Liam Gallagher and John Squire have finally dropped their first track off their upcoming collaboration and it’s even more nostalgically Manc-sounding than we could have hoped for.
Being two of the biggest music legends to have ever come out of the UK, let alone just Manchester, there were a lot of eyes (and ears) on this project and Gallagher himself didn’t exactly play it down by declaring that “it’s going to be the best record since Revolver” by The Beatles.
Now, while we’re not going to vouch for such a bold claim after just one track, we have now heard ‘Just Another Rainbow’ for the very first time and are now feeling pretty confident that fans are going to get the exact kind of vibe they were hoping for.
It’s so Manc the only thing it’s missing is Morrisey twirling flowers front and centre.
From the familiar sonics of that thick, distorted, almost drowning and quintessentially John Squire guitar sound and the low but steady bassline in the background, you’d genuinely be forgiven for mistaking this for a Stone Roses tune.
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Then the instantly recognisable vocals of LG come in, who sings in arguably the best register we’ve heard him in post-Oasis times, and it feels like a marriage of some of the most unmistakable Manc music signatures that you can’t help but reminisce to and enjoy for what it is.
For balance, Squire is undoubtedly the star of the show, not only with the groove that scores the song throughout but also an interesting breakdown down in the bridge that allows for snare-driven drums to break through but an old-school solo that you’d expect from one of the best leads Britian’s ever seen.
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Meanwhile, it’s fair to say that Liam’s lyricism still isn’t on a par with Noel and this certainly isn’t his strongest effort — hearing him literally recite the colours of the rainbow on first listen was a bit surreal, to say the least — but it’s by no means bad and the simplicity almost highlights shine.
Although the Gallagher brothers made no secret of their love for The Beatles and the influence they had on their own music (pretty much like everyone else), we don’t think you’ll find much in the way of Revolver-esque similarities but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t go on to be just as succinct a record.
Having already proclaimed Squire as “the best guitarist of his generation and in the world in my opinion”, it looks fairly likely that he’s going to let his songwriting skills and psychedelic guitar-playing breathe as much as possible on this new album, whatever it ends up sounding like in full.
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There’s no release date for this joint album as yet, nor is there a title, but all we will say is that we like what we’ve heard so far.
We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but this pseudo-‘Stone Rosasis’ project could end up being very, very good.
Busted and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man added to huge music series line-up in Delamere Forest
Thomas Melia
Pop-punk band Busted and pop/soul singer Rag ‘N’ Bone Man are the latest acts announced to headline a music-filled forest a short drive from Greater Manchester.
The new names have been added to the huge Forest Live 2025 gig series, which takes place at Delamere Forest as well as four other unique outdoor locations across the country.
In a setting that’s mostly greenery and acres of trees, one voice is guaranteed to travel through the dense landscape of the forest, and that’s Rag ‘N’ Bone Man.
Joining the bill with the impressive soloist is boyband and still-to-this-day heartthrobs Busted who are visiting AO Arena this year as well, for those who aren’t such big fans of the festival scene.
Busted have had worldwide and national acclaim soundtracking the early noughties by transporting people a thousand years into the future with ‘Year 3000’ and educating us on ‘What I Go To School For’.
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man has his fair share of chart topping too with notable songs like the hard-hitting drum-heavy ‘Human’ to the Calvin Harris link-up ‘Giant’ which is a flurry of flamboyant horns and EDM beats.
You could be like these lucky gig-goers, front row in Delamere Forest.Raise a glass to your favourite band at Forest Live 2025.Bringing music and green spaces together, Delamere Forest, Cheshire.Credit: Supplied
Stockport five-piece Blossoms will also be headlining and they might be bringing their latest member Gary, the infamous eight foot gorilla, on stage with them too.
There’s another Gary on the bill too, with Gary Barlow set to play in June.
Dundee legends Snow Patrol are another of the acts who are set to play at Forest Live this summer.
Situated in Cheshire, Delamere Forest has been hosting events and shows as part of ‘Forest Live’ in partnership with lots of other unique green spaces like Sherwood Forest and Cannock Chase Forest too.
This initiative is set to drive more people into these natural environments that they maybe wouldn’t visit if it wasn’t for the music and make them realise how brilliant these grounds truly are.
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is headlining on Sunday 15 June while Busted are set to headline on Thursday 19 June, both events are taking place at Delamere Forest as part of Forest Live 2025, with tickets HERE.
Forest Live 2025 at Delamere Forest line-up
13 June – Snow Patrol
14 June – Gary Barlow
15 June – Rag n Bone Man
19 June – Busted (with Twin Atlantic and SOAP)
21 June – Blossoms (with Seb Lowe and The Guest List)
Watch Johnny Marr join Franz Ferdinand on stage in Manchester for a Smiths classic
Danny Jones
Franz Ferdinand are the latest act to play Aviva Studios as part of the ongoing Amazon series here in Manchester and were joined by a local music legend during the performance: none other than the mighty Johnny Marr.
Amazon Music UK’s ‘City Sessions’ has already seen the likes of Bastille and Ella Henderson kick off the programme of live performances at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, and this past weekend saw the alternative indie veterans become the third.
Better yet, the Manchester crowd got to see one of their hometown heroes as well, as the former Smiths guitarist turned lyricist and solo artist joined the Glaswegians on stage for a spell.
A ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ cover by Franz Ferdinand featuring Johnny Marr himself was on absolutely no one’s bingo card for 2025 but we’re very happy we’ve lived to see this cameo.
The 61-year-old musician still has all the effortless swagger he always did and although anyone would struggle to match the same distinct vocal style as Morrissey, lead singer Alex Kapranos did a great job.
Reacting to the clips shared online, the excitement in the room was clearly palpable, with one person writing, “I let out the biggest scream” and another adding, “The crossover I didn’t know I needed!”
A third wrote: “I’d like to see them do an album together like the magnificent FFS album” – referring to the standalone collaboration record created by the Franz Ferdinand and Sparks supergroup in 2015.
Local social media and marketing company, Altrincham HQ, also shared footage of the two artists colliding to perform the Franz fan favourite ‘Do You Want To’, with Marr playing lead throughout.
— Altrincham HQ – Social Media Marketing in Manc (@altrinchamhq) January 18, 2025
The entire performance was livestreamed on Amazon’s Twitch channel as part of the City Sessions series, so you can back and watch the full thing, but it’s fair to say this was the highlight.
It was only back in September that we saw the re-release of Johnny Marr’s only solo album with The Healers, Boomslang, but we’re glad to see the Manc icon is still finding plenty of opportunities to get on stage and do what he does best.
As for whether we’ll see more live performances of The Smiths tunes in the near future, Morrissey recently said that Marr now has full rights to all of their music and could feasibly tour with someone as lead should he wish.
However, the latter was quick to deny the controversial frontman’s claims and insisted that he had simply refused to sign an important document. His response also detailed previous talks about a potential reunion, though the chances of it ever happening now looked slimmer than ever.
Danny Jones -
5th January 2024 
