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Jonas Brothers first act announced to headline Manchester’s new Co-op Live arena

Co-op Live is set to officially open its doors in April 2024.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 27th July 2023

Jonas Brothers are the first act to be revealed as part of the Co-op Live’s massive opening season next year.

As Manchester‘s newest – and soon-to-be the UK’s largest – live entertainment arena nears closer and closer than ever to officially opening its doors and welcoming visitors, with a huge launch season that’s already jam-packed full of events, Co-op Live has today confirmed the first music act set to grace its stage.

And it’s none other than the Jonas Bothers.

The beloved US pop trio – which is of made up of real-life brothers Joe, Nick, and Kevin Jonas – are one of the most successful groups of the 21st century, having sold over 20 million albums to date, racking up a whopping 26 Billboard Hot 100 hits and a handful on the Official UK Charts, clinching a few GRAMMY nominations along the way, and even claiming their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

And aside from those impressive achievements, the former Disney Channel stars have certainly earned themselves a massive loyal fanbase along the way.

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The trio’s appearance at Co-op Live forms part of their global ‘FIVE ALBUMS. ONE NIGHT’ tour, and they’re set to take to the stage in here in Manchester on 17 June 2024.

It’s going to be one heck of a party.

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Co-op Live
An artist’s impression image of the Co-op Live in Manchester / Credit: Supplied

“We’re counting down the days until we can open the doors of this incredible new venue for Manchester and the UK,” Co-op Live’s Executive Director & General Manager, Gary Roden, said of the venue’s first artist announcement.

“I’m thrilled we can reveal that Jonas Brothers will be part of our opening season of globally renowned artists, highlighting the strength and diversity across our forthcoming line-up of shows.”

As part of the highly-anticipated £365 million venue’s “pioneering” partnership, Co-op members will get the chance to gain early access to tickets through a designated presale on Wednesday 2 August at 10am, all before the general sale takes place.

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General sale tickets are available through Co-op Live from Friday 4 August at 10am, and you can grab them here.

Co-op Live is officially set to open its doors in April 2024.

Featured Image – Supplied

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A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester

Danny Jones Danny Jones Broken Knees Fest 2025 Manchester

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.

castle hotel gigs
gullivers gigs manchester
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)

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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.

You can grab yours HERE.

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.

Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | April 2025
More coming at the end of May.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)

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Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Olly Murs has addressed his abrupt exit from the stage ahead of his Manchester gig

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.

@bethanh2004

Olly Murs cancels Glasgow concert after 5 songs… gutted 😭 #ollymurs #glasgowovohydro #concert #blue #fyp

♬ original sound – Bethan Hewitt

“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.”

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Featured image: Instagram, @ollymurs

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