Be it a bloke with a guitar in the pub, countless buskers on the street or even big names touring in Manchester, we’ve come across a lot of Oasis covers in our time and plenty of takes on ‘Champagne Supernova’ too – but this one by Middle Kids is up there with the best we’ve ever heard.
Alternative Australian band Middle Kids have been going since 2015 and we hear at Audio North have been enjoying the Sydney export for a good long while now.
Released back in 2019, their debut album Lost Friends had us hooked from the off, as have their two follow-up records, Today We’re The Greatest (2021) and Faith Crisis Pt 1, which dropped earlier this year.
The latter was recorded right here in England by Jonathan Gilmore, who has famously worked with The 1975 and other artists on the Dirty Hit label, so there’s no surprise you can hear some of those UK influences in their sound – but we weren’t expecting them to nail such an iconic Britpop song so easily.
Middle Kids perform a very different kind of cover of ‘Champagne Supernova’ by Oasis.
What do you reckon – pretty bloody good, right?
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Now, imitating a song well is one thing but reimagining it in a totally different way is another and, in our opinion, often what makes a really good cover stand out.
Plenty of music fans tend to agree too as the comments underneath the video speak for themselves. One person wrote, “Her voice is entrancing, this sounds great”, while another added: “Classy cover, brings new meaning to the track for me. Melancholy magic.” High praise indeed.
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To be honest, most of the comments are just various different ways of saying, “We must have this on Spotify immediately” – and if you enjoyed it too, you’ll be glad to know they listened and added it to the streaming platform right off the bat, where it’s already boasted countless plays in less than a fortnight.
By the way, this isn’t their first ‘Like A Version’ cover for the national radio station and popular online channel that has impressed, having previously done their own takes on everything from Crowded House and even Olivia Rodrigo.
A good triple j cover – which often go viral on social media – can do wonders for a band’s profile.
The Aussie indie rockers clearly have a real penchant for covers and not just trying to recreate what’s gone before but actually put their own twist on stuff.
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As for Middle Kids’ version of ‘Champagne Supernova’, we’ve had it on repeat for the past week; we’re not sure whether it’s lead singer Hannah Joy’s soft and soothing vocal take on the classic Manc hit or the cleverly vocoded keys creating those harmonica sounds underneath everything, all we know is we love it.
It’s more pared-down and stripped back than the original as you can often expect from the likes of triple j and Live Lounge sessions but it turns out a lo-fi version of the legendary song is something we never knew we needed.
More importantly, if you’ve never given the talented trio a listen before then we urge you to give their own discography a go when you come up for air from all the Oasis excitement of late.
It’s not the only cover involving a Greater Manchester band we’ve enjoyed recently either…
Featured Images — triple j (screenshot via YouTube)
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The Strokes at Co-op Live, Manchester – actually very hard to explain
Daisy Jackson
Manchester has waited a long, long time for this – The Strokes back on stage in our city.
I’ve been a fan of the band for as long as I can remember, but have never managed to catch them live, partly because they’ve left it TWENTY YEARS between shows here.
But back they are, with an enormous gig at the Co-op Live on their Reality Awaits tour.
The Strokes are known as one of the most solid indie bands of the 2000s, going triple platinum with their debut album Is This It and releasing massive anthems like Last Nite, Reptilia, and Someday.
They’re also known as a bit of an unpredictable live act – some will say they’re one of the best on the circuit, others will say they’re disappointing, and it really can depend on the night.
What they’re not known for is their audience interaction, so when frontman Julian Casablancas tries to have a bit of a chat with the audience, we all sort of stare blankly back at him. He’s speaking to us? What do we do?
“Wow, tough crowd,” he says, which is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone describe a Manchester audience as tough.
Then he turns back to drummer Fabrizio Moretti and says: “This is f*cking hideous, let’s play some songs.”
The setlist seems to get a shake-up every couple of shows, which is a nice surprise for us – and apparently also Julian, who regularly pops over to ask his bandmates what’s up next.
It doesn’t really matter that he’s not done his homework, because the second that drum kicks in, along with the impeccable guitar work of Schiltz, Fraiture and Hammond Jr., he snaps into action.
It’s impressive that their songs still have such singalong quality when Casablancas enunciates like a man with a dislocated jaw. For certain songs he’s so incoherent that if you weren’t a fan you’d walk in this room and wonder what the f*ck was going on.
But then, that’s sort of why us The Strokes fans love them so much. There’s a calamitous beauty to the work they put out and it’s so fun to belt out some words, even if they’re not the right ones.
I was hoping that seeing it live would sell that divisive new album, Reality Awaits, to me, but it didn’t. It’s too autotuney, too languid, and too often the victim of everyone’s toilet breaks.
Their earlier tracks still land best in a live setting, especially Reptilia, an absolute juggernaut in their back catalogue.
Rollercoaster set and tricky crowd interactions aside, we all had a great time – I’m just not sure I could say the same about Julian Casablancas.
Sam Fender describes his own ticket prices as ‘b*llocks’ and demands change for fans
Daisy Jackson
Sam Fender has kicked off about ticket prices for his own tour, ahead of his huge stadium summer next year.
The Geordie star announced his Proper Massive stadium tour last week, which will visit some of the UK’s biggest venues including The O2 in London, Etihad Stadium in Manchester, and St James’ Park in his home city of Newcastle.
But after ticket prices for the tour were announced, Sam Fender surprised us all by joining in with a moan about how expensive they were.
He described the ticketing strategy for his tour as ‘b*llocks’ and said he was ‘not happy’ with ticket prices.
And proving just how much sway an artist can have on ticket prices, Sam Fender then demanded that things be redone.
Sam first appeared in the comments on Gavin Davis’ Instagram account, which frequently shares tour leaks and ticket prices.
There, he wrote: “I’m not happy with these prices, they’re getting changed. It got inflated well more than I’d had in mind, it should only be inflated in relation to the cost of putting the show on.
“The standing will not be split as well, I had no idea about it. I have no idea how this was normalised in gigs.
“It’s bollocks and it won’t be happening on this tour.”
Then later, on his own Instagram stories, Sam Fender posted: “I’ve managed to get Front Standing tickets removed from the UK stadium tour. Whoever buys a standing ticket gets as much chance as anyone to be at the front.
“No more £120 standing tickets either.
“Costs are astronomical compared to two years ago, I can’t control the venue and ticketing fees, that’s a sad reality of today’s industry.
“This is gonna be the biggest and best show we’ve ever put on. Can’t wait to see everyone on the road next summer!”
The ticket prices for the Proper Massive tour are now confirmed by Sam Fender himself as being £85 for GA standing, and £55/£75/£95 for seats.
Danny Jones -
30th October 2024 
