Nearly 50 years later and heavy metal legends Iron Maiden are still going strong and despite having only just finished playing a whopping run of 139 gigs back in October, they’re at it again with another world tour and arrive in Manchester on Friday, 30 June.
The legendary Leyton rock band formed all the way back in 1975 might have tweaked their lineup over the years but they’re still one of the biggest musical names on the planet and their current ‘The Future Past Tour‘ has been a sellout across the globe.
Kicking the latest shows off in Arena Stožice, Slovenia this past May, the Irons have now made their way back to Britain and the AO Arena, specifically, and it’s set to be one spectacular show.
With their classic shredding guitars, explosive pyros and Bruce Dickinson still on vocals, you can expect a night of music you’ll never forget. For those of you going along, here’s everything you need to know about Iron Maiden’s return to Manchester‘s AO Arena.
If you we’re hoping to get tickets for Iron Maiden at the AO Arena on Friday, then we’ve got some bad news: you never stood a chance of getting these bad boys.
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Given that not they are not only one of the most iconic bands of all time but this will be their first Manchester show since 2018 (yes, it’s been that long), they were always going to sell out fast and we’re afraid to say that even the most luxurious VIP packages aren’t available for this one.
There’s always next time.
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Of course, you can obviously keep your eyes out for spares going on trusted resellers like TicketSwap and Twickets but, as always we advise caution and avoid ticket touts at all costs — there’s no point in getting stung for a large sum and still potentially not getting in.
Credit: Iron Maiden (via Instagram)
Supports
Now, as for those chosen to help warm the crowd up ahead of the mighty Maiden — not that they’ll even need it — that responsibility falls on a single support acts in German rock band, Lord of the Lost.
Trusted with playing a pretty decent set, the Hamburg-based gothic and industrial metal outfit ar ealso playing their first Manchester gig since 2018 when they played The Ruby Lounge, may she rest in peace.
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Fronted and formed by singer Chris ‘Lord’ Harms back in 2007, their sound is the perfect accompaniment for a band like Iron Maiden and have a die-hard following of their own, with the five-piece also set to play Manchester Academy 3 late this year.
We expect they’ll carry over a fair few converts from Friday night’s gig come their return to 0161 on 29 September.
So, what time is all kicking off? Well, according to the information on Ticketmaster and AO’s website, doors are set to open around 6pm with opening act Lord of the Lost starting at 7.30pm.
Given they are the only support, you can hopefully expect a set of anywhere between 30 mins to a full hour. There’ll obviously be an interval before the main event and with that in mind, you should see the headliners step out on stage at 9pm.
AO Arena usually has a curfew of around 11pm as well, we imagine Iron Maiden will be beating you over the head with two hours of non-stop bangers, which still leaves you plenty of time to heard over to the after-party at Rebellion.
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Sounds like a dream Friday night, to be honest.
The Future Past Tour setlist
Now, last but not least we have our predicted setlist and while we can go off the previous tracks played thus far, bands can always switch things up on the night, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Nevertheless, Iron Maiden have stuck to a fairly rigid 15-song format since the start of the tour in Slovenia and as well as the obvious classics, we think we have a rough idea of what you can expect.
Oasis promoters drop biggest Knebworth hint yet after securing license around key date
Danny Jones
Not that we’re the type to get carried away, but we’ll confess that our curiosity, interest and general levels of anticipation have been piqued, as Oasis’ main promoters have recently renewed the license to host events at the infamous Knebworth.
My word, is this it? Like the reunion, is it ACTUALLY going to happen?…
We’re sure the raw, uncontrollable excitement will come should it be fully confirmed, but for now, all we know is that our colleagues in music media, SJM Concerts, have renewed the land in and around Knebworth Park and House for live entertainment once again.
Moreover, the company have also done so on a rather fitting date decades on from the original and legendary outdoor gigs.
As can be found on the planning application section of the North Hertfordshire Council website – the county in which the storied Britpop gigs took place – a fresh license to hold new events.
If/when the announcement happens, the already granted permission will allow for a capacity of up to 125,000 and a curfew of 3am.
We know the original Knebworth shows were beyond iconic, but let’s say this would be nailed on to be nothing short of absolutely box office.
Besides having also helped promote Oasis’ colossal Live ’25 reunion tour last summer, it’s also worth noting that they secured said license just over a week before the 30th anniversary of the pair of nights back in 1996: 10-11 August, to be specific.
The licence is said to have come into effect this past Saturday (1 Aug) and is believed to be indefinite.
What added even more fuel to the fire of these well-established rumours over the past year was when Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage told the House of Lords the band would be playing FIVE whole nights at Knebworth in the future, before later clarifying that she was speaking in “hypothetical terms.”
All that being said, it’s fair to say we’ll be keeping a very keen eye on socials over the next few days, in particular, just in case.
The Manc has reached out to SJM for an official comment (surprise, surprise), but we are yet to receive a response regarding the matter.
Your silence speaks volumes, just saying.
This coming Monday, 10 August 2026, will mark the official 30th anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth 1996, and with the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ seeing a chart resurgence as the go-to England anthem at this year’s World Cup, we’re choosing to be optimistic. What about you?
Blossoms deliver most rock and roll performance in years as Declan McKenna joins them on stage
Danny Jones
Last night, we were fortunate enough to be there in the flesh not only to see Blossoms play a special anniversary show in Manchester, but to witness Declan McKenna join them on stage.
A tiny part of us was wondering if we’d see Rick Astley roll out into the venue, but let’s just say we’ll absolutely take this.
Celebrating a decade to the day since the release of the self-titled debut LP – yes, we feel old, too – Blossoms announced the one-off intimate show at The Deaf Institute, a venue they hadn’t played in 12 whole years (good lord…), and it served as much more than a night of nostalgia.
But we’ll admit, the highlight was almost certainly seeing the ‘Brazil’ and ‘British Bombs’ singer join Tom Ogden, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, Myles Kellock and Joe Donovan on stage for their smallest gig since god knows when.
We’ve gotten somewhat used to seeing the Enfield-born solo artist popping up at random venues across the country and even performing DJ sets at local pubs.
If you haven’t seen that Kylie Minogue clip before, you really need to…
However, we don’t think anyone in the crowd was expecting this cameo, let alone hearing them perform a co-written track off the new record live in front of the audience for the very first time.
As if all of this wasn’t already a bit bonkers and left-field, the song in question, entitled ‘Additional Driver’, was self-admittedly so surprising in SO many ways that Tom felt he needed to explain the full story behind it and why Declan shouted “shoulda got the 192” before they started playing.
Yes, in some kind of Greater Mancunian fever dream, we’ve finally got artists writing lyrics about the region’s most infamous bus route that we’re sure most, if not all of you, can relate to.
But it wasn’t just this moment that had us debating in our heads, ‘are they the best Manc or maybe in Northern band full stop going right now?’, it was seeing them slip so seamlessly back into the more straight-down-the-line indie rock from their first chapter of studio material that did it.
Everyone knows and loves the biggest bangers from that inaugural outing: ‘Getaway’, ‘Charlemagne’, ‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Honey Sweet’, etc.; but it’s hard to forget just how quintessentially rock and roll tunes like ‘Blow Rose’, ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, ‘Texia’ and even some of the other deep cuts/early releases are.
Don’t get us wrong, we love how much the dressing up (musically and quite literally) they’ve done over the years as their production, creativity and experimentation has increased, but it’s always hard to beat that feeling you get when finding an artist’s first album – especially one as good as Blossoms‘.
In fairness, listening back to ‘Deep Grass’ all these years later, we’ll still remember how spacey, psychedelic and downright different that intro felt back in the day; it now feels like a fitting end to that maiden outing and the perfect jumping-off point for what has been a real sonic exploration ever since.
For a lad born in SK2 and lucky enough to have seen these lads right from the start, stuff like this will never not feel surreal to me.
Long live ‘Blossoms from Stockport‘, and roll on Songs From The Wedding Cake this October.
Danny Jones -
30th June 2023 
