The unofficial Queen of Australia and Britain’s adopted pop princess, Kylie Minogue, is bringing her dance tracks to Manchester, taking up residence in AO Arena for two nights of pop perfection.
Whether you first got to know Kylie from her stint on Neighbours, her delicious range of branded wines or her marvellous discography, it’s safe to say this star has built quite a legacy.
She loves coming across the pond to the UK and Manchester, specifically, playing the legendary AO Arena over 30 times, and we’re grateful for every single one, especially these two upcoming shows.
Kylie has played at AO Arena, Manchester over 30 times and we’re certainly not complaining.
Now Kylie is returning with her long-awaited ‘Tension Tour’ which features the huge phenomenon that is ‘Padam Padam’ as well as her newest single ‘Lights Camera Action’.
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Kylie Minogue UK tour dates
Fri 16 May – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Sat 17 May – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena
Mon 19 May – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Tue 20 May – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Thu 22 May – Liverpool, UK – M&S Bank Arena
Fri 23 May – Sheffield, UK – Utilita Arena
Mon 26 May – London, UK – The O2 Arena
Are there tickets left for Kylie at AO Arena?
If you’re ready to get into the ‘Real Groove’ with this Aussie act, there are two Manchester dates you can get tickets for, and if we didn’t know any better, we’d say she did this ‘Especially for You’.
Fancy spending a night like this with Minogue and her crew on Monday, 19 May? You’ll be able to find tickets HERE.
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Better still, if you fancy seeing her back to back or can’t make the first date for whatever reason, she’ll be playing again just 24 hours later.
Kylie Minogue ‘Tension’ tour setlist
According to her most recent gig recorded on the ever-trusty Setlist.fm, anyway…
Lights Camera Action
In Your Eyes
Get Outta My Way
What Do I Have to Do?
Come Into My World
Good As Gone
Spinning Around
Taboo
On a Night Like This
last night i dreamt i fell in love
Better the Devil You Know
Shocked
Things We Do for Love
Dancing
The Loco-Motion
Hold On to Now
Cupid Boy
Kiss Bang Bang
Chocolate
2 Hearts
The One
Where the Wild Roses Grow
Say Something
Supernova / Real Groove / Magic / Where Does the DJ Go?
Confide in Me
Slow
Timebomb
Edge of Saturday Night
Tension
Can’t Get You Out of My Head
All the Lovers
Padam Padam
Love at First Sight
What are the stage times for Kylie in Manchester?
Kylie is heading to AO Arena, Manchester for two nights of the ‘Tension Tour’.
If you’re head is ‘Spinning Around’ trying to work out your plans ahead of the big night, fear not as doors open from 6pm with the show commencing at 7:30pm.
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Support comes in the form of Jodie Harsh, a London-based drag queen and music producer, who’ll be tailoring a DJ set especially for both nights of the ‘Tension Tour’.
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm, meaning you can watch this pop princess in action and don’t have to wait ‘A Second to Midnight’ to hear all her timeless hits. Last pun, we promise…
How to get to AO Arena
Tram
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
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Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces, including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
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About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Self Esteem at Manchester Academy – a night of pure energy and immaculate music
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
A Complicated Woman – the name of Self Esteem’s album she is currently touring around the UK and Europe. While she may be complicated, there is nothing complicated about how absolutely sensational her performance is.
I only “got into” Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) this year. I kept hearing others talk about her and her music but I’d never really given her a listen until we saw the line-up for Glastonbury and saw that she was playing. Her album A Complicated Woman had just come out that April and so that was my introduction, and I immediately became a massive fan.
I was lucky enough to watch her performance at Glastonbury, which brought tears to my eyes for being both an incredible performance and from the themes of each of the songs. When the opportunity then came to see her again but at home in Manchester, I practically bit the promoters hand off.
The energy is palpable at Manchester Academy, everyone is just buzzing with a joyful energy that’s incredibly infectious.
Unfortunately Moonchild Sanelly, the collaborator on ‘In Plain Sight’ and Self Esteem’s support act on this tour, was unwell, so the delightful Tom Rasmussen stepped in at the last minute. Fresh from a family christening and pulling in some last minute pals, he delivers a delightfully camp and moving performance, getting everyone pumped up.
The lights go down at 9pm and the audience are met with a wall of Handmaids, and then Rebecca walks out on stage to a huge eruption from the crowd. Her fans (myself included) clearly love her. She opens with ‘I Do And I Don’t Care’ which brings a tear to my eye once again.
This is more than just a ‘gig’. It is a full, theatrical performance with dancing and storytelling the whole way through. Whilst Taylor is very clearly the focus, her team of performers are an essential element of the whole show and are so much more than just simple backing singers and dancers. They’re so in sync with each other and there is so much joy on stage as they perform together – a very clear bond ripples through with such love.
The show flows almost as different ‘Acts’, with the running order not following the album order itself, with a mix of songs from her current album and the 2021 album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’. ‘Mother’ gets the crowd grinding away as she moves onto ‘Lies’ and ‘69’ – which always gets a chuckle from the crowd.
We are fixated on her, she just draws you in and holds you there throughout the whole performance. Nobody is shifting around to go to the loo or get a beer, everyone is just glued to their spot and basking in her sensational energy. Despite some of the themes of the songs throughout the gig, everyone is just abuzz with energy.
When ‘Fucking Wizadry’ comes on, every single person sings (or screams) along, and Taylor and her onstage posse absolutely lap it up.
With Moonchild Sanelly being unwell during our performance, when ‘In Plain Sight’ is performed, Self Esteem still moves to the side of the stage when the recording of Moonchild is played, giving space to where she would have been. Hopefully she is feeling better for her further performances because her presence would have been a powerful addition to the song and I’m gutted to have not experienced it.
When ‘Cheers To Me’ comes on, the party has really begun and the audience go absolutely mad for it when the inflatable men (like the ones you see at car garages wobbling around and waving you in) appear. It is honestly so hard to describe the feeling of euphoric joy that is just blasting through the crowd – it is a sight and sensation to behold.
Now you may or may not know, but Self Esteem is personal friends with Julie Hesmondhalgh, who appeared on stage on night two of her three-night gig in Manchester. She admits to us that on night one, she forgot that Julie was only doing night two and had shouted to introduce her during ‘If Not Now, It’s Soon’, which had apparently caused a bit of a stir with some of the night one’s audience. Making light of it, she asked if the crowd wanted her to shout Julie Hesmondhalgh again so we all felt equal, which of course, we did.
The show goes from strength to strength, “finishing” with ‘The Deep Blue Okay’ which perfectly encapsulates the raw emotion and talent of Self Esteem. The crowd are beside themselves with cheer as they erupt in applause, deafening just about everyone around them as the stage empties and the lights dim.
Self Esteem returns to stage alone initially, and chats to us about two important charities she is raising money for, the Schools Consent Project which goes into schools and teaches kids about consent; and the other is X, helping to help displaced people through war. She then moves into ‘I Do This All The Time’, joined by her troupe again on stage, and finally finishing on Focus Is Power.
Emotions are incredibly high. There isn’t a single person who hasn’t been moved and hyped by the whole show. Self Esteem is truly a force to be reckoned with, an absolute star and show woman, yet I feel like not enough people know who she is. A hidden gem on display in front of everyone waiting to be noticed, and she should be, because she is absolutely, boneshakingly sensational.
Tickets are still on sale for her show in Sheffield, and you would be absolutely mad to miss her. I will be there, I better see you there too.
Irish singer CMAT postpones sold-out Manchester gig and rest of UK tour ahead of emergency surgery
Emily Sergeant
Acclaimed Irish singer CMAT has been forced to postpone the rest of her current UK tour due to an upcoming emergency surgery.
CMAT – full name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – was due to play a number of sold-out shows at renowned UK venues throughout this month, including one at Manchester Academy this Saturday (4 October).
But sadly, due to unforeseen health-related circumstances, the 29-year-old has had to make the decision to call off the rest of the tour.
Other major UK cities the genre-bending artist was due to play in this month include Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, and Bristol, as well as the capitals of London and Cardiff.
CMAT has postponed the rest of her sold-outUK tour ahead of emergency surgery / Credit: CMAT (Instagram) | Raph_PH (via Flickr)
Explaining her decision to call off the rest of her UK shows this October, CMAT wrote in an emotional statement on Instagram yesterday: “I am devastated to say that due to an infected wisdom tooth, I need to reschedule all of my upcoming dates of the October UK tour.
“I woke up today with a throbbing pain in my jaw and booked an emergency visit with my dentist. He has booked me in for surgery to remove both lower wisdom teeth next week and given me antibiotics to help with the infection.
“I am told the recovery period for my surgery is two weeks to allow me to heal, with a following short period to allow me get back to full health.
“We are working to reschedule dates and will provide information on this as soon as possible.”
CMAT, who recently just released her third studio album, EURO-COUNTRY, last month to widespread critical acclaim – including being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize 2025 – assured fans that her team is ‘working hard’ to reschedule the postponed dates and will provide information on this as soon as possible.
“Your ticket will be valid for the rescheduled dates, and if you’re not able to make the new date, please contact your point of purchase for a refund,” she added.
Trying to remain positive and make light of the situation, the singer – who is known for her humour and comedic lyrics – asked fans for ice cream and soup recommendations, as she currently ‘can’t even chew any food for the foreseeable’, let alone talk or sing.
“I realise that this will cause difficulties for so many of you who may have made plans to travel to these dates, and for this I can only say I am so so sorry,” she concluded in her statement.
Featured Image – Raph_PH (via Flickr) / Press shots (Supplied)
Thomas Melia -
14th May 2025 
