Renowned as one of the most influential bands of the past 40 years, New Order have announced details of a huge homecoming show at Manchester’s Heaton Park on Friday 10th September 2021.
For what will be their first hometown show in 4 years, New Order’s celebratory night promises to be a defining moment in their illustrious career. Synonymous with inspiring generation after generation with their unparalleled catalogue of hits, New Order return to the city that first gave them their start – and a city forever shaped and influenced in their image.
A quintessential force in British music, their sound has travelled the globe and led the way for millions, from ‘True Faith’, ‘Blue Monday’ and ‘Regret’ to ‘World In Motion’, ‘Ceremony’ and countless more.
Released in 2015, their last album ‘Music Complete’ was adjudged a career highlight by critics and with the release of ‘Be a Rebel’ in September, New Order continue to innovate and point to the future, with Heaton Park primed to be an historic night for a band like no other.
Heaton Park
Speaking about their huge headline return to Manchester, New Order said: “The connection between ourselves and Manchester has played a pivotal role in who we are as a band. We have countless memories from across the city, from our early days starting out, and beyond. We promise to bring a celebration like no other to Heaton Park in 2021, and we can’t wait to see everyone come together for a night we’ll never forget.”
To celebrate news of New Order’s return to Manchester in 2021, the band will participate in a very special Tim’s Listening Party for their most recent LP ‘Music Complete’ on Tuesday 15th December at 8pm. Use the hashtag #TimsTwitterListeningParty to get involved, as the band share memories and stories as they prepare for Heaton Park next year.
Joining New Order for their special Heaton Park homecoming are two acts whose lineage, sound and attitude perfectly match the legendary headliners. Whipping together the dancefloor like few others can, Hot Chip will head to Heaton Park with a soundtrack destined for huge summer moments. From ‘Ready For The Floor’ and ‘Over And Over’ to cuts from their latest album ‘A Bathful Of Ecstasy’ to the Jarvis Cocker-featuring latest release ‘Straight To The Morning’ – expect Hot Chip to be the perfect dancing partner for a historic night in Manchester. Both will be joined by the critically acclaimed electro-punk sounds of Working Men’s Club, whose self-titled debut album stands as one of 2020’s finest – with an equally ferocious and captivating live show sure to go down a treat as the sun sets on Heaton Park.
Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, looking ahead to next year’s show, said:“We’ve learnt a lot from New Order (including how Bernard likes his tea), and they have made some incredible music, marrying the emotional with the electronic, a synthetic, at times icy beauty with rawness and pop melody, and they’ve certainly influenced us, as well as us sharing some of the same influences that have informed their music, like Chicago House, Detroit Techno, or Italo Disco. But they’re always proudly themselves, and it will be a great honour to play on the same bill with them, in their hometown, and for us to be back on stage in Manchester. Can’t wait!”
Working Men’s Club’s Sydney Minsky-Sargeant said:“It’s an honour to play with a band as significant as New Order and on more or less home turf too. I’m sure it’ll be a day to remember and to be supporting New Order in Manchester will be super special.”
Tickets for New Order at Heaton Park go on sale this week, with a special fan pre-sale starting from 9am on Tuesday 8th December – before full general release tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday 10th December here.
Audio
No-phones nightclub Amber’s has announced it is relaunching its second room
Danny Jones
Manchester’s famous no-phones nightclub, Amber’s, is preparing for a relaunch of its second room, just over half a year on from the venue’s opening week.
The smash hit, semi-censored space, which enforces a strictly no-device policy to ensure those in attendance maximise their amount of in-the-moment enjoyment without any risk of distraction, has just announced that they will be reworking ‘Room 2’.
Confirmed just in time for the rest of summer ‘season three’, where plenty of people will be opting to rave instead of splash their cash on Oasis and/or festival tickets, the soon-to-be-refreshed space will partner with audio specialists to provide an experience set to rival the main room.
Sharing a post featuring blueprints for the fixtures and some of the top-end equipment, new-look second room opens its doors early next month.
Writing on social media, the venue wrote: “Amber’s is proud to announce the relaunch of Room Two, featuring a brand new custom soundsystem designed by Norwegian pro-audio specialist NNNN and OJAS, and installed by Neuron Audio Visual.
“The collaboration between Amber’s and NNNN is the first time that the Oslo-based company, which specialises in innovating the future of audio, has created a speaker system for use in the UK. Amber’s will be the first venue in the country to house the state-of-the-art system.”
“The partnership furthers our commitment to world-class sound and creating a truly unique club space in the heart of Manchester. Room Two also now boasts a brand new lighting system and has received bespoke acoustic treatment.”
Reacting to the news, plenty of punters and artists alike are already stoked to see what they have in store; promoters ABB Events simply said, “We can’t wait to test this out 26 September.”
Speaking to The Manc, a regular visitor of Amber’s Manchester told us: “Room Two at Amber’s always felt a little forgotten – a space with potential, but lacking the same pull as the main room. With this new Soundsystem they’re putting in, it finally feels like it’s getting the love it deserves.”
While we understand the urge to document those ‘unforgettable’ gig moments – that does kind of go against what we build them up to be, hence why the Amber’s concept has gone down so well.
Teasing a lineup of “the best in house, techno and groove”, Amber’s Room Two 2.0 will debut on 2 August, and regulars are buzzing for it.
As always, the headliner remains unannounced to keep that allure, as well as that further added feeling of anticipation and excitement.
‘No ticket, no entry’ – Council urges ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park
Emily Sergeant
Ticketless Oasis fans are being urged not to make the journey to Heaton Park this week.
With three concerts still to be played by as part of Oasis Live ’25 here in Manchester this week, following the iconic band’s two hugely successful concerts at the weekend, Manchester City Council has now reissued its repeated request – and warning – for fans without tickets to the shows to not travel to the park.
The warning comes after it was discovered that the so-called ‘Gallagher Hill’ viewing area inside the park, that went viral on social media, has now had large steel fencing erected around its perimeter.
After taking stock of how the first two shows went, the Council says additional measures have now been deemed ‘necessary’ to protect the environment of the park, ensure areas of parkland and nearby livestock are protected, and maintain public safety.
These additional measures will be in place for the next three concerts, taking place tonight (16 July), and Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July.
The Council says its decision to erect steel fencing around a large area of the hill within the cattle field in the main park is because the area is currently being developed as a new woodland for the park and has been recently planted with around 300 young trees, as well as being a measure to protect the livestock in the field, which include both expectant and nursing cows, and a bull.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there,” the Council said in a statement released ahead of tonight’s show.
There are also no facilities for ticketless fans at the park, the Council confirmed, and they will not be able to see the concerts or get into the event arena – which is double-walled with solid high-security fencing all the way around.
The Council has urged ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park this week / Credit: The Manc Group
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will be on duty around the site across the next three dates to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticketholders, and to make sure that only those who have official tickets can access the concerts.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure at Manchester City Council, commented: “As you would expect, given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimised.”
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead,” Cllr Hacking continued.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
The Manc -
7th December 2020 
