arena run across Europe, as concerns continue to grow around shows in the EU.
Post-Brexit, it has become increasingly more difficult for UK bands not only to make money playing around the mainland but to even book support slots in the first place.
From more stringent visa requirements that limit the amount of time they can perform on the road, as well as other essential work permits, to tax, transport and wider logistics, almost every aspect of the live music landscape has become more complicated on the continent.
Unfortunately, ‘Doom-punk’ outfit Witch Fever is one of countless groups being affected by these issues; opening up on a recent podcast appearance, they said that this is simply “what the music industry is like at the moment.”
As you can see, speaking in the most recent episode of the 101 Part Time Jobs with Giles Bidder – a fellow artist as well as pod and radio host – two members of the local outfit put it as plainly as they could: “we’re broke as f***”.
Breaking things down into as basic terms as possible, bassist Alex Thompson said that while the “fees are [already] low, the costs are getting higher and higher” relative to what they can afford.
Thompson went on to admit that she is now relying on the remainder of her late mother’s pension to get by and that no one in the band can even get a steady enough job right now because they’re heading back out on tour again this March.
As explained by lead singer Amy Walpole, the band has only just finished supporting Danish veterans Volbeat, but any potential ‘profit’ from the two-months’ worth of shows is currently “stuck in withholding taxes across Europe” – a common problem for most British artists trying to play overseas right now.
Surprisingly, they even received a little bit of backlash on social media since the interview (which you can watch in full HERE) went live.
This just in, JK Rowling super fan celebrating us struggling coz the music industry is impossible rn because *checks notes* it’s karma for disagreeing with JKs views lol
It wasn’t long ago that the Witch Fever gang booked a big hometown gig here in the city centre, either, as their warm-up shows for Volbeat also involved a trip to the AO Arena back in November.
We’ve seen them live a couple of times now, and if those shows were anything to go by, we really think you should go see them on their upcoming tour.
As it happens, we put them on our artists of the month round-up in January 2024, and they’ve only got bigger since then; it’s more important than ever that we support rising bands and grassroots venues on our doorstep when we can.
If you’re interested, you can grab your tickets now. Even if not, in the meantime, you can see what we had to say about them and four other fantastic Greater-Manchester-based bands down below.
Featured Images — Press shot (supplied)/101 Part Time Jobs (screenshot via YouTube)
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A$AP Rocky announces huge Manchester gig on new world tour
Daisy Jackson
A$AP Rocky is heading out on a massive world tour, and is including a gig here in Manchester.
The rapper, producer, actor and entrepreneur has just announced his upcoming 2026 tour, the Don’t Be Dumb World Tour, with a whopping 42 dates across the globe.
This will be fans’ first chance to hear his latest album and first release in eight years, Don’t Be Dumb, live.
The huge A$AP Rocky tour kicks off this May in the USA, before heading across to Europe in July.
That leg will include a gig at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday 5 September, one of only three UK shows on the tour.
The announcement has come hot on the heels of the release of his fourth album last week, which Billboard has said ‘not only rewards patience but adds new wrinkles to the rapper’s approach — an evolved relationship with melody and a wiser lyrical slant’.
It became Spotify’s most pre-saved hip-hop album, with one million saves even before its release.
As well as his music career, A$AP Rocky has starred in films including the Golden Globe-winning If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and has cemented himself as a fashion icon with his work as co-chair of the 2025 Met Gala.
He’s also been announced as the creative director for Ray-Ban, and was appointed as Chanel’s new house ambassador.
General sale for the Don’t Be Dumb World Tour will go live at 9am on Tuesday 27 January HERE.
There’ll be artist pre-sales, a Mastercard pre-sale, and various VIP packages available too.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd November 2022 
