We enjoyed another night at Castlefield Bowl on Thursday evening and Sounds of the City 2024 continues to impress, as the almighty Jungle took to the stage for one of the smoothest all-round performances we’ve seen in a long time.
The modern dance icons have been flying the flag for the disco renaissance over the past decade and, pound for pound, have become one of Britain’s very best live acts.
The coolest customers within a 20-mile radius, Jungle did have an opening DJ set to help warm the crowd up a little but, to be honest, it’s not like they needed it. The Bowl was read.
ADVERTISEMENT
From the moment we heard that instantly recognisable and ever-so-unique synthy and almost kazoo-ey intro to ‘Busy Earnin”, the funk was very much in full swing and it quickly became apparent that those in attendance were going to dance all night long until the very last note. And that’s exactly what they did.
That might sound pretty standard for a gig, but to actually get that many people properly grooving non-stop for more than two hours on a muggy Thursday night in Manchester, when most people are still knackered from the celebrations from the footy, is quite the statement.
ADVERTISEMENT
And we’re not just talking casual two-stepping: one of the things that we loved the most about this show was how many people fully threw themselves into the pure disco of it all. Us Mancs can dance, trust us; we spotted Aljaž from Strictly in the crowd and he looked impressed too.
Pretty sure we saw a 10 scorecard go up and one point, hard to say…
Jungle got a very warm welcome as they walked out into Castlefield Bowl (Credit: The Manc Audio)
But seriously though, the set was bop after bop, be it long-standing favourites ‘Time’, ‘The Heat’, ‘Heavy California’ and ‘Happy Man’, or other radio hits like ‘Romeo’, ‘Keep Moving’ and, of course, Volcano bangers such as ‘Us Against the World’ and ‘Candle Flame’.
ADVERTISEMENT
And yes, we did get to see a few people pull out the ‘Back on 74’ dance and yes, it was wonderful.
Honestly, the list goes on and on when it comes to these lot and one of the highest compliments we can pay the dance music collective is that they also managed to bring some of those album tracks that we’ve never been as fussed about to life on the stage in a way that we now can’t get them out of our heads.
If that isn’t the hallmark of a good live band then when we don’t know what it is. We also don’t think you’ll find many live acts where the whole team and touring crew of musicians feel just as big a part of the core group as its frontmen.
The main duo might be the geniuses that are Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland but where they excel is in spotlighting all of these various individual performers in moments and celebrating the ensemble – something that has always been at the heart of dance music as a genre.
Petition to make orange the official colour of Jungle and all good disco music? Just feels right, doesn’t it?
We might not have been able to get tickets for Glasto (literally the one act we would have been fighting through the crowds to see) but, for now, we’ll happily relish having seen Jungle on our home turf and simply watching as they turned Castlefield Bowl into a dancefloor.
With the Manics and Suede, as well as Hacienda Classical still set to play this weekend, we’ve got a couple more days to sign off this year’s festival in the best style possible.
Gig tickets, signed merch and more up for grabs in important Headstock charity fundraiser
Daisy Jackson
Some huge music-related prizes have been announced as part of a major charity fundraising campaign for the music industry.
Headstock, a Manchester-based music and mental health social enterprise, is running a Crowdfunder campaign with prizes including tickets to huge arena shows, signed merch, and loads more.
Headstock has announced the campaign to raise funds for the support of MUSIC 85258, a 24/7 confidential text support service launched last year to support those working in the music industry.
The text support service is run in partnership with Music Minds Matter and delivered by Shout.
Headstock’s mission since its inception has been to deliver music-led solutions to tackle the growing mental health crisis, both within the music industry and beyond.
The dedicated mental health text support service has already drummed up loads of support, including being signposted back-of-house in key venues like the AO Arena, Co-op Live, and Warehouse Project.
Now, Headstock is running a fundraiser campaign to keep this vital service thriving, pulling together some major prizes across multiple prize draws.
These prizes have been donated by local Manchester bands and venues, and include VIP Parklife tickets, VIP to shows at the AO Arena and Co-op Live, season passes for WHP, and signed merch from the likes of Elbow, Courteeners and New Order.
To enter each prize draw, make a donation to the Crowdfunder – the bigger your donation, the more entries you will receive.
You can see all the prizes up for grabs and make a donation below – or you can just donate to Headstock HERE.
All the prizes in the Headstock fundraiser
Aitch – A pair of tickets to see Aitch’s headline show at Mayfield Depot + 4x signed albums – HERE
Parklife – 2x pairs of VIP tickets to Parklife 2026 – HERE
All money raised will be donated to mental health charity, Shout, who deliver MUSIC 85258 – a free, confidential and 24/7 text support service for anyone working within the music industry.
MUSIC 85258 is a de-escalation service for anyone working in the music industry who is struggling with their mental health. It is a partnership between Headstock, Music Minds Matter and Shout, with Mental Health Innovations providing the underlying service through Shout’s network of trained volunteers. To use the service, anyone that is struggling simply needs to text the word “MUSIC” to 85258 to connect with a volunteer for in-the-moment support.
Richard Ashcroft announces all-North West lineup of support acts for Alexandra Palace headliner
Danny Jones
Wigan’s finest, Richard Ashcroft, has announced an all-North-Western lineup for his upcoming headline show at ‘Ally Pally’.
The former Verve frontman is not only riding a fresh wave of popularity thanks to supporting Oasis on their incredible Live ’25 world tour, but also recently released his long-awaited new album, Lovin’ You.
Not just a Manc music icon but one of the biggest names to have come out of his borough, specifically, the legendary lyricist is finally getting more like the kind of recognition he deserves, and is making sure to pay that exposure forward in the best way possible.
He could have picked from all manner of big British acts as supports at Alexandra Palace, but Richard Ashcroft has chosen to keep flying the regional flag by picking a group he’s spent the last few months with, as well as a fellow Greater Manchester act.
That’s right: as well as signing up Liverpool’s very own Oasis Live ’25 openers, Cast, as one of the warm-up acts, the 54-year-old has also chosen another native Wigan artist in the form of The Lathums to join him for the momentous headline show.
Much-loved not only in their hometown but across Manchester and beyond, the indie favourites – who also released their latest studio LP, Matter Does Not Define, back in February – the young band are only getting better and becoming more established as time goes on.
Having already played the likes of the AO Arena here in Manchester and booked numerous big festival slots of the past few years, we reckon you can pretty much bank on them headlining this historic and bucket list venue for themselves in the future.
In terms of Cast, the scousers continue one of the busiest years for touring in their career by supporting ‘King Richard’, having followed up supporting ‘LG’ in 2024 to both Gallagher brothers over the summer.
As for Ashcroft himself, we’re glad to see him back releasing new music, and can confirm his seventh record is a great listen.
By no means our favourite, but just a taste of his latest sound.
Now, if you were wondering why we’re talking about this show over any of the other gigs (namely the Northern ones) on his upcoming UK run, it’s because most of the tour has now sold out.
His Co-op Live date was obviously the first to go, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium going shortly after, and extra dates being added in the likes of London, Liverpool and over in Leeds.
If you do happen to be in the capital already or are willing to make a trip to London for the show, there are still some tickets left for Richard Ashcroft at Ally Pally in July 2026.
Cannot wait to hear how this sounds in that storied room:
Danny Jones -
12th July 2024 
