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Oasis confirm second support act for massive UK and Ireland reunion tour
And there you have it: the Oasis reunion lineup looks to be confirmed.
Oasis have now officially confirmed the next support act for their massive UK and Ireland reunion tour next year – and it’s a familiar name.
The news that the Gallagher brothers were finally reuniting over a decade and a half on from their sudden split shook the world earlier this year and ever since people have been wondering who they’ll be taking along with them on their first shows together since V Festival back in 2009.
After fellow Greater Manchester native and Wigan legend, Richard Ashcroft was unveiled as the first support act, the official Oasis social media accounts have now revealed that Liverpool band Cast are set to be their second warm-up act.
It’s going to be an all-North West affair – now that’s something we can get behind.
Announced on Monday morning, 28 October, both Oasis and their soon-to-be Scouse tour-mates shared respective announcements on their pages, confirming that Cast will be the opening act for each domestic date with the former Verve frontman set to serve as the main support artist.
Writing on their socials, the indie rock veterans said: “We are delighted to confirm that we will be supporting Oasis as part of their worldwide tour, in the UK and Ireland performances in 2025, with Richard Ashcroft. Tickets are sold out, and we can’t wait to see you all for these BIBLICAL shows.”
The news didn’t come as too much of a surprise, to be honest; not only did Cast support Liam on his solo 30th-anniversary tour of Definitely Maybe earlier this year, but the iconic singer also did plenty of teasing on X (formerly Twitter) as per usual.
However, while plenty of people are understandably buzzing to see the big regional names all out on the road together, others are a little surprised and even disappointed by it, mainly because of the dream the Oasis reunion lineup they’d conjured in their heads.
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Well, that one aged well…
Understandably many fans did think that the likes of Blossoms might be tagging along for the tour given they helped announce the comeback at their massive Wythenshawe Park gig, Cast and Richard Ashcroft look to be the only artists joining them for the reunion shows.
That being said, there’s still time for a late surprise and Liam has already taken his son’s band Villanelle on the road with him recently. Watch this space.
Plus, the pair were only confirmed for the UK and Ireland gigs so maybe we’ll see a different duo selected for the North American, Australian and seemingly ever-unfolding world tour.
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Featured Images — The Manc Group/Press Image (supplied)
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Watch Johnny Marr join Franz Ferdinand on stage in Manchester for a Smiths classic
Danny Jones
Franz Ferdinand are the latest act to play Aviva Studios as part of the ongoing Amazon series here in Manchester and were joined by a local music legend during the performance: none other than the mighty Johnny Marr.
Amazon Music UK’s ‘City Sessions’ has already seen the likes of Bastille and Ella Henderson kick off the programme of live performances at Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, and this past weekend saw the alternative indie veterans become the third.
Better yet, the Manchester crowd got to see one of their hometown heroes as well, as the former Smiths guitarist turned lyricist and solo artist joined the Glaswegians on stage for a spell.
A ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ cover by Franz Ferdinand featuring Johnny Marr himself was on absolutely no one’s bingo card for 2025 but we’re very happy we’ve lived to see this cameo.
The 61-year-old musician still has all the effortless swagger he always did and although anyone would struggle to match the same distinct vocal style as Morrissey, lead singer Alex Kapranos did a great job.
Reacting to the clips shared online, the excitement in the room was clearly palpable, with one person writing, “I let out the biggest scream” and another adding, “The crossover I didn’t know I needed!”
A third wrote: “I’d like to see them do an album together like the magnificent FFS album” – referring to the standalone collaboration record created by the Franz Ferdinand and Sparks supergroup in 2015.
Local social media and marketing company, Altrincham HQ, also shared footage of the two artists colliding to perform the Franz fan favourite ‘Do You Want To’, with Marr playing lead throughout.
Just excellent.
The entire performance was livestreamed on Amazon’s Twitch channel as part of the City Sessions series, so you can back and watch the full thing, but it’s fair to say this was the highlight.
It was only back in September that we saw the re-release of Johnny Marr’s only solo album with The Healers, Boomslang, but we’re glad to see the Manc icon is still finding plenty of opportunities to get on stage and do what he does best.
As for whether we’ll see more live performances of The Smiths tunes in the near future, Morrissey recently said that Marr now has full rights to all of their music and could feasibly tour with someone as lead should he wish.
However, the latter was quick to deny the controversial frontman’s claims and insisted that he had simply refused to sign an important document. His response also detailed previous talks about a potential reunion, though the chances of it ever happening now looked slimmer than ever.
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Featured Images — Nicholas O’Donnell (supplied)
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An unmissable Whitney Houston tribute event is returning to Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
A much-adored and cherished Whitney Houston tribute show is returning to Greater Manchester later this year for not one but two different shows, each channelling the charisma and energy of the pop legend.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the phenomenal theatre production, ‘Queen of the Night’, the show is visiting a multitude of stages and venues all across the UK.
0161 had to receive at least one date on this tour, partly due to being the music capital of the North and also due to the fact that this is a city many fans of the 80s diva will forever hold close to their hearts.
Houston played her final ever concert performance of her career here in this very city back in 2010, taking up residence in AO Arena for two nights of world-renowned ballads and mesmerising live vocals.
This tribute show is set to include some of the diva’s biggest and much-loved hits like ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘How Will I Know’ and ‘The Greatest Love of All’, the audience is sure to be singing along.
Adenike Adewale is taking on the role of the American R’n’B Pop singer and is no stranger to the stage or TV, featuring on The Voice in 2021 where she sang a Whitney classic, making it to the semi-finals.
The first Whitney Houston tribute show is taking place over at The Plaza Theatre in Stockport on 20 March, which is also hosting the stage version of a beloved British comedy next month.
Fast forward to 1 June and the tour returns to Greater Manchester and legendary city centre space, Bridgewater Hall: an incredible room more than fit for renditions of the powerhouse vocalist.
A pair of stunning venues, two stunning shows and one incomparable voice.
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It’s not only our lovely region the Queen of the Night experience will be visiting; our friends over at The Hoot have plenty of nearby opportunities to sing along too, with Yorkshire dates in Hull, Halifax, Harrogate and Bradford to name a few.
I’m definitely saving all my love for when this show visits us later this year in March, and after I buy out the front row for all my friends I’ll certainly relate to the smash 1993 single ‘I Have Nothing’.
Tickets are on sale already now – you can grab yours HERE.
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Featured Image – Publicity Picture (Supplied)
