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Fast-rising alt-rock cult favourites Keo announce Manchester gig on new UK tour

They literally only just played here this month. (this article contains affiliate links)

Danny Jones - 29th October 2025

Up-and-coming alternative rock band Keo have just announced a new UK tour and “most ambitious chapter yet” in terms of live performances, including a Manchester gig that we CANNOT wait for.

Combining the likes of post-grunge, garage rock and more, Keo are one of the most exciting and fast-emerging new acts in the space right now, having seen their recent run of half a dozen domestic shows sell out completely.

Pulling influences from artists of The Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden, as well as most notably fellow contemporaries and former tour partner, Wunderhorse, they’re well-positioned at the front of the guitar-driven revival and are bound for big things. We’re by no means the only ones banking on it either…

Having been described as “already that band” by Dork and delivering “a sound that has given UK guitar its biggest kick up the fretboard in years” by Rolling Stone, you can bet tickets for these shows will be snapped up in seconds, too.

UK and Europe spring 2026.
Pre-sale: 03 Nov 2025 10AM GMT
On Sale: 05 Nov 2025 10AM GMT pic.twitter.com/Xz1km0Z93O

— Keo (@KeoBand_) October 29, 2025

Set to play their biggest Manchester venue to date, Keo will be playing the O2 Ritz on Whitworth Street next spring, and let us tell you, that sprung floor is not ready…

Co-fronted by two brothers, Finn and Conor Keogh (originally from Devon before ultimately getting their music careers underway in the capital), the now London-based group make quite a racket for just the four of them.

That being said, they also do quiet moments well, too, as seen in several of the ‘calm before the storm’ breakouts in songs like ‘Thorn’, ‘Fly’, ‘Crow’ and many more.

If you like anything close to grunge or even just shoegazey riffs, trust us, they’ll be right up your street.

One of the most exciting parts about this lot is how feverishly their fans have packed out their audiences all over the country, somehow learning every single word to every song before most of the material had even been released on any kind of platform. They’ve led with their live reputation – and it shows.

Case and point – the crowd at The Key Club in Leeds, where our mates over at The Hoot got to witness them up close and personal as the entire room erupted in a chorus of screams about a girl called Amber:

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A post shared by The Hoot Leeds (@thehootleeds)

“To be playing venues like these with only five songs out still feels surreal”, says lead singer Finn Keogh. “We always imagined we’d reach this level after years of supporting other bands, but somehow we’ve skipped that step.

“It’s mad, come March, our biggest indoor shows will have been our own. Electric Ballroom [in London] is a special one for me personally; I’ve seen some life-changing gigs there. To be on that stage this time around is going to feel unreal.”

Listing a total of 16 live show dates up and down the country throughout March and April of 2026, it’s fair to say we Mancs are excited to see them playing their biggest room in our city to date, having absolutely smashed Gorilla this past October.

Tickets for Keo at the O2 Ritz in Manchester go on sale next Wednesday, 5 November at 10am; you can get ready to grab yours right HERE.

Read more:

• Interview | Wunderhorse’s Jacob Slater on the band’s rise, second album and on stage antics
• IDLES frontman Joe Talbot set for ’10 Songs That Made Me’ interview at AO Arena
• Wet Leg announce huge outdoor gig in Manchester as part of landmark live dates

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Featured Images — Hermione Sylvester (supplied)