We recently popped our heads into the wittily named Withy Groove Records, the new vinyl exchange and all things music that quietly opened up its doors late last year but is now one of the latest hidden gems in the Northern Quarter.
Opening up on the edge of Shudehill on the edge of NQ and just down the road from the Withy Grove Stores buildings (hence the clever little name), the new basement record shop technically began trading in December 2023 but has only just had its front signage completed and the name put above the door.
We especially like the new striking Haçienda-inspired lettering, not that we’re biased towards black and yellow logos or anything…
But seriously though, this little den of old discs, vintage vinyl and music memorabilia is an absolute must-visit for any audiophiles out there.
From the moment you step inside to see the walls lined with countless circles of PVC, iconic album covers and old gig posters, you immediately feel like you’re walking into a player’s paradise and ready to discover a diamond in the rough.
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If you’re a regular vinyl collector, the experience will feel familiar and there isn’t necessarily any one thing that makes it feel different from other independent record shops other than the fact it is literally like a bunker built by someone who left society before the invention of the compact disc.
Founder Paul, who owns the unit situated just next door to Rambo’s — Manchester’s iconic and longest-running tattoo parlour — set up Withy Groove as nothing more than a passion project from one music lover to another, i.e. this city as a whole, and we fully expect Mancs to fall in love with this one too.
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Housing everything from 60s and 70s rock and roll classics, a healthy stock of psychedelia and genre-bending artists like Frank Zappa, to deep cuts throughout the Manchester music scene, a dedicated ‘rare and collector’s items’ section with some serious valuable issues and more, it’s a gold mine.
Beyond both lesser-known and legendary LPs, you’ll find plenty of 45sin the several boxes of seven-inch singles, books, frames, as well as t-shirts, merch and even an old pair of maracas that Bez would be proud to shake about with the best of them. There really is a bit of everything.
If you like those somewhat rough and ready spaces that don’t need a whole lot of bells and whistles to what they do best, which in this case is buy and sell records, then Withy Groove is a great place to gander the next time you’re feeling all muso and fancy some old fashioned analogue shopping.
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In fact, still in their early days, it couldn’t be any more old school in here as it’s strictly cash-only at the minute — but, once again, given the whole vibe of the shop, there’s something very nice and tangible about the physical music experience it taps back into.
If you’re heading out for a really good find on Record Store Day 2024, we definitely recommend you venture into here and, better still, there are some really good new releases and special prints on this year’s list.
The Northern Quarter’s newest record shop gets a thumbs up from us.
New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Danny Jones -
16th March 2024 
