UK pop-rock legends Deacon Blue have just announced a new album and UK tour, including a massive date here in Manchester.
The Scottish superstars and long-standing British band are back with their 11th studio album and have confirmed a slew of domestic tour dates along with the announcement.
Having been going since 1985, they are well and truly some of the most revered recording veterans to ever come out of the country, known for hit tracks like ‘Real Gone Kid’, ‘Dignity’, ‘Loaded’ and more.
Revealing a total of 20 dates across various arenas and theatres, Deacon Blue will be kicking things off their tour in their home country before sweeping across the rest of the nation.
But that’s not all… We will also be heading out not one, but two tours! In March 2025, we kick things off with an exclusive run of 5 theatre shows around the album release. pic.twitter.com/usNU0Cb5Dn
In addition to the new LP, The Great Western Road, Deacon Blue have plenty to celebrate next year as 2025 also marks the band’s 40th anniversary.
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Speaking on the new album, founding members Ricky Ross and Dougie Vipond say it reflects on their journey as a group, as well as their lengthy career in the industry in this new album, as well the band’s shared age and experience after four decades making music on taking it on the road.
Commenting on the announcement, lead singer Ricky Ross said: “It’s just the next part of the adventure and it’s as exciting now as it was back then.”
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“I love the idea that a circus coming to town is a temporary existence, a little bit of magic suddenly appears in the middle of a town or a village and then it goes away. It’s very similar to what you do live.
Perhaps most excitingly besides the upcoming album itself, one of the coolest things about this new tour is that it’s not going to be your average old headline gig: they’ve promised two different shows.
Explaining that they’ll be “curating a show that changes and evolves, pulling out little surprises every now and again”, the theatre shows will also be distinct from the bigger arena shows, allowing them to flick between the new music and the hits.
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They’ve said they want to give fans “the best night of their lives” and make each show just as brilliant as the last – big words indeed.
“The live experience is so ephemeral, at the end of a show people lose all their inhibitions, and then it’s over. You have to be there. That’s what’s magical about it”, says Ross.
As for The Great Western Road – a tribute to Glasgow’s legendary street of the same name located between the city centre and its West End – the album drops on 21 March 2025, with Deacon Blue arriving in Manchester a few months later.
Deacon Blue will be coming to the AO Arena in Manchester city centre on 1 October 2025 and general admission goes live at 9am this Friday, 29 November.
Three mobile customers can also get exclusive presale access on Wednesday, 27 November from 10am.
Neil Young pulls out of ‘corporate controlled’ Glastonbury Festival
Danny Jones
Music icon Neil Young has pulled out of Glastonbury Festival 2025 after claiming it has lost its identity and is now under “corporate” control.
The 79-year-old singer-songwriter, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential to have ever lived, was due to play the festival as one of the legends named on this year’s lineup.
However, despite lots of excitement around the veteran being given the nod over others from what has largely been seen as a pop-leaning pool (at least according to the detractors) in recent years, Young has now decided to drop out of the festival.
Neil Young’s latest ‘NYA Times Contrarian’ post explains the decision to drop out of Glastonbury.Neil Young in 2023 Credit: Screenshot (via Neil Young website)/Per Ole Hagen (via Flickr)
“The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs”, it reads. “We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.”
For context, the BBC has been partnered with Glasto since way back in 1997 and Neil Young has already headlined the festival back in 2009, so this shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for coming to us the last time!”, he continues. “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.”
The message concludes with him hoping to catch fans at other venues and a simple “LOVE Neil – Be well”, but the tenor of the somewhat abrupt update is that the ever-opinionated and long-celebrated protest song-writer clearly believes the BBC‘s influence over the festival has now grown too strong.
Known not only as ‘Shakey’ and the ‘Godfather of Grunge’ but as one of the pioneering anti-establishment figures of a generation, the Canadian was previously in the headlines for demanding Spotify remove his music after taking issue with Joe Rogan’s anti-vax messaging on his show.
All that to say, the solo artist co-founding member of supergroup, Buffalo Springfield, is no stranger to taking on big business and companies if he feels he has good reason. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart will be performing in the coveted ‘Legends’ headliner slot at teatime on Sunday, 29 June.
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts are looking set for a European tour this summer but if he’s taking on corporations and concerts under umbrella control, it seems unlikely we’ll see him at too many festivals or the likes of Co-op Live.
The better question is: do you agree – has Glastonbury Festival become too corporate and sanitised, or do you think it still upholds the same core values it had when it first popped up on Worthy Farm in 1970?
Featured Images — Ross Belot (via Flickr)/The Manc Group
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Popular Manchester city centre club forced to close on New Year’s Eve due to flooding
Daisy Jackson
The heavy rain that hit Manchester on New Year’s Eve has caused flooding across the region, including the city centre.
One city centre venue had to close early on one of the biggest nights out of the year as water rushed into its basement.
In a statement shared today, Joshua Brooks shared that it had to close its New Year’s Eve party prematurely ‘to ensure everyone’s wellbeing’.
The popular city centre club had moved revellers upstairs to its clubhouse, rather than its basement, but ultimately feared the ‘unknowns regarding electrical safety’ and shut down early.
Luckily, party-goers were able to ring in the new year before the venue shut at around 2am.
Joshua Brooks shared: “Unfortunately, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, we had to make the difficult decision to close the club prematurely due to unexpected flooding in our basement. The heavy rainfall in the Pennine mountains caused the River Medlock and several tributaries to overflow, impacting multiple venues along the riverbank, including ours.
“Our top priorities are always the safety of our ravers and the preservation of our equipment. As water levels continued to rise, we considered moving the party to the clubhouse upstairs. However, there were too many unknowns regarding electrical safety, so we ultimately decided to shut down the event around 2 AM, just under two hours before the end of the night, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused you and sincerely apologise for disrupting your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Our warm-up DJs were absolutely smashing it, and Alan Fitzpatrick was playing great until the moment we had to close.
“While this type of incident is rare and hasn’t happened in years, there is always a risk due to our location. We want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously and exploring all options to minimise the chances of this happening again.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”
Luckily, Joshua Brooks hasn’t been left with any lasting damage to its main bar area, and is set to go ahead with its New Year’s Day party this evening.
Danny Jones -
26th November 2024 
