Global pop icon Kylie has just announced details of a huge 2025 tour, which will include TWO shows at the AO Arena in Manchester.
This will be Kylie Minogue’s biggest tour since 2011, kicking off in her native Australia before heading around the globe.
Last time she performed in Manchester was in 2019 when she did a surprisingly intimate show at Castlefield Bowl – prior to that, it was the Golden tour at the AO Arena.
Now the princess of pop is back with her highly-anticipated Tension Tour, with more dates across Europe and America still to be announced.
Kylie said: “I am beyond excited to announce the TENSION TOUR 2025. I can’t wait to share beautiful and wild moments with fans all over the world, celebrating the Tension era and more!
“It’s been an exhilarating ride so far and now, get ready for your close up because I will be calling Lights, Camera, Action … and there will be a whole lot of Padaming!”
The tour comes in support of Tension II, a brand new collection of 13 songs that’s set for release on 18 October and follows the chart-topping Tension.
The new album will feature nine brand new studio tracks, plus dance hit Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna, as well as collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo, and Sia.
Kylie Minogue announces huge Manchester show at the AO ArenaKylie Minogue announces huge Manchester show at the AO Arena
Kylie said: “The Tension era has been so special to me … I can’t possibly let it be over just yet! Welcome to ‘Tension II’.”
This year alone, she’s taken home the Global Icon Award at the BRITs, win the Best Pop Dance Recording Grammy for the smash hit, ‘Padam Padam’, attend the Met Gala, complete her inaugural Las Vegas Residency, perform at WeHo Pride and release a series of high profile collaborations.
Kylie will perform at the AO Arena in Manchester on Monday 19 May 2025, and the newly-added date of Tuesday 20 May 2025.
Tickets for the UK dates will go on general sale at 10am Friday 27 September.
Fans will be able to sign up for venue pre-sale through the AO Arena here.
Kylie 2025 UK tour dates
Fri 16 May Glasgow OVO Hydro
Sat 17 May Newcastle Utilita Arena
Mon 19 May Manchester AO Arena
Thurs 22 May Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Fri 23 May Sheffield Utilita Arena
Mon 26 May London The O2
Tues 27 May London The O2
Fri 30 May Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Sat 31 May Birmingham bp pulse LIVE
Featured image: Erik Melvin
Audio
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | August 2025
Danny Jones
2025 has been a belting year for music so far, be it legendary bands getting back together, veterans getting back in the studio, or rising new stars in the making, making waves – and Manchester has been right at the centre of all of it.
In case you’ve not found yourself on this site at this particular time of the month before, let’s give you a quick rundown: every few weeks, just before turning over another page on the calendar, we round up some of the best music we’ve heard from artists in and around Manchester.
Very much a Ronseal deal, we know.
Get your ‘add to playlist’ thumb at the ready and prepare to dive into yet more marvellous local music, both new and old.
New Manchester music we’ve been listening to – August 2025
Let’s start things off with one of the most heartwarming, albeit frustrating, stories of an independent musician just trying to make it in an industry that is already challenging enough without having your tour van full of gear nicked. Sigh…
We’re talking about Michael Gallagher, who not too long ago upped sticks from Hartlepool in the North East and made his way to Manchester city centre, bringing a nice brand of upbeat, radio-friendly indie music with him. He’s actually been at it since 2018, but more people are taking more notice of late.
If you enjoy artists like Circa Waves, early Declan McKenna and Vistas; Pigeon Detectives or pretty much most mainstream indie bands of the past decade or so, you’ll love this lad – we certainly do. Our top picks include ‘Hannah’, ‘Rum & Raisin’, and since ‘Pour Me Another’ is dedicated to our shared love of the black stuff, we couldn’t not include that one.
2. Foxglove
The budding Manchester group have more music coming in 2025. (Credit: Foxglove via Facebook)
Fancy some euphoric indie and alt pop with vocals that would suit pretty much any genre, if you ask? We’d recommend giving Foxglove a go. With Abi White’s infectious vocals, brothers Ryan and Liam Croney hit all the familiar and classic Manc-coded notes on guitar and drums, plus Joe Myers’ trusty bass-playing, we’re tipping them for a big year.
We also love how the city has played as the backdrop to all of their artwork thus far – it really does ground those tuneful guitars and the twinkly overtones of their sound into a romantic, rose-tinted Mancunian lens.
They’re kicking on 2025 too and following the release of ‘Busy Beach’ (which we’ve had on repeat for most of the month), we’re enjoying seeing how the style can shift from the likes of the UKG-reminiscent, ‘Tell Me A Story’; we don’t mind admitting we’re pretty keen on their latest single, ‘Lost’, too.
3. Doves
Now, they should* need no introduction, but we sometimes find that Doves still go under the radar as one of those bands that plenty of people have been exposed to without quite realising that their music belongs to them. Quite often the way with bands who got going in that era, we’ve found.
Sharing some similarities to The 1975 in having met at school in Wilmslow, the Manchester band were spawned after Jez and Andy Williams met bassist Jimi Goodwin; fast forward the best of three decades later and the alternative rock veterans still have such an enchanting and enigmatic style about them.
We’ve always gone in for their moodier numbers like ‘Snowden’, so it’s no surprise we’re a little obsessed with their newest atmospheric number, ‘Lean Into The Wind’, but as one of those artists people often realise they’ve heard countless times without realising who it is, you can’t go wrong with their biggest hit:
The long-standing Manchester band are heading on their first tour in 15 years with new music to boot.
4. Better Joy
Penultimately, we’re sticking Manchester-based alt pop project, Better Joy, in at number four. If, like us, you like immersing yourself in quiet, introspective nights spent tethered to headphones, you’re going to love this one.
Led by singer Bria Keely, you can expect nods to everything from The Cure and the Cocteau Twins to Pale Waves and plenty from the 80s in general. From ‘plugged in’ to ‘quiet thing’, you get slightly different flavours each time. We also like her cover of ‘You Get What You Give‘ by one-hit wonders, New Radicals; she even recreated the album cover. Her new EP, at dusk, drops on Halloween, too, so we’re keeping our eyes peeled for what’s next.
She’s also one of several artists playing an up-and-coming new music showcase over in Stockport; in fact, she’s headlining local music mag and promoter, The Rodeo‘s stage at the stunning St Mary’s Church as the magical venue continues to attract more live gigs. Her new EP, at dusk, drops on Halloween, too, so keep your eyes peeled.
Is she technically a Manc, no? Do we care? No. She moved here as a teenager to pursue her dream of becoming a musician – just like Michael – and besides sharing Irish roots (and no, stop right there: he shares no connection to Oasis), she’s also an example of how hard work pays off eventually.
The ‘Duboyne Diana’ has gone from arriving here from County Meath as part of a two-piece band and becoming a bit of a cult hero around these parts, so much so that she’s just sold out two whole nights headlining O2 Victoria Warehouse after stunning at Glasto 2025. An icon in the making.
We’re going to start you off with some of her biggest hits: current favourite, ‘Take A Sexy Picture of Me’, the ever wonderful ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’, and sorry, but if you thought we were going to overlook the fact that she’s got a track called ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’, you’d be dead wrong.
As always, we’re more than happy to be directed to more new music coming out of Greater Manchester, and with less than half the year remaining, let’s make our 2025 listening as memorable as possible.
A new music showcase is taking place at a beautiful and historic Stockport venue
Danny Jones
A new live showcase is coming to Stockport town centre as part of a wider music, art and cultural celebration next month.
And by new, we mean the artists; if you went to the last edition, you’ll know it delivers some serious talent.
Teaming up with the likes of Manchester-based music magazine and promoters, The Rodeo, as well as ticketing platform Skiddle, Stockport is set to welcome the return of Mercury Climbing Festival.
This week-long celebration of music, art and culture around parts of the Greater Manchester borough’s historic old town, and there are some exciting names on board already.
As for Mercury Climbing 2025 itself, the multi-day festival spread across several locations boasts the best in native and Northern music, visual arts, and comedy.
Popping up across a total of eight different spaces, including the likes of the brand-new Stockroom, pubs, and headline music venue St Mary’s Church – quietly one of the coolest places we’ve ever seen a gig – you have plenty of reason to be excited about this one.
Speaking of St Mary’s, while artists such as local legends Badly Drawn Boy, Manc indie outfit The Covasettes and Riding The Low – fronted by actor Paddy Considine – are set to play the stunning ceremonial space, The Rodeo is also hosting its own dedicated stage at the church.
Highlighting emerging new talent on Saturday, 20 September, Manchester-based solo indie project Better Joy is set to headline, with Denver County Council (who featured on our Manc artists of the month round-up), Henry Webb-Jenkins, Katie & the Bad Sign, plus more to be announced in support.
The last time we saw a ‘Live at St Mary’s’ event, we can’t stress this enough: it was nothing short of an unforgettable experience.
You don’t get to enjoy a ‘religious’ gig experiences like this often…
Taking place from Friday, 19-26 September, the festival as a whole will transform Stockport’s historic Old Town into a vibrant cultural hub.
And it isn’t just music: there are local food and drink traders getting involved, artwork from the one and only Stanley Chow, as well as plenty of other entertainment.
Above all else, the event is not only steeped in SK and Greater Manchester’s rich heritage, but it’s a great way of supporting new art coming out of the region.
The Rodeo’s St Mary’s stage gets underway from 4pm and is scheduled to finish at 10:30pm, but the wider Mercury Climbing programme is an all-day festival that won’t end until late. You can grab your tickets right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
19th September 2024 
