Motown legend Diana Ross will be performing at the AO Arena tonight, fresh off the back of her landmark performance at the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.
The music icon is visiting Manchester on her UK Thank You Tour on 14 June before heading on to gigs in Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, and London.
She’ll also be taking the headline slot, known as the Legends slot, at Glastonbury Festival.
Diana Ross rose to fame in the 1960s as part of The Supremes, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time.
They dominated the charts with songs such as Baby Love, Stop!, In the Name of Love, and You Keep Me Hangin’ On, before Diana launched her solo career and released well-known songs such as I’m Still Waiting, Touch Me in the Morning, Endless Love, and, of course, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, and the UK number one single Chain Reaction.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of her concert at the AO Arena tonight.
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Tickets for Diana Ross
Diana Ross performing at the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. Credit: BBC
There’s still quite good availability for the gig tonight at the AO Arena.
Tickets are priced from £85.75 and go all the way up to £436.35 if you want to sit front row, as close as possible to the action.
For hospitality packages at the AO Arena, you can email [email protected] or call 0161 9501069.
Stage times
The Supremes. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Doors for the AO Arena will open at 6pm.
The show is set to start at 7.30pm, though times are always subject to change.
Support act
As things stand, no support act has been announced for Diana Ross at the AO Arena.
That means we’ll have hours of pure Diamond Diana delights, with the star likely to take straight to the stage at around 7.30pm.
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The setlist
Manchester is the first night on the Thank You Tour, so we can’t be sure what songs Diana will play yet.
But the below is her setlist from her gig at Cardiff Castle, which gives you an idea.
I’m Coming Out
More Today Than Yesterday (Spiral Starecase cover)
Where Did Our Love Go (The Supremes song)
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Baby Love (The Supremes song)
Stop! In the Name of Love (The Supremes song)
You Can’t Hurry Love (The Supremes song)
Love Child (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover)
Chain Reaction
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I’m Still Waiting
Upside Down
Love Hangover / Take Me Higher / Ease on Down the Road
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers cover)
If We Hold on Together
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If the World Just Danced
Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) / Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover)
Encore
Thank You
Featured image: Publicity Picture
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Sterephonics frontman Kelly Jones reveals that Noel Gallagher is back in the studio
Danny Jones
Stereophonics lead singer Kelly Jones has graciously revealed to music fans that new Gallagher tunes could be on the way, as he confirmed that Noel has been back in the studio and working on new material.
The big question is, has Liam been in there with him?…
Broken rather nonchalantly in an interview with NME, Jones didn’t so much let the news slip as much as he seemingly just casually dropped it into conversation, mentioning that he bumped into the older Gallagher brother recently.
As he puts it – frustratingly briefly, might we add (sorry, fanaticism will do that to you) – the Oasis icon and High Flying Birds frontman has been doing some songwriting, but the details were scarce.
The 50-year-old ‘Phonics frontman, who was discussing the release of their 13th studio album as well as his own solo project last year, was asked his thoughts on the legendary Britpop band’s upcoming reunion shows and the impact they had on his own career.
“Funnily enough, I found some old pictures of me and Noel rehearsing when he used to have a studio down in Windsor recently, just before we toured America”, said Jones. “We were having a laugh about them and I asked him what he’d been up to and he said he’d been doing some writing in the studio.
The unmistakable Welsh vocalist went on to add: “I’m assuming he’s doing some writing for either his stuff or if they’re [Oasis] gonna bring out a couple songs, I don’t know.”
It seems the pair are still more than friendly, though he gave little away about his relationship with Liam Gallagher; the two British rock groups did share somewhat of a rivalry in the 90s and 2000s, with Stereophonics making no secret of Oasis inspiring their own music.
Describing the band in their heyday, Jones described the period “kind of chaotic and mayhem but it was all very joyous”, insisting that things are very different nowadays but that he is not the less excited than a whole new generations of fans are going to be able to see them live for the first time
As for whether he and his bandmates will be able to find the time, he revealed in a subsequent chat live on Radio X that their own tour clashes may mean they’ll miss out on the Live ’25 tour experience.
Further reflecting on the age of streaming, content overload and what some would argue is an overabundance of media, Kelly said of art and music in particular that “people need it now more than they’ve needed it in a long time.”
We don’t know whether or not Noel’s return to songwriting is for the next High Flying Birds record or whether the rumours are true and new Oasis music really is on the way.
As much as we love his solo stuff, PLEASE let it be the latter.
We do know that the siblings are said to be getting on swimmingly so far and even spent some of the Easter break together, according to LG himself. Here’s hoping they were throwing around ideas for another instant hit.
An old indie favourite is heading back to Manchester for a ‘Best Of Tour’ at a brilliant venue
Danny Jones
Time to roll back the years as old-school indie favourite The Pigeon Detectives are coming back to Manchester for a special show at one of the most stunning venues in the city.
We swear, if we could find our old iPod, their tracks would still be all over it.
Coming back to another part of the North that always showed them plenty of love, The Pigeon Detectives will be playing a special ‘The Best of Tour’ in line with their latest record, Still Not Sorry.
The Manc gig comes as the Yorkshire lads announced just six UK headline sets to support the album release, but let’s be honest, they were never going to skip 0161, were they?
UK TOUR! NEW RECORD! On Sale Friday 2nd May, but get pre-sale NOW when you buy a best of record (with 3 new tracks) or t-shirt from here: https://t.co/a1q44LYbD6 see you in Autumn! pic.twitter.com/HWA9ITS9Ii
— The Pigeon Detectives (@pigeonsofficial) April 25, 2025
With only half a dozen domestic dates confirmed so far, including the likes of Manchester, a homecoming night in Leeds and up in Glasgow, this really does feel like a return that long-standing fans won’t want to miss.
The new LP, which is a greatest hits compilation featuring the very best tracks from their discography that stretches over two decades, drops next month and we’re very ready to pump some adolescent nostalgia into our ears.
And best of all, they’ll be playing all the cult favourite Pigeon Detectives tracks at the simply stunning New Century Hall, marking just their second visit to the venue.
Boasting the food and beer hall downstairs as the ideal pre-gig location, not to mention a sprung dancefloor and those iconic, mesmerising lights, it’s a nigh on perfect space for live music.
We’re not exaggerating when we say we’ve had some of our best gigs in recent memory here.
Speaking in a lengthier statement on social media, the boys from Rothwell wrote: “If a band is lucky (and hardworking, and fairly decent at what they do!) there comes a time in their career when they realise that the journey they started as mates messing about on guitars has culminated in a hefty bunch of songs that people actually care about and connect with!
“At this point, the only logical next step is to take a breath, reflect back through the archives and assemble a ‘Best Of’ album. We’ve reached that point, Pigeon Heads!”
They describe the project as a collection of songs and memories that chart their career from their humble beginnings in Leeds to their “adventures around the globe”, where they have been fortunate enough to “some of the biggest stages on the planet.”
“As a band it’s always felt like we had to do things the hard way, even with an amazing set of supportive fans”, they go on to add, “but we just kept on writing songs, kept on playing gigs and kept on being The Pigeon Detectives. Us against the world. We weren’t sorry then, and we’re Still Not Sorry now!”
Maybe it’s our age showing but those last few lines alone have got us feeling all teary-eyed.
Daisy Jackson -
14th June 2022 
