Manchester has missed out on the top spot and has been ranked the second best city in Europe for live music lovers.
If there’s one thing Manchester is known and loved for over anything else, it’s music.
From Oasis and Joy Division, to Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The 1975, and even more modern-day acts, there’s no end to the amount of talented artists this city has produced or been home to over the years, all contributing to Manchester being one of the most prestigious music cities there is.
The city’s live music scene has always been thriving, and that continues right through to this very day, as you’ll see big-name musicians including Manchester as a destination in their UK tour schedules more often than not.
Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams were some of the most-recent global popstars to take to the Manchester stage, and in the last few days, music icons like Stevie Wonder and John Legend have announced they’re stopping off in our city this year.
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Manchester has been ranked the second best live music city in Europe / Credit: Josh Sorenson | Eldhose Kuryian (via Unsplash)
We have a wealth of live music venues in and around the city centre, ranging from massive arenas like the AO Arena and the newest addition of Co-op Live, and stadiums such as the Etihad and Emirates Old Trafford, right through to other middle-sized indoor and outdoor venues like the Apollo, O2 Victoria Warehouse and The Ritz, Castlefield Bowl, and Aviva Studios, and of course the smaller stops like Manchester Academy, New Century Hall, Albert Hall, and the Bridgewater Hall.
And that’s without even getting into the countless other grass-roots and independent small venues like Band On The Wall, Night & Day Cafe, The Deaf Institute, Gorilla, and loads more.
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So, you’d think with an illustrious reputation like that, we’d be the best musical city in Europe… sadly though, we’ve missed out on the top spot to the German capital of Berlin, and have had to settle for second place.
We missed out on the top spot to the German capital of Berlin / Credit: Bruno Cervera (via Unsplash)
After all, the famous saying does go ‘first the worst, second the best’.
It’s all according to a new study by hospitality group Accor, which analysed the top European cities for live music by collecting data, such as the total number of available gig listings in 2025, global monthly search trends, and venue ratings, from popular event and ticketing websites.
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Manchester came runner up with an overall gig city score of 87.2 out of 100, thanks to having a total of 966 gigs planned this year already and a venue rating of 4.57 stars out of five.
The only other two UK cities on the top 15 list is London following behind us in third place, and Birmingham in seventh place.
Featured Image – Alex Bracken (via Unsplash)
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Oasis and adidas drop yet more new merch in the Live ’25 collection
Danny Jones
The Oasis and adidas love affair isn’t over just yet; it isn’t going anywhere, as the legendary Manc band group and global sports apparel franchise are releasing another batch of merch as part of the smash-hit Live ’25 collection.
After shirts, shoes, jackets and bucket hats galore sold out all over the world, adidas is now toasting not only the end of the reunion world tour but “the year that was Oasis” with a second drop in the already iconic crossover.
If you passed through Manchester at all during their Heaton Park homecoming run, you will have no doubt seen countless examples of the ‘adidas Originals x Oasis’ football shirt collaboration alone, not to mention several other bits of fashion in the official Live ’25 fashion line.
Now, just in time for Christmas, there’s a whole new set being introduced into the range of casual wear.
Simply titled ‘Oasis Live ‘25 Drop 2’, the latest additions to the adidas Originals collection are releasing next month and, obviously, will be sold in stores and online.
While the pop-up stores that opened up here in the city centre all over have now shut up shop, Greater Manchester’s adidas locations on Market Street – which turned into an Oasis fan paradise this past summer – and Pear Mill in Stockport will still be stocking the various bits of Britpop clobber.
Although the most recent items will be exclusively available domestically for now, they will be rolled out overseas in 2026.
Considering how quickly most of it sold out last time, you can guarantee most of the options to fly off the shelves just as fast here in the UK.
Honestly, we’ve only just managed to get our hands on the standard black ‘jacquard jersey’.
As you can see, a good chunk of the second drop is that same footy shirt in different colours and other tees in different lengths/variations.
Scheduled to launch on Friday, 12 December, the ‘Oasis x adidas Originals Live ‘25 Drop 2’ will go on sale at 9am sharpish, so you’d best get ready for a scrap in that digital queue.
Naturally, fans, fashionistas and collectors can expect virtually identical costs for the majority of pieces (and buying in-person will obviously help keep the cost down), though it does look like some price points have been adjusted.
As for the Live ’25 tour itself, now that the dust has settled on the ‘Oasis Mania‘ take two, Liam himself has taken to social media to express his gratitude in the most Gallagher way possible…
Lily Allen adds another massive Manchester arena show to West End Girl tour
Daisy Jackson
Lily Allen has just announced an extra show here in Manchester, after her previously announced dates in theatres across the UK drove phenomenal demand.
The much-loved British singer sold out some of the nation’s finest theatres in just minutes with her West End Girl tour.
Since then, the star has announced her biggest-ever headline tour, with a run of arena shows coming next summer.
Lily Allen is now set to visit the AO Arena in Manchester not just once but twice, as well as playing other big cities including Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham and London.
West End Girl was released less than a month ago and has received critical acclaim across the board, amassing 150 million streams and sticking near the top of the UK Albums Chart.
The bear-all, scathing, deeply personal record has catapulted Lily Allen back into the spotlight, and now she’s got the arena tour she deserves.
The show – ‘Lily Allen Performs West End Girl‘ – will see the singer/songwriter play her brand-new album in its entirety, in the order the songs appear on the record.
She had already announced two nights at Aviva Studios in Manchester next March, which sold out almost instantly.
Before this era, Lily was famed for her big hits like ‘Smile’, ‘The Fear’, and ‘F*ck You’. It’s fair to say she’s now riding one of the biggest waves of popularity in her career thus far.
Lily Allen is set to play at the AO Arena in Manchester on Friday 19 June 2026, with tickets on sale from 10am on Thursday 27 November.
You can get your tickets right HERE, but we’d be quick about it…
Emily Sergeant -
19th March 2025 
