After continued and increasingly huge success, Day Fever is coming back to Manchester once again this spring and it’s going tobe as brilliant a knees-up as it always is.
For those of you who don’t know, you’re about to.
Co-created by Line of Duty and This Is England star Vicky McClure, as well as Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation, just a fun coincidence), Day Fever invites fellow veteran floor-fillers all those who remain forever young at heart to indulge in a daytime disco experience.
Essentially, this day into evening party is a welcoming space where adults can relive their glory days on the dance floor without sacrificing their beauty sleep. After all, that precious kip gets more important the older you get, am I right?
Day Fever has become an instant hit here in Manchester. (Credit Supplied)
It’s hard not to be a part of the wellness era that we all seem to have entered since the start of the decade, but if you’re not yet ready to shake off those early carefree and rebellious party days from years gone by just yet, then Day Fever really does make for the best of both worlds.
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Starting at 3pm, the event has a strict curfew of 7pm, so you’ll be back in time to bid adieu to the babysitter or settle in for a few episodes of your favourite series before clocking in those crucial eight hours plus.
Everyone’s seen those AI-generated photos of what workers will look like in 50 years due to the incessant screen time consumption, right? What better way to give those eyes a break and loosen those stiff joints than by dusting off those disco shoes for an afternoon groove?
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As Sheffield-born and bred musician Jon McClure is not only a Northern favourite but, naturally, a bit of a dab hand behind the DJ decks, you can expect nothing but bangers from an equally beloved venue, with New Century Hall returning as willing volunteers for the Day Fever Manchester date.
We spoke to Jon briefly before the most recent run of special New Year’s Eve shows back in December and you could tell how excited he was to see the event going from strength to strength in 2025.
Described as ‘the daytime disco that doesn’t ruin your Sunday’, Day Fever will be an event not to miss with nostalgic TV shows, films and adverts shown on a big screen during the event so you can relive those good old glory days.
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The first Manc date of this year’s programme takes place on 22 March with a following event on 19 April and a third – but hopefully not final – one on 10 May. There are also regular equivalents happening in the likes of Leeds, London, Glasgow and pretty much every major city in the UK now.
Day Fever is steadily becoming more and more massive with each edition, so we’re just keeping our fingers across this just the first handful of many shows in 2025.
You can grab your tickets HERE but be quick about because they’ll be gone before you know it.
Featured Images —Press Shots (supplied via Day Fever UK)
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A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
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Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
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Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”
Danny Jones -
7th March 2025 
