Noel Gallagher and his mighty High Flying Birds are back in Manchester this week with a massive outdoor show at the wonderful Wythenshawe Park and it’s set to be a night to remember.
With 0161 set for a massive weekend as people travel into the city for the likes of Festa Italiana and ManiFest, over to Stockport for Moovin Festival and to Bolton for the annual food fest — not to mention that little thing called Pride 2023 — there is A LOT going on this weekend.
However, for those of you revellers who’ll be heading over to M23 for the older Gallagher brother’s huge homecoming gig, we’ve got you sorted.
It’ll be no surprise whatsoever to hear that this thing is going to be absolutely massive with an estimated capacity of around 25,000 people.
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That being said, with such a large expectancy, those of you who still haven’t grabbed a ticket are in luck: there are still a fair few ticket options available for now but we wouldn’t advise waiting around much longer. After all, he is a Manc music legend and one of the biggest names on the planet.
You can still grab general admission tickets for £60.50 upwards and even a few resales from £46 on Ticketmaster, as well as VIP packages if you fancy treating yourself.
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If you do end up scrambling for one, as always, we advise being very cautious whenever buying from reseller sites and we beg you to stay well and truly away from ticket touts. No gig is worth being stung over and making the problem even worse.
Credit: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (via Instagram)
Support acts
When it comes to the support acts on the night, you really are getting proper value for money with this one as not only are you seeing Noel and his High Flying Birds, but you’ll also be graced with the presence of fellow British rock legends, Primal Scream.
As if that wasn’t good enough, you’ll also be getting alternative American band and synth-pop icons Future Islands (a real Manc Audio favourite) as your second support. But it doesn’t stop there; you also have locally-formed rockers, Picture Parlour, as well as Leicester singer-songwriter, Billy Nomates.
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Some lineup that.
We’re just praying they all join each other on stage at some point for one big supergroup moment. Come on, you lot, make it happen.
Stage times for Noel Gallagher’s at Wythenshawe Park
As for at what time you’ll get to see who, doors to the event are due to open from 2pm and although all timings are subject to change, here’s your rough running order and each artist’s expected set times:
We often turn to Setlist.fm when looking for what artists are going to play ahead of a big gig and while you can definitely find that info for the High Flying Birds’ most recent gigs on there, on this occasion we also have the added assurance of the man himself confirming it for us.
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Obviously, setlists change on the fly all the time due to various circumstances, especially when you’re talking about someone with a catalogue as huge as Gallagher’s, but we think this is a fairly safe bet — here’s what he’s been playing most recently.
Old, new, a cover and some Oasis – you’re getting a bit of everything.
How to get there
Last but not least, there’s just the small matter of getting there. While we’d always recommend travelling as green as possible/using public transport where you can, there are still some car park tickets that you can buy online from the Live From Wythenshawe website for £16.91.
As for those of you catching a ride, there is yellow signage to the north of the site which will lead you to the pick-up/drop-off point on Wythenshawe Road, M23 0AB.
There are also three tram stops to choose from: Wythenshawe Park, Moor Road and Baguley. However, it’s worth noting that both Wythenshawe Park and Baguley will be closed from 9pm so you won’t be able to get back home this way.
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Finally, you can always catch one of the shuttle buses back into the city centre, which will set you back just £3.50 on the day. The service will be operating in a loop from Sale and the city centre, running from 1pm-8pm on the way to Wythenshawe Park and then from 8pm-1:30am when heading home.
For more information, you can find all the up-to-date travel stuff HERE or check out (TfGM) Transport for Greater Manchester’s guidance and even use their interactive map below.
Featured Image — @themighti/Sharon Latham/Ignition (via Instagram)/Wikimedia Commons
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Watch Gary Neville join The Reytons and ‘play bass’ on stage in Manchester
Danny Jones
Remember when we kind of thought Gary Neville was joining The Reytons on tour? Well, turns out he sort of has – at least for one night, anyway.
The former footballer turned pundit and entrepreneur seems to crop up absolutely everywhere these days, be that in Greater Manchester or otherwise, and we know that he’s proven to be a bit of a jack of all trades since his playing days came to an end.
However, we never thought we’d put Gary Neville and ‘playing bass’ in the same sentence, let alone on stage with one of the fastest-rising Northern bands around, but Rotherham’s very own Reytons have turned that seemingly random combination of words into a reality.
Playing the incredible Aviva Studios venue on Saturday, 8 March, the Manc crowd were in for a treat when the Man United legend and ex-England defender popped up on stage, guitar in hand.
As you can see, not only did G Nev join for the cult favourite anthem ‘Low Life’ but he made quite the entrance and pyros blasted from the front of the stage.
For anyone needing a bit more context, this all came about following a humorous stunt back in September of last year where the band made it look like the Manc might be standing in as replacement bassist after full-time member Lee Holland broke his arm.
The 50-year-old filmed a skit of him going through a fake audition process as other candidates were ignored and he ended up being selected.
It was pretty funny, to be fair, especially when the final punchline was that he had absolutely no idea how to play bass.
Still didn’t stop him from going ahead and doing a whole photo shoot though, did it? Now they’ve gone even further and brought him out in front of a massive hometown crowd.
Speaking on the cameo, frontman Jonny Yerrell thanked Neville for his support, telling the crowd: “He is honestly one of the most down-to-earth and nicest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
Yerrell also went on to highlight their Grassroots Foundation initiative, explaining how they provided full football kits to 50 different grassroots teams in 2024, as well as applauding the Reytons fan base and the wider music community for rallying behind young mum Sophie White in a truly touching tale.
The 22-year-old Rotheram native, who has seen widespread support across Yorkshire, is currently battling a brain tumour; with that in mind, the band raffled off the stage sign from their flagship sell-out performance at Clifton Park performance.
With Sophie in attendance, Jonny announced to gig-goers that over £10,000 had been raised in just two days to help her undergo potentially life-saving treatment in Germany, which finally starts this week (Monday, 10 March 2025). Incredible stuff.
If there’s one thing we love more than a band with a sense of humour and who don’t mind a stunt or two, it’s the kind that does important stuff for their region like this.
And, as Jonny puts it, this is just the start; “We’re planning to do even more this year!”, he says, so don’t expect this to be the last time you hear about these Northern trailblazers doing something brilliant.
Who knows, maybe we’ll see Gary Neville joining The Reytons for their headline set at Tramlines Festivalthis summer too?
Featured Images — The Reytons/Graham Noble(supplied)
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A new art trail celebrating the city’s music scene will take over Manchester this summer
Emily Sergeant
A new art trail celebrating the city’s iconic music scene will be taking over Manchester city centre this summer.
It’s no secret that Manchester is a musical hub, with countless well-known artists getting their start here or calling our city home over the years, and in a fitting way to celebrate this incredible lineup of musical talent, an all-new multi-sensory art exhibition will be taking over the streets of the city centre this summer.
The new exhibition, which is titled Music for the Senses: an art arrangement for a musical city, is a collaboration between global art producer Wild in Art – the creators of the famous Bee in the City project – and Manchester City Council.
It’ll be running across the city centre from early July until the end of August.
At the heart of the exhibition will be an interactive installation called ‘Guitar Street’ created by Manchester artist Liam Hopkins, known as Lazerian, which will lovingly repurpose 100+ broken guitars, all donated by members of the public.
On top of this, more than 50 additional ‘unusable’ guitars will be painted or adorned by professional artists, turning them into individual artworks to be displayed in shop windows and venues around the city.
A guitar amnesty is now open for the people of Manchester to contribute instruments to become part of the trail.
As well as the amnesty, some celebrated Manchester musicians will also be loaning their precious instruments to display in windows across the city too.
Any guitars donated that are thought to be in ‘very good condition’ or of ‘significant value’ will instead be donated to a music charity where they’ll get a second life in the hands of aspiring musicians and the next generation of artists.
Created in collaboration with @ManCityCouncil, the Music for the Senses trail will run from 7 July – 31 August 2025.
“Guitar music is a huge part of the sound of Manchester,” commented Councillor Garry Bridges, who is the Deputy Leader Manchester City Council
“Music for the Senses promises to be a fabulous and unique celebration of an iconic instrument, of fantastic music, and of amazing art, with something for everyone to enjoy and get involved in, whilst at the same time supporting the next generation of music talent in the city.”
When the art trail draws to close at the end of August, all the guitars featured will be auctioned off for charity, with the funds raised going to support grassroots music projects and venues across Greater Manchester.
Music for the Senses: an art arrangement for a musical city will run from 7 July – 31 August.
Danny Jones -
22nd August 2023 
