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.
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.
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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Here's the moment the @KingsOfLeon crowd got word of the England score mid-gig at @TheCoopLive last night. ❤️
A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”
Clementine Hall -
11th July 2024 
