Alright, it’s the big one this month: Manc music royalty is coming home as the one and only Liam Gallagher is set to descend upon Co-op Live for four nights filled with nothing but tracks from arguably the most iconic album this city has ever produced.
It feels like forever ago that Liam Gallagher announced his Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary shows and we think it’s fair to say that these will be the biggest gigs the brand-new venue has seen yet, with Manchester and Britpop’s begotten son having packed out the place across all four nights.
He might have joked that he’d play Lidl if the arena wasn’t ready in time but now we’ve sampled the space for ourselves and Co-op Live is well and truly back on track, we can confirm it’s going to be worth the wait and it feels fitting to have the massive Man City fan playing just over the road from the Etihad.
Anyway, enough preamble, you know the deal with these things by now; from support acts, stage times, the setlist and everything in between, here’s all you need to know about Liam Gallagher’s quartet of concerts at Co-op Live here in Manchester.
Tickets (don’t get too excited…)
Sorry guys, if you were expecting to just try and spring for some Liam Gallagher tickets late then you’ve severely underestimated how massive these Co-op Live shows are.
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15, 16, 27 and 28 June are pretty much sold out across the bat and went in the blink of an eye, as tends to happen when one of your city’s biggest artists and one of the most famous rockstars on the planet returns home.
However, you can find the odd resale ticket in standing and seated sections if you’re lucky and, most importantly quick, but you’re looking at £102.74 for a seat in the very back, and the few other single spots are accessible ones for those with disabilities.
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As always, if you’re absolutely dying to go, keep your eye out on trusted resellers like Twickets and TicketSwap but always do your due diligence and avoid illegal ticket touts full stop – no gig is worth getting stung over.
Support acts for Liam Gallagher’s Definitely Maybe tour
All that being said, if you do manage to get a last-minute ticket somehow, you’ll certainly be getting your money’s worth with not only LG himself but a pair of exciting support acts at very different stages of their musical journeys.
As well as Scouse indie rock veterans Cast offering their services as the main support at all four Manchester shows, Liam’s son Gene and his band Villanelle will be carrying on the Gallagher legacy as the first warm-up act.
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Imagine your dad getting you a booking for the biggest indoor entertainment arena in Europe barely a year into your career.
Moreover, people are starting to get very excited about this up-and-coming five-piece who have already played some pretty notable sets alongside the likes of Pastel, Seb Lowe and more, with Happy Mondays icon Rowetta tipping them to be among the “future kings” of Manchester music.
Doors are scheduled to open at 6:30pm on each night of Liam Gallagher’s four-night run with Gallagher Jr. and the Villanelle boys due to kick things off around 7pm.
Tipped for a short but sweet set, you can then expect Cast to take the stage from roughly 7:45pm onwards before the headliner himself is set to walk out around 9pm. Again set times always change but this should give you a decent enough guide.
With a standard 11pm curfew at the venue, you can expect to be heading out the doors at roughly 10:40-10:45pm, leaving you plenty of time to head home.
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Setlist (C’mon, You Know…)
Ironically, that one isn’t on the setlist, actually.
You don’t really need us to beat you over the head with this one but in case it was in any doubt, yes, Liam is set to play Definitely Maybe in full, including what he has labelled as some “naughty” B-sides.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
Columbia
Shakermaker
Up in the Sky
Digsy’s Dinner
Bring It On Down
Cloudburst
I Will Believe
Half the World Away
D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?
Fade Away
Lock All the Doors (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds cover – Oasis demo version)
(It’s Good) To Be Free
Whatever
Cigarettes & Alcohol
Married With Children
Encore:
Supersonic
Slide Away
Live Forever
If Setlist.fm is to be believed (and it usually is) you might also be treated to a rare second encore with a cover of ‘I Am the Walrus’ by The Beatles – aren’t you a lucky lot?
Is this the greatest British rock record of all time?Creation Records
Travel info – how to get there, parking etc.
Tram
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Now, as for how you’ll get to shows at Co-op Live, luckily it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
If you want to take another new and improved arm of Manchester’s public transport system, not only is there a whole host of routes that drop you off close to the venue but there’ll also be a free shuttle bus from the city centre to and from events between 20 April-30 June 2024.
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You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue but this must be pre-booked ahead of time and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will obviously vary:
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Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly. Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the boke all through an easy-to-use app.
There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road. For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
That should be just about all you need to know ahead of the four Liam Gallagher shows at Co-op Live in Manchester and if you did manage to get a ticket, consider us very jealous.
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We might be waiting the rest of our lives for an Oasis reunion but with the younger Gallagher brother now hinting that he wants to do a (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? anniversary tour next year as well, we’ll happily keep coming back for more of this in the meantime.
Featured Images — Stefan Brending (via www.2eight.de)/Co-op Live
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Influential indie veterans The Wedding Present to embark on 40th anniversary tour
Danny Jones
Influential indie band The Wedding Present are about to begin a big live tour across the UK for their 40th anniversary, and one stop is right here in Manchester.
As boundary-pushing veterans of the genre for the best part of four decades, The Wedding Present have always been one of the most pioneering auteurs of the Northern music scene, and nothing has changed even after all this time.
The Leeds-formed icons are a favourite not only of ours but even more so among our friends over at The Hoot, and with an artistic legacy as strong as Yorkshire’s, that’s saying something.
David Lewis Gedge’s long-standing project rather quietly announced its major retrospective series of live shows back in June – so quiet, in fact, that we missed it until now – but as they gear up for a handful of very special dates, we’d urge Manc gig-goers to give themselves a Wedding Present.
Gedge and co. will be coming to the O2 Ritz in Manchester for just the second show of merely half a dozen confirmed for The Wedding Present 40th Anniversary Tour, having played the venue many times.
In fact, even after visits featuring live configurations over the years, the current lineup played the Ritz as recently as May 2023; the show was met with strong reviews pretty much across the board, and it seemed to signal somewhat of a falling back in love with the crowds of the North.
For anyone unaware of the self-styled ‘semi-legendary band’ (their PR’s words, not ours), The Wedding Present are probably in similar territory to fellow underdogs and Manc natives, James, when it comes to the amount of music they’ve put out over the years, inspiring generations of those who came after.
You might assume we’d name one of their most famous tracks, ‘George Best’, as our favourite, for rather obvious reasons – but you’d be wrong: it doesn’t get much better than ‘Dreamworld’, if you ask us.
Their rich back catalogue encompasses not only so many different eras but also sounds, styles and various other eccentricities; so much so that their multi-genre-spanning music has even produced its own musical.
But before we dive any deeper down into the rabbit hole, let’s get back on track.
Set to play Manchester on Friday, 10 October, The Wedding Present will be kicking off the tour in Bristol at the start of next month.
There are other dates in the likes of Sheffield, Liverpool, Chester, Holmfirth, Buxton, Newcastle and more, but only a few are officially part of the anniversary tour.
Tickets are live as we speak, so if you fancy going along to see them, you can grab yours HERE.
Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live Manchester – tickets, setlist, support and more
Daisy Jackson
Lewis Capaldi will be hitting the stage in Manchester this week for two huge sold-out gigs at the Co-op Live arena.
The Scottish singer-songwriter is currently on a sold-out 17-date UK arena tour after a two-year hiatus for his physical and mental health.
The much-loved performer took the decision to step out the limelight after his Glastonbury 2023 performance, where he struggled with his vocals, anxiety, and Tourette’s syndrome as the set went on – with the huge crowd stepping in to sing for him.
Lewis then made a triumphant return earlier this year with a surprise set at Glastonbury, proving he is once again back on top form.
He then released a new single, Survive, which stormed to the top of the UK singles chart, and an arena tour to go with it, adding a second Manchester date due to phenomenal demand.
His single Someone You Loved remains the most-streamed song in the UK, even seven years after its release. Us Brits love him.
Lewis Capaldi will be performing at Co-op Live on both Saturday and Sunday night this week, and we’ve rounded up all your essential info below.
And if you miss him this time, he’s just announced an outdoor summer show at Wythenshawe Park next year, tickets for which go on sale HERE on Friday 19 September.
Tickets for Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live
Lewis Capaldi. Credit: Alexandra Gavillet
Did we mention that people really love Lewis Capaldi? So yeah, the show is fully sold out on both Ticketmaster and See Tickets.
However, you can still get through the doors by booking a VIP or hospitality package with Seat Unique, which are on sale HERE.
Your best bet at getting your hands on a pair of general admission tickets now will be to keep an eye out for resale tickets, but make sure you’re using a reputable resale site.
Face value ticket prices ranged from £32.10 up to £113.25 for seats, with standing tickets also coming in at £113.25 with fees.
Support acts
Lewis Capaldi has lined up a pair of excellent supports for his tour, including his Co-op Live shows in Manchester.
His main support act will be Skye Newman, a rising star singer-songwriter from South East London, who you probably know from her hit debut single Hairdresser and its top-five follow-up single, Family Matters.
Also warming up the crowds will be Aaron Rowe, an Irish musician with a hell of a voice who’s inspired by American soul legends as well as British bands like The Stone Roses and Oasis.
What are the stage times for Lewis Capaldi at Co-op Live?
Exact stage times haven’t been announced yet but we do know that general admission doors open at 6.30pm, and the show is set to start at 7.30pm.
That should mean Aaron Rowe will be on first, followed by Skye Newman around 8.15pm, and Lewis likely to start his show around 9pm.
If any official stage times get announced, we’ll update this article.
Lewis Capaldi setlist
The below is the setlist Lewis has been using for most of his shows so far.
Survive
Grace
Heavenly Kind of State of Mind
Forever
Wish You the Best
Love the Hell Out of You
Almost
Bruises
Pointless
Something in the Heavens
Leave Me Slowly
Forget Me
The Pretender
The Day That I Die
Before You Go
Encore
How I’m Feeling Now
Hold Me While You Wait
Someone You Loved
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue,e but this must be pre-booked ahead of time and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU, and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will vary, obviously:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes via 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. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Danny Jones -
11th June 2024 
