Fast-rising alt-pop favourite CMAT has a second show here in Manchester, and as she’s pretty much an honorary Manc at this point, you can expect the tickets to be snapped up in no time.
The Irish singer – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (erm, duh?) – relocated to 0161 as a 17-year-old back in 2013 to pursue her career in music, and it’s fair to say the move turned out to be a positive one.
First arriving with her old duo Bad Sea, it didn’t take the teenager too long to find a following among her Manchester cousins, and soon, CMAT was considered among the best and up-and-coming artists our city had to offer.
In fact, little else has changed in that respect besides the fact that more and more of the country and, indeed, the world knows about her now, so you can guarantee there’ll be plenty of demand for this new headline concert.
The Dublin-born ‘Dunboyne Diana’ from County Meath by way of Manchester, CMAT is set for multiple Northern shows over the next six or seven months alone.
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CMAT has now announced a second show at O2 Victoria Warehouse on social media due to incredibly high demand.
These shows in Trafford are one of just half a dozen shows confirmed in support of her upcoming new LP, Euro-Country, which released on Friday, 29 August and features her standout single, ‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’.
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This third album follows undoubtedly the biggest year of her career yet, having supported the likes of Sam Fender and having played massive festival slots like Glastonbury this summer.
Other gigs include nights at ‘Ally Pally’ in London, Cork, Edinburgh and more. Commenting on social media amid the new additions, CMAT simply wrote: “Come and see me, CMAT, and The Very Sexy CMAT Band, play our BIGGEST SHOWS EVER next year!”
She actually has a healthy run of live performances coming up this autumn, including one at Manchester Academy One on 4 October – though, as we’ve already warned with the original date, tickets disappeared faster than you could say, ‘I wanna be a cowboy, baby’.
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Admittedly, more than half of those shows have already sold out, but that’s why we’re getting an extra show for our trouble.
If you pre-order my new album from my official store between now and 10pm next Wednesday, you’ll get a code for the artist pre-sale, which opens at 10am on Tuesday August 26.
With new singles ‘Running/Planning’, ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ and even the title track, ‘Euro-Country’, all having already been released since this past March, we’ve already got a decent taste of what we can expect to hear live next year.
Speaking as long-time listeners ourselves, we can assure you that these songs have gone down as instant hits among the fan base.
CMAT is visiting O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Wednesday and Thursday, 11-12 March. Tickets for the first show are live now right HERE.
You can sign up for the ticket waitlist for CMAT’s Thursday, 12 March 2026, sold-out show HERE.
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She’s not the only soulful female singer who’s had to add an additional Manc date either…
Featured Images — Raph_PH (via Flickr)/Press shots (supplied)
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‘Powerhouse’ Manchester named in top 10 global cities for music in 2026
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 cities across the globe for music in 2026 have been named, and Manchester has earned its place.
If there’s one thing Manchester is known and loved for over anything else, it’s music.
From Oasis and Joy Division, to Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The 1975, and even more modern-day acts, there’s no end to the amount of talented artists this city has produced or been home to over the years, all contributing to Manchester being one of the most prestigious music cities there is.
The city’s live music scene has always been thriving, and that continues right through to this very day, as you’ll see big-name musicians including Manchester as a destination in their UK tour schedules more often than not.
Manchester has been named in the top 10 global cities for music in 2026 / Credit: Mylo Kaye | Nathan Mullet (via Unsplash)
Last summer was a sensational celebration for Manchester, as an immersive art trail, Music for the Senses, took over the city, and the annual Manchester Day was music-themed too, marking one of the biggest years for Manchester music in a long time.
Oh, and there was also the small matter of Oasis reforming for a UK tour, including a run of gigs at Heaton Park in June… in case you don’t remember, somehow (*wink wink*).
These next two months are also set to be huge for Manchester too, given the fact it is hosting both the 2026 BRIT Awards and MOBO Awards, on 28 February and 26 March respectively, for the first time at Co-op Live.
So it would only seem right that our city has earned itself a place in SeatPick‘s top 10 list of global music cities for 2026 – slotting right in there at a respectable number four.
Overall, Manchester claimed a score of 7.90 out of 10, as the city apparently hosts a total of 1,204 concerts per year across 116 venues, and even supports 380 music artists and 72 music-related businesses in the process, as well as hosting 26 different music festivals annually too.
“From indie and electronic to arena-filling acts, Manchester continues to punch above its weight as a powerhouse of British music,” SeatPick said in its new rankings of global music cities.
Other UK cities that feature in the top 10 are London at number two, and Glasgow and Bristol and number eight and nine, while claiming the coveted top spot of the list of global music cities for 2026 is the German capital of Berlin.
“What really stands out in this data is that the best music cities aren’t always the ones with the most artists,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO of SeatPick. “Rather, they’re the ones where live music is tightly woven into everyday life.
“Cities like Berlin and Manchester have fewer artists than London, but higher audience concentration per venue, which typically leads to stronger ticket demand and more consistent sell-outs.”
Featured Image – Vishnu R Nair (via Unsplash)
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First batch of special releases for Record Store Day UK 2026 announced
Danny Jones
Yes, it’s nearly time for Record Store Day 2026, and the list of the first dozen or so limited edition releases here in the UK has just been announced.
With a fair few familiar and, more importantly, Northern names on there (but of course), #RSDUK26 is set to be another great one.
A total of 15 songs have been named on the lineup for this year so far, and yet again, the drops are in support of War Child, who will also be hosting a number of very special and intimate charity gigs during BRITs Week.
The two organisations have collaborated for the sixth time after having first joined forces back in 2020, and it feels like both the annual observance and its catalogue have only got better ever since.
Plenty that have caught our attention already, and there’s only more set to come…
As detailed in the post on social media, the Record Store Day team have retierated that “£1 from every single copy sold of these releases will be donated to the charity, helping to protect, educate, and stand up for the rights of the children who are living through conflict around the world.”
We quickly noticed the likes of The Cure, Fleetwood Mac, Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Knopfler and Bring Me The Horizon, just to name a few.
Once more, here is the RSD 2026 release list in full:
Record Store Day release list | 2026
Corinne Bailey Rae – Live In New York
The Cure – Greatest Hits and Acoustic Hits (compilations)
Divorce – Live at Get Together 2025 for War Child
Dr Feelgood – Oily City Confidential (OST)
Fleetwood Mac – The Original Fleetwood Mac (compilation)
James Dean Bradfield – The Great Western
Kaiser Chiefs – The Future Is Medieval
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris – ‘All The Roadrunning’
Nicky Wire – Intimism
Primal Scream – Echo Dek
Rory Gallagher – Calling Card
Sigrid x BMTH – ‘Bad Life’
The Streets – Computers & Blues
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect…. Demos and B-sides
As always, all of these titles will be available behind the counter exclusively at indie record shops all over the country on Saturday, 18 April to celebrate Record Store Day UK 2026.
Oh, and if you need help with where to start, look no further.
Danny Jones -
22nd August 2025 
