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Loyle Carner at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester – rapper wows and proves ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’

An electrifying performance for those fans who skipped the England game.

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall - 11th July 2024

In another instalment of Sounds of the City 2024, British rapper Loyle Carner delivered an electrifying performance to a sea of dedicated fans.

And they had to be dedicated in order to miss England make it through to the Euros final. The odds before the gig weren’t in Loyle’s favour, it has to be said…

Manchester was doing what it does best, raining, whilst the Three Lions were kicking off in the semi-final just moments before he was due to come on.

But still, Loyle Carner made it all worthwhile and reminded us all why he’s one of the biggest hip-hop artists in the UK at the moment.

The British rapper, who has carved out a sizeable space for himself in the overlapping jazz-fuelled and neo-soul spaces, has been on the scene for over 10 years now.

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The London-born lyricist bounded onto the stage to ‘Hate’, a song off his latest album hugo.

loyle carner castlefield bowl review
loyle carner fans singing its coming home
Image: The Manc Audio

Immediately, murmurs of the England score were forgotten and all eyes were on Loyle Carner, whose real name is Benjamin Coyle Larner, but found his stage name due to his own dyslexia.

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“The love I feel for this city is unparalleled” he proclaims, before playing all-time fan favourite ‘Ain’t Nothing Changed’ which had the crowd pulsating to the heavy beat and shouting to the poignant anthem.

The opening of his set was emotional, intense and deeply moving, which felt rather atmospheric as the grey clouds above continued to shower over Castlefield Bowl.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Loyle Carner show without a few tracks featuring guitarist and producer Tom Misch, both ‘Angel’ and ‘Damselfly’ had the crowd joyfully singing along and dancing to the groovy beats.

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loyle carner sounds of the city 2024
Image: The Manc Audio

Dedicating ‘Homerton’ to his three-year-old son, Loyle told us to “F*ck that toxic masculinity bullsh*t” to which was met with roaring waves of applause.

Other highlights included ‘Loose Ends’ featuring Jorja Smith and ‘Still’, a very personal song which had the audience encapsulated by Loyle’s words as we melted into his mellow voice.

‘Ottolenghi’ wrapped up the sensational show, or so we thought…but just as Loyle started to thank his band audience members jumped and screamed in glee as England scored against the Netherlands making it a 2-1 victory.

So, in true British fashion, a curveball was added to the setlist and we all heroically sang together ‘It’s Coming Home’ in a joy-filled chorus. Absolutely class.

What a way to end the evening, and what a talent Loyle Carner truly is. It wasn’t the only gig where England’s Euro 2024 victory made for a nice backdrop either.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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Frank Carter is bringing the Sex Pistols back to Manchester to play Never Mind the Bollocks in full

Danny Jones Danny Jones Frank Carter and the Sex Pistols Manchester tickets

In what we know is already set to be another show to remember, UK artist Frank Carter is bringing members of the original Sex Pistols lineup back to Manchester to play their legendary debut album, Never Mind the Bollocks, in full and it’s happening sooner than you think.

The former Gallows member turned frontman for his self-titled outfit, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes, is at the forefront of the contemporary punk genre and is about as close to an old-school rockstar as you’ll find on the modern scene.

With that in mind, it seems only fitting that he be chosen to stand in place of John Lydon, a.k.a. ‘Johnny Rotten’, as the limited-time-only lead singer when the Sex Pistols organised a one-off charity reunion run to help save London’s Bush Hall earlier this month.

However, following the massive success of these shows, the band have now decided to book a few more gigs and now, with the help of Frank (minus his snakes), will be playing one of the most iconic records of all time from start to finish – well, sort of…

sex pistols uk tour dates with frank carter
Credit: Supplied

With original bassist Glen Matlock – who was replaced by Sid Vicious and then returned after his death – drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones all returning to the lineup, 40-year-old musician and tattooist isn’t just filling in, he’s helped get them back on tour and in the public consciousness.

Up there with The Rolling Stones, Ramones, The Clash; Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, The Who and others who would be considered amongst the most influential rock bands in history, the significance of their return to Manchester, in particular, isn’t lost on us audiophiles and lovers of music history either.

In case you were unaware, Manchester was the site of the Sex Pistols‘ very first gig outside of London back in 1976, when the frenetic four-piece played what was then known as the Lesser Free Trade Hall on Peter Street right here in the city centre, now The Edwardian Hotel and Peter St Kitchen.

Considered by many as ‘the gig that changed the world‘ and resulting in the famous claim and muso phrase ‘I was there’, a line that even went on to serve as the title of the book by David Nolan, it helped influence countless artists to come.

For example, other people who were in the crowd that night included Ian Curtis, Peter Hook and Bernard Summer of Joy Division and New Order, Morrissey of The Smiths; Manchester music and nightlife mogul Tony Wilson, Manc punk icon John the Postman, as well as members of The Buzzcocks and The Fall.

Despite there only being a rumoured 40 or so people in the room that night, the noise they made and the impact it had makes it one of the most important moments in music history, so how big a deal it is having them back out on stage isn’t lost on anyone – certainly not a lifelong fan like Frank Carter.

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As for Rotten, 68, he has remained in a feud with the existing members for years, namely around the rights to the music, and is said to be “furious” over this latest reunion.

But that’s a big part of what punk was always about, isn’t it? Doing what you want and p*ssing a few people off along the way.

Speaking on the announcement, Jones said: “There was an overwhelming response on social media from fans asking to play different parts of the country. So guess what? It will be done. We will be tighter than a rat’s a*** by the time we get to Kentish Town.”

Frank Carter and the three Sex Pistols members are set to play Manchester Academy 1 on Tuesday, 24 September and while they won’t necessarily be doing NMTB in order, they will be playing it in full. What a time to be alive.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, 23 August at 9am and saying they’re going to absolutely fly is the understatement of the century. You can grab yours HERE. This is going to be a night to remember and then some.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press Image/Dom Martin (supplied)

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A Take That documentary series is currently in the works at Netflix

Danny Jones Danny Jones Take That Netflix documentary series

For anyone whose soul is still at least partly stuck in the 90s, or who still maintains that Take That are the best boyband ever, you’ll be absolutely buzzing to learn that a new documentary series about the legendary British group is coming to Netflix.

Only a few months on from their blockbuster return to Manchester at the AO Arena and even more recently their reduced residency at Co-op Live as part of their massive world tour, Take That fans will soon be able to roll back the years even further thanks to the upcoming docuseries.

Coming exclusively to the Netflix streaming platform, this is the first standalone Take That documentary of its kind outside of a 44-minute featurette that aired on Channel 5 back in 2009.

While details are still very limited, this comes not long after the success of Robbie Williams’ self-titled documentary series which also landed on Netflix in November last year.

As explained in the announcement, although the release date is yet to be confirmed, they have detailed that not only will the production team have access to the current lineup of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, but it will also “feature interviews with Jason [Orange] and Robbie.”

Promising to “give unprecedented insight into one of Britain’s most successful and beloved bands”, you can expect the show (the number of episodes is still unknown) never-before-seen footage of the group and sit-downs with the five-piece.

It’s been a full decade since the band were all together, with Robbie returning for a short stint between 2010 and 2014 before exiting with Jason once again, but the three remaining members have continued to release new music and achieve huge commercial success both here in the UK and across the globe.

Barlow himself says has long been of the belief Williams and Orange might one day come back for good and, who knows? Even if there are still fences to be mended, maybe projects like this might help bring that possibility back into the frame.

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Having formed in Manchester back in 1990 and with several members hailing from 0161 to start with – Mark born in Oldham, Howard from Droyslden, Jason from Crumpsall and even Gary only from down the road in Cheshire – it goes without saying that their connection to our musical city is strong.

The iconic boyband’s collective home, for all intents and purposes, we think we speak for everyone when we say, one: we can’t wait to watch this series and two; we sincerely hope we see them all stood side by side again some day.

When we know more information about Netflix’s now highly-anticipated Take That documentary, believe us, you’ll be the first to know.

Until then, we’ll just keep reliving how nostalgic this night was:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Sira (via GoodFon)/Press Image

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