As nights out go, it doesn’t get much more Manc than this – Courteeners, back in their home town, in a field, in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans.
This gig – their third in Heaton Park – is for a very special occasion. The group are here to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their eponymous debut album, St Jude.
It’s an album that means so much to so many – a coming-of-age record, the soundtrack to countless sticky nights out in our city, the album that proved Manchester’s music scene had so much life after the Madchester era.
It’s also a record-breaker, recently hitting number one and going Platinum 15 years after its initial release.
So with 40,000 Courteeners fans pouring in to the outdoor arena that will later become Parklife’s main stage, you know you’re in for a night of rowdy noughties indie nostalgia.
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Songs from that iconic St Jude album are peppered in throughout Courteeners’ set, which ends up spanning almost two hours.
It’s hard to pick out the songs that meant most to us all.
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At any other gig it’s pretty obvious which are the crowd favourites, the ones that get everyone chanting together and throwing pints and bouncing in unison. At a Courteeners gig in Manchester – it’s all the same. It’s all one massive, very loud, non-stop sing-along.
You know the sort. You make friends with 200 new people because everyone who walks past wants to sling their arm over your shoulder and have a cuddle and belt some lyrics into your face.
Snippets of conversations overheard in front of the stage are heartwarmingly nostalgic.
During Acrylic, I hear one person turn and say ‘Oh my god this was my polyphonic ringtone at uni’.
During Please Don’t, we catch someone easily in their 40s giddily preparing to scream ‘It’s got f*ck-all to do with me’ at their friend before bursting into peals of laughter.
When How Come hits the speakers, someone immediately bursts into tears and wails ‘I miss uni’, despite definitely graduating in 2009.
As wild and rowdy as a Courteeners crowd always is, the atmosphere is almost aggressively happy. There’s a moment where all the people who are on shoulders congregate together for a two-storey cuddle with strangers.
Even during a very quiet acoustic section, where we’re left begging for the speakers to be turned up a bit, there are enough people squawking along to keep energy levels high, especially when the tempo picks up enough for Smiths Disco
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It means as much to the band as it does to us, that much is clear. Liam takes a moment to tell the audience: “We’re nothing without everyone standing in this field.”
And then the sentimental moment is over, replaced with screams and flares in all different colours, with Not Nineteen Forever arriving in a burst of colourful streamers blasted from the stage.
Courteeners wrap up with What Took You So Long, leaving Heaton Park once again in a blaze of grinning glory.
Twenty One Pilots confirm swirling rumours and announce huge Manchester date
Daisy Jackson
Twenty One Pilots have officially announced a massive Manchester gig on their The Clancy World Tour, after fans spotted poster teasers popping up at venues around the UK.
They’ll be coming to Manchester’s AO Arena on the tour, the first time they’ve gigged here since The Bandito Tour back in 2019.
It’s set to be their biggest-ever headline tour, visiting other cities around the UK and Ireland including Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, and London.
Twenty One Pilots will also head around North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
The pair have announced more than 33 billion streams worldwide and sold more than three million tickets for their headline tours.
Comprised of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, they’ve established themselves as one of the most successful bands of the 21st century.
Twenty One Pilots have also shared a new song, Next Semester, from their forthcoming album Clancy.
The album will be the final chapter in an ambitious multi-album narrative first introduced in the band’s 2015 multi-Platinum breakthrough, Blurryface.
An official artist presale for tickets will begin on 3 April for European dates.
All remaining tickets will then go on general sale at 10am on Friday 5 April.
Richard Ashcroft announces six support acts for homecoming gigs at Wigan’s Robin Park
Danny Jones
Manc music legend Richard Ashcroft has revealed a slate of very exciting support acts for his upcoming homecoming gigs at Robin Park in Wigan.
With an extra date being added on 21 July due to overwhelming demand after the Saturday show sold out in a flash back in December 2023, Ashcroft has now revealed a total of six different supports, promising three different artists per gig.
And we’re not just talking any old warm-up acts; the former Verve frontman has hand-picked an all Northern lineup as well as two local Wigan acts to show support for his hometown’s own music scene.
Joining him on the first night at Robin Park will be British indie rock veterans Cast, rising Liverpool stars Red Rum Club and fellow Wiganer Maxwell Varey.
We recently had the pleasure of chatting with the Red Rum lads and have been listening to them since day one, so we’ll always sincerely reccommend them.
As for Cast, they’ve been going since 1992 and have put out so many chill tunes down the years – ‘Walkaway’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Live The Dream’ just to name a few – so you can always rely on them to put in a solid set.
It’s also great to see the 52-year-old Britpop icon backing up and coming artists from his neck of the woods too and, we can’t lie, everything we’ve heard from Varey so far is sounding pretty good.
Strolling into Sunday Bittersweet Symphony-style, Ashcroft‘s supports are just as good the following night as well, with The Zutons providing a real throwback vibe, The Royston Club being one of our favourite new acts (that debut album last year slaps) and Stanleys taking care of repping Wigan.
The significance of Richard Ashcroft’s homecoming for the area cannot be overstated as not only will it be one of the biggest weekends of live music the borough has seen in years but it’s also the first time he’ll have played in Wigan since 1998.
Yep, it’s a big deal.
While the Saturday might be well and truly sold out, there are still some general admission tickets left for Sunday, 21 July. You can grab yours HERE.
And for all the other big music news happening around Greater Manchester, make sure to keep your eyes peeled on The Manc Audio.