The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and The Refuge are throwing a summer packed with Pride events this year.
The Summer of Pride will see the incredible venue overtaken by everything from sparkling cocktails to photography exhibitions to terrace parties.
The Manc Audio will be launching a summer residency on The Refuge Terrace, celebrating diverse up-and-coming DJs and music talent from across the region.
Hotel brand Kimpton has been supporting the LGBTQIA+ community for more than 41 years and will continue with its work all summer.
The Refuge at the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel will celebrate Pride all summer. Credit: Supplied
The hotel supports several charity partners, including George House Trust, which provides support services to people living with HIV and their carers and loved ones.
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Those who work for the Kimpton Clocktower are also completing the Be Trans Aware training programme, which will help staff to understand and support the full gender spectrum.
Although Pride month is officially in June, the celebrations will continue into July at the huge Oxford Street hotspot.
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There’ll be a partnership with Sparkle Weekend, the world’s largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity.
The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. Credit: Supplied
Sparkle Charity will host the event in Sackville Gardens between 8 and 10 July, but the Kimpton Clocktower will invite Sparkle Weekend members and hotel guests to a Sparkle Social Hour, with a drink on the house.
A special Sparkle cocktail will pop up on The Refuge’s menu, mixing white rum, cranberry, almond orgeat and cacao blanco, topped with an apple and rose foam.
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50% of proceeds from the cocktail will be donated to Sparkle, the National Transgender Charity.
The British Culture Archive are going to host a free new exhibition at the hotel, launching on 19 July.
Together As One – A Celebration of Manchester’s LGBTQIA+ Community features photographs by Jon Shard and Peter J Walsh capturing some iconic moments in the city, including Flesh at The Hacienda and the protest against Margaret Thatcher in 1988.
The Come As You Are Weekender will make a return in August too, coinciding with the Manchester Pride celebrations on 27 and 28 August.
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Speaking on the announcement, general manager of Kimpton Clocktower Hotel, Johan Scheepers said: “Inclusion and diversity is an integral part to the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and Kimpton brand and we have always been extremely proud of this.
“It is crucial that any activity we do embraces the LGBTQIA+ community, so we’re more excited than ever to be announcing three-months of Pride championing activity.
“For us, it’s never just about doing something for Pride – it’s how we can spearhead the whole community throughout the entirety of the year. We look forward to welcoming all guests this summer and beyond.”
Fall Out Boy announce massive Manchester gig on upcoming tour – how to get tickets
Daisy Jackson
Fall Out Boy have announced a huge UK and European tour, including a massive gig here in Manchester.
The legendary pop-punk group, who were behind hit songs like Sugar, We’re Goin Down and Dance, Dance, will be heading this way on their headline tour, So Much For (Tour) Dust.
Today, the Grammy Award-nominated noughties rock icons announced 15 dates, including a stop at the AO Arena on 29 October.
The new Fall Out Boy tour is in support of their forthcoming new album So Much (For) Stardust, which is due for release on 24 March 2023.
Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman surprised fans with a homecoming show in Chicago’s 1000-capacity Metro, which sold out immediately.
They first played the same venue back in September 2002, a pivotal gig in their huge career.
Patrick said on their return: “Twenty years ago, I told my mom I was going to take a semester off [college] because we were headlining Metro and I wanted to see how that would work out…”
Pete Wentz added: “Walking up those stairs is the closest thing this band will have to church.”
The show also featured the live public debut of both Love From The Other Side and Heartbreak Feels So Good, two tracks from the new album.
Fall Out Boy have recently taken part in The Hella Mega Tour, alongside Green Day and Weezer, playing in front of more than one million fans across the globe.
So Much (For) Stardust is Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album and first since 2018’s M A N I A, which garnered a GRAMMY nomination for Best Rock Album.
Fans who pre-order the new album from falloutboy.lnk.to/store/ will get exclusive pre-sale access to UK and Europe tour tickets, with the pre-sale going live at 4pm on Wednesday 8 February.
General tickets will be available for purchase from 10am Friday 17 February.
Fall Out Boy will be joined by PVRIS and nothing.nowhere. on all European dates.
Fall Out Boy’s UK tour dates in full
October
27 October – Leeds, First Direct Arena
28 October – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
29 October – Manchester, AO Arena
31 October – Birmingham, Utilita Arena Birmingham
2 November – London, The O2
Featured image: Publicity picture
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People can’t decide whether or not Liam Gallagher did a surprise gig in a random pub
Danny Jones
People on social media are torn over a clip that appears to show Liam Gallagher, or a very impressive lookalike, doing an impromptu performance at a local pub in Kent.
The video has had thousands of likes and shares, not to mention countless views, as people online are struggling to suss whether it is actually Liam or not.
Originally shared to TikTok by user Jake Body, the video of the supposed surprise Liam Gallagher gig was captured in a local pub in Halling, a small village located in the North Downs part of Kent and seems to have plenty of people commenting that it was indeed him.
That being said, there are just as many saying the opposite and we’re now at the point where we really don’t know what we believe anymore.
As you can see, it doesn’t just look like him, the individual (whoever he is) sounds and stands exactly like him too. It’s beyond uncanny.
Again, it’s not like we haven’t seen lookalikes and people doing that very recognisable impression before but to have all three in one video, you have to admit there’s part of you that makes you second-guess yourself.
Many online have noted that the 50-year-old has recently had hip surgery and so it’s unlikely that he just decided to head down to a random boozer and do a surprise performance.
On the other hand, he did recently decide to book a skiing holiday for the following week just days later.
Busy bloke but he could have squeezed in a quick set, we suppose? That being said, someone did rather amusingly remark that he had to cut his performance short by 30 minutes.
Despite several people commenting and tagging the man himself and saying things like “thanks for the picture!” and so on, they do fail to provide any further evidence to prove whether it was actually him.
However, it’s worth noting that the younger Oasis brother has unassumingly popped into his fair share of watering holes in the past and even did enjoy a jamming session with some other locals in County Mayo, Ireland a few years back, so a surprise Liam Gallagher gig in a pub isn’t as unlikely as it sounds.
Guess the only way we’ll find out for sure is to hear it from the horse’s mouth. Fingers crossed he clears up the debate.
Daisy Jackson -
4th July 2022 
