If there’s one artist we believe has never quite got the credit he deserves, it’s Francis Edward f***ing Turner – Frank to his loyal legions of followers around the world and the roughly 2,600 gig-goers inside Manchester Academy on Saturday, 5 April 2025.
Don’t get us wrong, Frank Turner and his long-standing touring band The Sleeping Souls are no minnow in the music industry: the 43-year-old is now two decades into his solo career and even during his time as the frontman of Million Dead, he had plenty of die hards right out of the gate.
What we mean is that for someone with the longevity, stamina, charisma, commitment to grassroots and such a rich back catalogue, he doesn’t get anywhere near enough the level of recognition he should.
It doesn’t matter which of the 10 albums he pulls from; the connection with those in the crowd is as strong as it’s ever been, if not even more powerful than the last time they saw him and the Souls, mainly because those lot up on the stage put in the same amount of energy as they always have.
Even the most avid fan would admit the Hampshire-born bard of the modern age has such an extensive back catalogue that you can be forgiven for not knowing every B-side and deep cut from back to front.
The man himself joked, “You’ve had a whole year to learn these f***ing songs”, but in all seriousness, that’s not what a Frank Turner gig is about. As he has the audience repeat back to without any need for a prompt at this point, the rules are simple: “Don’t be a d***” and don’t be ashamed to dance around.
Just like he told his Manc congregation this past weekend, “If you’re at this show, you probably were never that cool to begin with”, so if he and his truly brilliant live band can put their “aging knees” through the ringer hundreds of times a year, those watching him best reciprocate in kind.
And they did, from start to finish, as a Manchester Academy crowd or any venue in the city will always guarantee for that matter.
But more importantly, we suddenly realised something as he introduced the cult favourite track ‘Jinny Bingham’s Ghost’ from his eighth studio LP, Tales From No Man’s Land (2019), which was released with an accompanying podcast about historical female figures whose stories he wanted to shed light on.
It only took us seeing him for the fourth time to fully understand it, but we got there in the end…
We used that word ‘bard’ before – i.e. the old storytellers, musicians and orators, performers, comedians, historians, genealogists and so on that used to chronicle people’s lives, events taking place and the wider world around for centuries – but it felt like this most recent gig spoke to that oral tradition.
There have always been moments like this in his albums, in truth, and we only now realise that we had the same feeling the first time we heard ‘Balthazar, Impresario’ but Turner, we feel, is one of the few current artists truly keeping that almost time-travelling bard culture alive.
Be it conducting an orchestra of tipsy Northerners as they sing back in perfect harmony (just about), organising a crowd-surfing race between two mates who chose the concert as the stag do, teaching them literal historic tales of a young woman who drowned in the River Seine back in the 1800’s, he’s a rare breed of performer.
There’s plenty of call and response in Frank Turner’s music, but there’s also a real sense of history, politics and culture, not to mention a sense of proud Englishness that contemporary society can find difficult or at least a somewhat cumbersome topic these days.
Undefeated, underrated, criminally underappreciated and absolutely unbelievable live.
Folk and old-school punk rock at its finest. Frank Turner can come back to Manchester Academy any time he likes. (Credit: Audio North)
Bob Vylan dropped from Manchester music festival following Glastonbury controversy
Danny Jones
English punk rap duo Bob Vylan have been dropped from an upcoming music festival in Manchester following the recent controversy surrounding their set at Glastonbury 2025.
The media storm surrounding their much-talked-about and heavily televised Glasto appearance has seen them reportedly dropped by their agency and their US Visas cancelled, along with multiple concerts – one of those being right here in Greater Manchester.
Bob Vylan were scheduled to play RADAR Fest at Victoria Warehouse in Stretford this weekend, but now the organisers have informed gig-goers that the artists will not be performing in their planned slot on Saturday.
The alternative music event did provide any additional details, posting nothing but this image:
For anyone unaware, Vylan were heavily criticised for the pro-Palestine chants, which Glastonbury itself has deemed as having “crossed a line”, labelling the chants against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as antisemitic.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also commented on the situation.
In addition to RADAR, Vylan were also due to appear at Kave Fest in France the following Sunday, 6 July, but the music event has also decided not to host them.
The BBC also opted not to broadcast Northern Irish band Kneecap as part of their coverage this year, as the Belfast rap trio have also been outspoken on the issue, among many other musicians of late.
Responding to the decision on social media not long after the news broke, the act simply shared the post on their Instagram story along with the caption: “Silence is not an option. We will be fine, the people of Palestine are hurting. Manchester, we will be back.”
Manchester crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers, even beating out New York along the way.
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.
This summer is all set to be a sensational celebration of sound, as not only is an immersive art trail, Music for the Senses, taking over the city from this week, but this year’s annual Manchester Day will be music-themed too, marking one of the biggest years for Manchester music in a long time.
Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers / Credit: Manchester City Council | Eldhose Kuryian (via Unsplash)
Oh, and there’s also the small matter of Oasis reforming for a UK tour, including a run of gigs at Heaton Park this month.
So it’s no surprise that Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers, especially as the IFPI Global Music Report has revealed that the UK has the third largest music market globally – with the music industry’s contribution to the UK economy being £6.7 billion on average.
Taking this recent report into consideration, the experts over at SeatPick have collated data to uncover the best UK cities for music lovers, analysing factors such as the number of concerts, homegrown talents, music businesses, and the total number of music venues, to reveal each city’s overall music score out of 10.
Coming in at second place with a music scene score of 8.97/10 is Manchester.
2025 is all set to be a sensational summer of sound in our city / Credit: Supplied
“Manchester remains one of the UK’s most iconic music cities and with 1,204 concerts between 2025-2026, 116 live music venues, and 380 homegrown acts, the city’s live music offering is as strong as ever,” SeatPick said of its findings.
“2025 is shaping up to be a historic year for Manchester, with Oasis reuniting for the first time in over a decade, with a massive comeback show at Heaton Park – the very spot where they played their last hometown gig in 2009.”
While Manchester may have missed out on the UK’s top spot, with that title going to London, in the global rankings, our city has claimed an impressive sixth place, beating out New York’s influential music scene.
Liverpool and Leeds are two of the other northern cities in the UK’s top 10, taking fifth and sixth place respectively.
“Cities which have a larger number of music businesses are key in creating the perfect city for music fans, as this impacts the city’s cultural, economic, and social vibrancy,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO of SeatPick.
“A thriving music scene within a city means it can provide more artistic expression, support a wider range of genres, and enrich the cultural landscape, as well as attracting creative talent.”
Danny Jones -
6th April 2025 
