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Review | ‘Hopefully!’, you get lucky enough to see the spectacle that is Loyle Carner live

Words by Hollie Wells.

The Manc The Manc - 25th November 2025

The O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester has this week played host to Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner this week, a.k.a. Loyle Carner, as he serenaded adoring listeners with his captivating lyrics, spine-tingling bass and drumlines, as well as his ever-laid-back warmth and charisma.

His stage name is the only spoonerism you’ll ever find in this man’s craft, as every syllable is as intentional and well-placed as the last.

Accompanied by an incredibly talented band and golden production, the night lends itself to a thought-provoking performance that leaves you wanting more. Consider me listening to nothing but this setlist for the foreseeable.

As the rumble of eager, loyal/Loyle – take your pick – listeners awaited his arrival, you could sense what this artist and his poetic music mean to people.

Opening with ‘in my mind’, just like that, you saw the crowd suddenly holding each other’s hands whilst comfortably sitting in the palm of Carner’s.

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Let’s not forget his brilliant band, either, who all got their time in the spotlight and wowed as a collective.

Carner and the crowd definitely gave them the recognition they deserved, with piano solos throwing a blanket of respectful silence and tentative listening over the whole audience.

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Loyle’s well-loved and special lyrics were echoed throughout the venue from start to finish.

He insisted (and not for the first time) that there’s “something special about playing in Manchester” – and we couldn’t agree more.

Carner’s vulnerability onstage opens a glowing portal for his listeners to do so as well. He encourages feeling. And as an audience, this is extremely clear in the room. It was a sea of warm embraces, agreeing heads and ignited eyes.

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Loyle Carner was just as good on night two at Victoria Warehouse as he was on the first. (Credit: Audio North)

As the setlist crept towards the end, the crowd were not ready to say goodbye as the customary chants of ‘one more song!’ bounced off the Victoria Warehouse walls.

We were then blessed with a solo Loyle, who shared a typically creative and reflective spoken-word Carner special with us.

Without any demand, the crowd fell sweetly silent and absorbed his every word. A poet, pure and simple.

The 31-year-old rapper and wordsmith plays one more night at the venue to round off his mini residency tonight (Tuesday, 25 November 2025); you can try and grab last-minute tickets HERE.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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Sankeys nightclub is returning to Manchester

Danny Jones Danny Jones Sankeys nightclub in Manchester is set to relaunch

It’s officially happening: iconic local club Sankeys is coming back to Manchester city centre almost a decade on from its gutting closure.

The iconic ‘Sankey’s Soap’ nightlife space – which started out over in Ancoats during the mid-’90s – enjoyed numerous stints during its time in the clubbing world, as well as opening multiple partnered venues in the country and even overseas.

Now, approaching nine years after the shutdown, Sankeys is returning to Manchester in the new year, and Mancs are currently losing their minds.

Whether you are one of those who ‘remember it when’, or someone who sadly missed out on the halcyon days in the old Beehive Mill, we assure you that everyone is in agreement that this is nothing short of massive news…

First teasing the comeback back in July, as our city and the world at large were gripped by ‘Britpop Mania’ 2.0, the largely dormant Instagram account posted: “This week Manchester, and the UK, has been blessed with a homecoming of our very own, Oasis.

“We think Manchester deserves another homecoming… Definitely, maybe?”

The North West corners of the internet and veteran revellers alike were understandably quick to get excited by the potential revival, but nothing else had been said for months – until now.

Confirmed on Tuesday, 25 November, the infamous and storied nightclub’s social media team began by writing, simply: “The Legend Returns” and beckoning “a new era for Sankeys”.

It is still unclear as to where exactly the new and improved club(s) will be, but we do know that the events will be in the city centre. However, we do know we’ll be getting a familiar matrix grid installation as part of the design once again.

They will also be enforcing a strict new no-phones policy, which has become increasingly popular across the scene, thanks to the likes of Amber’s right here in Manchester.

Sankeys may have remained an active promoter in the days since the building on the corner of Radium and Jersey Street (M4 6JG) closed – going on to become an unsuspecting office development – this will be the first event of the aforementioned next chapter in a flagship venue.

Promising a limited capacity of no more than 500 people, Sankeys is set to make its landmark return on

Speaking to MixMag in an exclusive interview, creative director David Vincent said: “What we’re creating is a basement-style underground club with a chill out room.

“We will only be open one night a week on Saturday. There will be no VIP or phones allowed on the dancefloor — everyone is a VIP. People need to stop taking pictures and start dancing to the beat.”

Hordes of clubbers, ravers, students and more are already signing up for early access and general admission tickets for the first two nights on Friday and Saturday, 30-31 January 2026 go on sale at 9am this Friday (28 Nov).

Get ready to grab yours HERE and party like it’s, well, 1994, 2017 – take your pick.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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Liam Gallagher thanks Oasis fans with typically unserious and X-rated post on social media

Danny Jones Danny Jones Liam Gallagher thanks Oasis fans in funny twitter post

Liam Gallagher has taken to X to appreciate Oasis fans for what we can all agree was one of the best years of our gigging careers, as the Live ’25 world tour officially ended this month.

The Oasis reunion kicked off back in July and, just like the greatest hits compilation, Time Flies… Their globetrotting series made it possibly the greatest summer of live music in decades, and even after the hometown shows in Manchester were long gone, they took us right through to the winter.

Heaton Park was truly magical, but even those who didn’t manage to get tickets for any of the UK dates got to watch it through the lens of countless fans worldwide, and believe us, the crowds and mania online were a big part of what will see this particular tour go down in history.

It’s clear that fact was not lost on Liam either, as not long after the final show at the Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil, the younger Gallagher brother shared a typically nonsensical, expletive-filled, but nevertheless heartfelt message of gratitude to the legions of Oasis fans who made it happen.

Even after all is said and done, he’s another year older, and Oasis are once again the biggest band on the planet; he’s still as irreverent and unapologetically himself as ever.

We’ll be honest, we’re not entirely confident we know what “absolutely licked it up to ras” even means, but we’re pretty sure it’s a good thing.

In fairness, he isn’t entirely unserious in the post – he still thanked everyone from the bottom of his heart and said he will be “forever grateful for your energy”.

As he sums up everything perfectly in that final line: “without you were just a good band, with you were the BEST BAND ON THE ***ING PLANET”.

He signed off with the trademark “LG x”, but the fanbase now feels bigger than ever and won’t be going anywhere. Personally, we intend to watch every one of those clips from across South America, as those audiences have always ‘got it’ just as much as we did here in Manchester.

Although Noel has yet to share any kind of post following the end of Live ’25, he was one of the very first members of the tour to talk about how the reunion was going.

Chatting with his friends on talkSPORT back in August, the 58-year-old admitted he’d “forgotten how funny [his brother] is” and was thoroughly enjoying being back with the band.

After taking a scheduled break to look after his health, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs has also been pretty active on socials over the months, simply replying with a trio of love hearts underneath lead singer Liam’s humorous response to the outpouring of love following the final gig.

We can only hope and pray that we get to do this all over again in 2026, and whether there ends up being new Oasis songs on the setlist or not, we’ll just be happy to be back jumping up and down and crying our hearts out – no matter how many times they tell us to stop.

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Featured Images — Audio North/The Manc Group/Stefan Brending (via Wikimedia Commons)

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