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Noel Gallagher announces a long lost Oasis song will be released tonight
Emily Sergeant -
29th April 2020
Emily Sergeant -
29th April 2020 Audio
Catfish and the Bottlemen at Heaton Park, Manchester – support acts, stage times and more
Danny Jones
One of the most momentous live music weekends in Manchester is fast approaching, as even before Parklife 2025 gets underway, we must first prepare to welcome Catfish and the Bottlemen.
The Welsh indie rock band remains one of Britain’s biggest and best contemporary exports, even with a fairly substantial hiatus; the proof is in the pudding too, with their huge Heaton Park headline gig selling out and the fandom not fading even one iota in the time between their last album and now.
Although there have been some genuine concerns that the massive outdoor gig could be cancelled, it looks as though we’re in the clear and it will, indeed, be ‘Showtime’ once again.
With that in mind, we thought put together a gig guide of everything you need to know ahead of Catfish at Heaton Park for their Manchester comeback.
Catfish and the Bottlemen at Heaton Park – all the important info
— Catfish&theBottlemen (@thebottlemen) September 29, 2024
Are there tickets left for Catfish at Heaton Park?
We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but unsurprisingly, Catfish’s Heaton Park – their first Manchester headline gig in many years – sold out very quickly.
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On the other hand, you’ll be glad to hear that there are some official resale tickets and VIP packages listed on Ticketmaster.
You can grab your tickets HERE and, of course, you can always keep your eye out for spares on trusted resellers like Twickets and TwicketSwap. Proceed with caution, though, and don’t risk getting stung.
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Support acts
Now, for those who don’t know who is supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen at Heaton Park, you’re in for an absolute treat, because this is a great little lineup that includes a much-loved Manchester band.
As well as a set from London-based DJ and producer Katie Owen to kick off the day, local legends and fellow indie rock favourites James are the main warm-up act.
Given the scenes we saw at their sell-out Piece Hall shows, they could easily pack out this place themselves, especially now we know why frontman Tim Booth loves crowd-surfing so much. You can also read our recent interview with founding member and bass player, Jim Glennie.
Stage times for Catfish’s Manchester show
In terms of when you can expect the action to get underway, Katie Owen is expected to get underway right from doors at 5pm until approximately 7:05pm; there will then be a roughly 25-minute interval before James take to the stage at 7:30pm.
Following a slightly longer break in play, the main event kicks into gear at 9pm, with Catfish expected to play a roughly 1h30m set.
Curfew is at 11pm, so you can expect people to start filing out of the park promptly after the end of the show. We’d also urge attendees to arrive nice and early and get in the queue from 4:30pm.
Setlist
Now, while the setlist obviously hasn’t been confirmed yet (that would spoil the fun now, wouldn’t it?), for the more impatient among you who are trying to figure out what the boys might play, you can check out the most recent running order of tracks from their comeback at Reading Festival last year on Setlist.fm.
It looks a little something like this:
Intro: ‘Aint That a Kick in the Head’ (Dean Martin song) and ‘Helter Skelter’ (The Beatles song)
- Longshot
- Kathleen
- Cocoon
- Soundcheck
- Pacifier
- Twice
- Fallout (‘Bartender and the Thief’ snippet in outro)
- 2all
- Rango
- Outside
- Fluctuate
- 7 (Extended outro)
- Cocoon
Who knows what the encore will be at this point, but one thing we will see is that the above setlist will surely include their most recent song ‘Showtime’ as well as persistent die-hard fan favourite ‘ASA’, which was recently released as a single at long last – maybe a bit of ‘Glasgow’ and ‘Hourglass’ too.
To be fair, we’d be happy with just about any of their tracks.
How to get to Heaton Park
Last but not least, if you’ve never been to the massive green space before, your best bet is to travel via tram or other Bee Network public transport. Metrolink services will be running direct from Victoria to the venue during the day, and thankfully, it’s just a case of getting off at the Heaton Park tram stop itself.
From there, you can enter the event site via the North Gate; after the party is over, the Bowker Vale tram stop located near the East Gate is your quickest exit. Please also be mindful that Heaton Park station will also be closed from 9pm due to help with congestion and safety reasons.
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Otherwise, the usual Big Green Coaches will also be running from the city centre, which can be booked in advance, and taxis home will be available from Blackley New Road and along Bury Old Road.
There is also official car parking for the site – you can reserve your spot online from £16.80.
And that should be just all the important key information you need to know ahead of what is sure to be a memorable night. Touch wood and keep everything crossed, folks…
Read more:
- Tim Booth is the ‘only person in the UK insured to crowd surf’ – here’s the story behind it
- Free Glasto-themed festivals with pizza, tequila and big screens to take place in Greater MCR
- Travel warning issued as more than 100,000 people head to Parklife 2025 this weekend
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — Press Shots
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James’ Tim Booth is the ‘only person in Britain insured to crowd surf’ – here’s the story behind it
Danny Jones
Legendary Greater Mancunians James are currently back out on the road and delighting fans as per, especially with their ever-energetic lead singer, Tim Booth, doing his thing both up on stage and out in the audience too.
But did you know that Bradford-born Booth claims to be the only person who is actually insured to crowd surf in the entire UK?
Well, neither did we until this week.
Playing another pair of massive shows at Halifax’s unbelievable amphitheatre, The Piece Hall, following their two sell-out shows at the amphitheatre back in 2023, the Yorkshireman spoke to Chris Hawkins about how the whole thing came about – and how he earned himself this unique title.
You heard it here 👀
— The Piece Hall (@ThePieceHall) June 8, 2025
@wearejames 's Tim Booth is the only person in Britain insured to crowd surf 🏄♂️⚡
Watch the full interview with @chris_hawkins and James on our YouTube channel! pic.twitter.com/7nQggEuQNG
Joined by bandmate and founding member Jim Glennie for a lengthy interview, Booth was asked just how “high-risk” his infamous crowdsurfing is these days, explaining that although he does “choose [his] moments, there’s little more thinking that goes into it than making sure they don’t have their phones up.
Not because of filming concerns or anything like that, mind you, simply because catching him one-handed wouldn’t be safe enough.
The BBC Radio 6 DJ and presenter then asked if being “insured to crowd surf” is a possibility, at which point he singer-songwriter and actor revealed, “I’m the only person in Britain insured to crowd surf.”
While we’re sure some international acts take out some kind of policy to protect themselves when interacting with the crowd, the liability usually falls on the venue – unless you’re Tim Booth, apparently.
Hence why he can do stuff like without almost any hesitation:
@sunflowerof21 About last night: Tim Booth crowd-surfed to join us for a dance at @The Piece Hall . We were in that very spot 2 years ago watching James in a storm. Didn’t think they could top that night. But they did! AMAZING. #jameslive2025 #wearejames #jamesband #shotononeplus @OnePlus @OnePlus Europe ♬ original sound – Elaine
Legend.
As you can see, the frenetic frontman is still jumping up and down as he always has; even at 65 years old, he’s not afraid to get amongst it and bring their party vibes to their gigs.
He goes on to add that despite a company threatening to remove that particular clause around five years ago, he said that after seeing some of his performance in person, they joked that it was more like the crowd was merely ‘passing him around.’
When we spoke to bassist Jim ourselves earlier this year, he said of his long-time friend: “He’s not as young as he used to be, none of us are, but it’s what he does and he loves it – we’re still amazed by his energy to this day.”
You only have to look at his antics over the years for it to click that interacting with the crowd in this way is something he’s always done, and given his special and seemingly unprecedented protection, we imagine he won’t stop until his body physically won’t let him.
In terms of all-out performers who leave everything up there on the stage, Booth may just be up there with one of the most underrated this country has ever produced.
And we’re not just saying that because he’s a Northerner and Manc adoptee, though the group’s much-loved local status does grant them bonus points.
We certainly enjoyed seeing them at Neighbourhood Weekender this year and, much like Tim himself, we have no intention of sitting down to see a James gig.
Read more:
- Why fans are fearing cancellation of Catfish and The Bottlemen’s massive Manchester gig
- Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics is returning to Manchester later this year
- Travel warning issued as more than 100,000 people head to Parklife 2025 this weekend
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — Raph_PH/Darien Graham-Smith (via Flickr)/Christos Gaifyllias (via YouTube)
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