Neighbourhood Weekender has announced the first wave of acts for next year’s lineup, and there’s some huge names heading to Warrington.
The Victoria Park-based festival is always known to kick-off the summer with an incredible weekend of non-stop live music across three stages, and with the incredible roster of talent announced today, 2023 looks set to be no different.
Local northern legends Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, and popular indie band The Kooks have both been confirmed for huge slots at Neighbourhood Weekender 2023, alongside the return of Britpop superstars Pulp – who have also today announced they are reuniting for the first time since 2013 for a string of shows next year.
Pulp will headline the festival as part of their ‘What we do for an encore’ live dates.
LET’S GO! First wave of your Neighbourhood Weekender 2023 line-up is here!! 💥💥💥
Announcing the reunion tour and headlining slot, lead singer Jarvis Cocker said: “Three months ago, we asked, ‘what exactly do you do for an encore?’ Well… an encore happens when the crowd makes enough noise to bring the band back to the stage.
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“So we are playing in the UK and Ireland in 2023, come along and make some noise, and we’ll see you there.”
Alongside Pulp, after a second consecutive UK number one album, legendary duo Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott will return to Victoria Park to close out the main stage on Saturday night.
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The Kooks will also take to the main stage on the Saturday of the two-day festival.
Neighbourhood Weekender has unveiled its 2023 lineup / Credit: Neighbourhood Weekender | Graham Joy Photography
Those three huge names will also be joined by indie stalwarts The Wombats, The Enemy, and Ocean Colour Scene, alongside festival favourites Jamie Webster, Everything Everything, and The Big Moon.
Pop sensations Anne-Marie, Ella Henderson, and Sugababes have also been announced, as well as two of this year’s biggest breakthrough artists – the Mercury Prize-nominated Self Esteem, and Australian dance duo Confidence Man.
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A whole host of exciting newcomers have also been announced as part of the first wave lineup, with rising stars CMAT, Courting, English Teacher, and Slant all taking to the stage in May.
There’s some huge names heading to Warrington next May / Credit: Neighbourhood Weekender
Neighbourhood Weekender 2023 is taking over Victoria Park in Warrington on Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 May, with tickets officially set to go on general sale at 9am on Friday 4 November, and you can grab them from the NBHD website, or head on over to Ticketmaster or Gigs and Tours.
Coach packages are also available from official coach partner, Big Green Coach, here.
Celebrate the Manchester music scene with the return of Independent Venue Week
Danny Jones
The Greater Manchester music scene is one of the best in the world, no question about it, and what better way to champion our incredible city than with the return of Independent Venue Week?
Indie Venue Week 2025 kicks off on 27 January and it isn’t just a national observance, this celebration takes place over in the States too and is all about not only spotlighting both new, up-and-coming artists but also grassroots music spaces that help platform them.
The week-long music celebration concludes with one last hurrah on Sunday, 2 February, and we can’t think of anything we’d love more than to start the month on the right – by which we mean supporting local businesses and immersing ourselves in as much live music as possible.
We love it when our fellow audiophiles all band together (pun very much intended).
A total of 212 venues are taking part across the UK this year, from the tightly-packed 18-cap that is Grayston Unity in Halifax to the much fully-fledged live music halls like Troxy in East London and, of course, there are plenty of Manc rooms on the list too.
From Manchester’s newest intimate gig space, The Rat and Pigeon, to recently reinvigorated institutions such as New Century Hall and Night and Day Cafe, not to mention local small show favourites like The Castle Hotel and Gullivers, there’s some serious heritage to be soaked up.
Here’s what we’ve got on around these parts:
The Rat & Pigeon – three-part gig series with Yasmin Coe, Martial Arts and Daffodils. (28-30th January)
YES – post-punk band Do Nothing, alternative indie pop duo, Ten Fé, and US rapper E L U C I D. (27 and 31 Jan, 1 February)
Gullivers – hosting Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor. (30 Jan)
Night & Day Cafe – four different gig nights including Opus Kink, The DSM IV, Willie Watson, All Now and more. (28 Jan-2 Feb)
New Century Hall – shows by Lake St Drive, Kublai Khan and Cattle Decapitation. (28 and 31 Jan, 1 Feb)
Rebellion – an all-day black metal festival with Barshasketh headlining. (1 Feb)
But it doesn’t stop there, with tonnes of other shows around the North West region as a whole. You can find a full list of nearby events taking place during the week down below.
The best part about this week is that no matter if you’re based in the city centre or even just outside of Greater Manchester, there’s plenty of local talent to get stuck into.
It goes without saying that independent music venues are the lifeblood of the industry – don’t let anyone tell you any different – so supporting them not just during the week of Monday, 27 January and Sunday, 2 February but all year-round is paramount to keeping it alive and well.
You can find out more details and grab tickets for all the shows for Independent Venue Week HERE.
Bright Eyes are heading back to Manchester on their new UK and European tour
Danny Jones
Beloved indie veterans Bright Eyes are coming back to Manchester for the first time in more than three years as part of a brand new UK and European tour.
Formed back in 1995, the Omaha outfit has remained a cult favourite among music lovers all over the world, exciting fans with their latest comeback after an 11-year hiatus in 2020.
However, the Nebraska band have struggled with touring issues ever since, having to postpone a raft of shows during Covid and even after the pandemic was over, they had to cancel the remainder of their 2024 shows back following frontman Conor Oberst’s persistent vocal issues.
Bright Eyes confirmed that the lead singer had “developed a condition that is exacerbated by excessive singing” back in September, but with their new album finally out Oberst and co. are crossing back over the Atlantic to pick up where they left off.
JUST ANNOUNCED: We're delighted to share that @brighteyesband are coming to our venue on the 21st of June, following the release of last year's new album 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴!
Releasing their fifth studio LP Five Dice All Threes towards the end of last year – their first new outing in half a decade – the long-standing group have already got back on the road in North America and are due to land in the UK this summer.
Kicking off a run of 16 continental dates at Rock City in Nottingham, Bright Eyes arrive in Manchester on Saturday, 21 June and are set to play the legendary Albert Hall – a venue singer-songwriter Oberst himself played as a solo act back in 2017.
The last Manc venue they played was the equally iconic O2 Apollo back in 2022 and while they might have been away for a hot minute, their die-hard fandom hasn’t gone anywhere.
As for the new self-produced record itself (recorded at Obert and Mike Mogis hometown studio), its been described as capturing an “uncommon intensity and tenderness, communal exorcism and personal excavation.”
Bascially, if you like the usual emotional introspection Bright Eyes deliver, this is more of it.