You don’t get many chances to see one of the greatest musicians of all time play a huge homecoming show in front of nearly 25,000 of his own, so Noel Gallagher’s massive Manchester gig in Wythenshawe Park was always a must-not-missfor us.
To be fair, you don’t even need to be from these parts to understand how big a deal it was for so many locals to get the chance to see someone from ’round their way hold not only one of the biggest concerts of the year but the first ever live concert Wythenshawe Park has ever seen.
It’s only been a couple of months since Noel and his High Flying Birds released Council Skies, the eldest Gallagher brother’s fourth solo studio album, but we’ve had plenty of time to sit with it since then and can comfortably say it’s some of the best stuff he’s released post-Oasis.
That being said, it felt beyond special to hear something with that title played smack bang in the middle of one of the biggest council estates in Europe and enjoy an album that celebrates a lot of what growing up in places like these is all about among a predominantly Manc crowd. And that was just one part of what was a great day of music.
Wythenshawe has never seen anything like this (Credit: The Manc Group/mcrjh.pix via Instagram)
It was a massively busy day for Greater Manchester as a whole and, in truth, with so much going on in the city centre alone we didn’t manage to make it over to the 109-acre park until around 5ish, just before support act Future Islands got going — a gig we’d normally pay good money just to see on their own.
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However, The Manc office favourites unfortunately only got a few songs in before the weather turned on us and frenetic frontman Samuel T. Herring, already pretty soaked from the rain, had to inform the crowd that they were going off-stage for a little while because of a thunder warning.
Ironically, the break came in what was a moment of calm before the literal storm, as the American synth-wave outfit were playing their latest single, ‘Deep in the Night’: a slower, more solemn tune compared to the likes of ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ — a fan favourite hit that they had no trouble getting started with.
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Sadly, however, we weren’t to know that they wouldn’t be coming back on and as the big screen flashed up with the message “temporary show stop”, the thunder and lightning arrived right on cue. What we did here from them was as magical as always and rest assured, we’ll be seeing them again soon.
Noel Gallagher Live at Wythenshawe Park didn’t get off to the best of starts…
Once the deluge had ended and we seized the opportunity to get some proper scran in us as thousands took shelter under tents, trees and the small overhangs of food vans, we ventured back out into the big field with our hoods up and our spirits still high.
The whole scene was as quintessentially Manc as you can imagine: rain falling on a sea of Adidas trainers, parkas, arm-swinging walks, bucket hats and the rest of it. You get the picture.
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We got even more British festival vibes when the second support act, Primal Scream, came out too. Legends in their own right, it almost felt like just any old Tuesday for the Scottish indie pop and alt-rock veterans, who didn’t mess around when it came to understanding the assignment.
Playing all the hits from ‘Movin’ on Up’ and ‘Come Together’, to ‘Rocks’, ‘Loaded’ and more — all while dressed to the nines and backed by an incredible choir of backing singers, might we add — it felt like everyone’s mums and dads were twisting away as the younger lot watched on at them rolling back the years as if to say, ‘oh yeah, they’ve done all this before’.
All time bop.
And then when the moment finally came (after a fairly long break, we have to admit) and Noel himself took to the stage, it felt like the perfect marriage of that same nostalgic feeling and all those who have come along for the journey of listening to his more recent stuff.
From where we stood, at least, it didn’t seem like there was a single song people didn’t know and love. Be it the very first High Flying Birds tunes that people fell ever heard like ‘If I Had A Gun…’, ‘AKA… What a Life!’ and ‘Everybody’s on the Run’, to ‘The Dying of the Light’, ‘Dead in the Water’, ‘Pretty Boy’ and everything in between, we barely heard a word missed.
It was a reminder of just how many incredible songs the 56-year-old has written even in the time since Oasis called it a day. We don’t think you’ll find many other artists that have continued to pump out so many recognisable tunes and incredible lyrics after what most would call their heyday — Noel included.
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Whether you’re on board with his and Liam‘s posturing, opinions and general cocky image they’ve been maintaining for 30-odd years now, one thing you can never dispute is that this particular Gallagher brother remains one of the greatest and most prolific songwriters to ever do it.
Of course, the main event for most people in that field was when he started playing Oasis songs and while we’d waited quite a long time to hear some of those HFB tunes, most of us had waited even longer to hear ‘Little By Little’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Half The World Away’ and countless other classics live.
Having shoved Pep Guardiola and Man City down our throats for a considerable amount of the night — a bright blue illuminated badge and a cardboard cut-out of the Catalan coach watching over the entire stage — he even got one last dig in by playing B-side ‘Going Nowhere’ and dedicating it to United.
It was all good fun, of course; large sections of the crowd got their boos in and enjoyed banter with each other but as the show drew to its conclusion, they came back together for one last beautiful moment: belting ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ at the top of their lungs. The man himself didn’t need to sing a word.
The fact is, this part of Greater Manchester doesn’t often get the kind of love and respect it deserves but nights like this proved just how much potential this region still has to offer and we’re pretty confident that after this landmark event, Noel Gallagher won’t be the last big name you’ll see playing Live at Wythenshawe Park.
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Sounded a lot better here than it did all them times leaving Fifth.
Manchester Pride 2025 line-up announced, with headline performances from Olly Alexander and Leigh-Anne
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Pride has revealed its 2025 line-up and headliners ahead of the city’s huge LGBTQ+ celebration.
Set to take place, a usual, over the August bank holiday weekend, this year’s live entertainment features headline slots for Olly Alexander, Leigh-Anne, and Billy Porter.
The line-up is packed with LGBTQ+ icons and allies once again as summer’s event calendar heats up.
This year’s Manchester Pride festival will take place between Friday 22 and Monday 25 August, culminating in the candlelit vigil at Sackville Gardens.
Topping the bill this year is Brit Award winner and Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander, along with multi-platinum pop star Leigh-Anne, of Little Mix fame, and Hollywood superstar Billy Porter.
Also announced by Manchester Pride today are special guests including Tulisa, Big Freedia, Sonique and Louisa Johnson, Jodie Harsh, and multi-award winning cabaret artist, Danny Beard with The Danny Beard Show.
Manchester Pride has also worked with community collectives to commission a number of immersive shows, including House of MCR, which will bring together dance, singing, lip-syncing and fashion.
Kulture Cabaret will be a celebration of queer South Asian and Middle Eastern performers, and Queenz: Drag me to the disco will feature during the bank holiday celebrations.
Bongo’s Bingo will kick off the Manchester Pride celebrations each day.
This is all part of the first-ever line-up for the brand new Mardi Gras event, which will take place on the Saturday and Sunday and has an ambition to better represent marginalised communities such as trans, non-binary, and queer local talent.
The Gay Village Party will be back in Manchester Pride’s spiritual home from Friday 22 to Monday 25 August, featuring Samantha Mumba, B*Witched and Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge – with more still to be announced.
These performances will be across two stages, the Alan Turing stage and the Indoor Arena, alongside a funfair, market stalls, and pop-up food vendors, plus Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show.
Mark Fletcher, CEO at Manchester Pride, said: “Manchester Pride is the city’s celebration of LGBTQ+ life and culture and each year we’re challenged to respond to the diverse needs of our communities.
“Working closely with LGBTQ+ groups and collectives from Greater Manchester we’ve been able to respond to the needs of our communities in presenting a queer focussed, intentional line up of performers who will elevate and lend their support to the rich bed of LGBTQ+ performers that this city has to offer.
“With the introduction of the new Mardi Gras event we needed to make sure that we stayed true to what Pride is about in this city.
“Our communities were clear that they wanted to see LGBTQ+ performers front and centre and we’re thrilled to announce a line up which serves.
“With so many stages available across the two live music based events we’re confident that there’s something for everyone; whether that be multi platinum selling pop artists, drag queen royalty or ballroom fierceness that you can expect to see at the special House of MCR Show.”
Manchester Pride 2025 line-up
Friday 22 August
Gay Village Party
Samantha Mumba
Saturday 23 August
Mardi Gras
Leigh-Anne // Billy Porter
Special Guest: Big Freedia
Gok Wan // Sonique // Booty Luv // Joshua James // Bestley
The Danny Beard Show // Dean Mccullough’s Pop Machine // Bongo’s Bingo
Queenz: Drag Me To The Disco // Black Pride Mcr // Runway X Banksie
Peaky Blinders creator set to produce a documentary of the upcoming Oasis reunion tour
Danny Jones
If you had any doubt that the upcoming Oasis reunion shows weren’t going to be heavily documented, you’re an absolute fool. However, we’ll admit we weren’t expecting to hear the creator of Peaky Blinders‘ name connected to the tour.
Yeah, as in the Brummies with the flat caps on the telly – them ones.
That’s right, the same man who brought Tommy Shelby and Birmingham’s most infamous gang to our screens is apparently overseeing a major documentary project which will chronicle the return of the Gallagher brothers and put the best bits on film.
As announced by the band themselves this week, Steven Knight has been confirmed as the creator and producer of the Oasis ‘Live ’25’ world tour documentary movie.
The brain behind Peaky Blinders is creating the second Oasis doc after 2016’s Supersonic. (Credit: Taylor Rooke/BBC/IMDb)
It’s worth noting to begin with that besides the BBC’s blockbuster gangster series, which is soon to be followed up with the franchise’s first feature film on Netflix, Knight does have some background in music-related media.
The 65-year-old created the six-part BBC drama, This Town, which revolves around the rise of ska and the ‘two-tone’ revival movement in the Midlands during the 1970s; he also wrote the script for the 2024 opera biopic, Maria, starring Angelina Jolie.
Other names involved in the Peaky Blinders boss’ Oasis documentary are joint directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, who made the LCD Soundsystem film, Shut Up And Play The Hits, which covers frontman James Murphy’s final gig as part of the band at Madison Square Gardens.
Although we are obviously yet to get a release window at this early stage – they’ve got to get through all 41 dates first (touch wood) – more details are expected soon.
Who’s managed to grab tickets? (Credit: Press Image)
The bedlam around ‘Live ’25’ becoming a reality may have died down a little as now just have to play the waiting game and gear up for those first gigs in July, but there have still been plenty of exciting announcements since then.
As well as Richard Ashcroft and Cast being confirmed as the two support acts for the tour, the full reunion band has also reportedly been revealed, with another member of the original 1991 lineup set to make his own comeback.
We’re still way too far away from seeing leaks of the setlist and what they’ve been playing in rehearsals etc., but we
After all, as much as love debating the best Oasis songs of all time, we’ll just be glad to hear any of them being played by the Burnage boys, together again in the flesh, for the first time in 15 years.
Danny Jones -
27th August 2023 
