British pop royalty Robbie Williams has just announced another massive Manchester date coming next summer after a “huge” ticket scramble for the first date.
The former boy band favourite turned chart-topping solo star is back at the forefront of the public consciousness once again after revealing the trailer for his upcoming biopic that has caught plenty of people’s attention.
Set to release on Boxing Day 2024, we think it’s fair to say this is no ordinary retelling of a famous musician’s career as it will see Williams reimagined as a CGI monkey, with Robbie lending his voice for the singing and narration sections.
As if that recent unveiling wasn’t eye-catching enough, the 50-year-old has followed it with the sudden announcement of a huge European tour, where it has now been confirmed that songs from the Better Man film will be played along with some new music “coming soon.”
Due to huge demand, the mighty @robbiewilliams has just announced a second date here at Co-op Live, 10 June 2025.
Unsurprisingly, the first Manchester show sold out in a flash. Sharing details of what will now be 30 sensational dates, Robbie said in an official statement: “This tour is going to be my boldest yet – I can’t wait to see you next year.”
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He also went on to add, “There will be songs from the movie Better Man and some new music too…but more on that soon.”
Although it’s unclear whether this is the first hint at what would be his 13th studio LP, with previous records including everything from the bread-and-butter pop that made him a household name, to swing, old-world big band covers and even a Christmas album.
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Williams’ last outing was the XXV greatest hits compilation album, marking 25 years of his highly successful solo career since leaving fellow 90s icons Take That, who he returned to for a short spell after 15 years back in 2010 before parting ways once again.
He’s also roped in some Northern help from none other than Leigh’s very own The Lottery Winners for all dates but one, meaning the Manc vibes will be immaculate. Huge for the much-loved local band.
Known for his legendary live shows, Robbie Williams is considered one of the UK’s greatest entertainers of all time and previously held the Guinness World record for feats such as selling more than 1.6 million tickets in a single day, not to mention playing to over 375,000 across three nights at Knebworth.
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Put it this way, this second show will be in just as high demand as the first and will sell out quicker than you say ‘Rock DJ’.
Now set to play Manchester and make his Co-op Live debut on 10 and 11 June, fans can secure early access to tickets for the ‘Live 2025’ tour by pre-ordering the Better Man movie soundtrack or by downloading the Co-op Members app.
General admission for Robbie Williams’ Manchester dates and all other UK and Ireland gigs are already live so you best be quick about it.
Given his connection to this city, this is as close to a homecoming show as you’re going to get until he headlines Stoke one of these days, so you don’t want to miss it. Grab your tickets HERE.
Busted and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man added to huge music series line-up in Delamere Forest
Thomas Melia
Pop-punk band Busted and pop/soul singer Rag ‘N’ Bone Man are the latest acts announced to headline a music-filled forest a short drive from Greater Manchester.
The new names have been added to the huge Forest Live 2025 gig series, which takes place at Delamere Forest as well as four other unique outdoor locations across the country.
In a setting that’s mostly greenery and acres of trees, one voice is guaranteed to travel through the dense landscape of the forest, and that’s Rag ‘N’ Bone Man.
Joining the bill with the impressive soloist is boyband and still-to-this-day heartthrobs Busted who are visiting AO Arena this year as well, for those who aren’t such big fans of the festival scene.
Busted have had worldwide and national acclaim soundtracking the early noughties by transporting people a thousand years into the future with ‘Year 3000’ and educating us on ‘What I Go To School For’.
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man has his fair share of chart topping too with notable songs like the hard-hitting drum-heavy ‘Human’ to the Calvin Harris link-up ‘Giant’ which is a flurry of flamboyant horns and EDM beats.
You could be like these lucky gig-goers, front row in Delamere Forest.Raise a glass to your favourite band at Forest Live 2025.Bringing music and green spaces together, Delamere Forest, Cheshire.Credit: Supplied
Stockport five-piece Blossoms will also be headlining and they might be bringing their latest member Gary, the infamous eight foot gorilla, on stage with them too.
There’s another Gary on the bill too, with Gary Barlow set to play in June.
Dundee legends Snow Patrol are another of the acts who are set to play at Forest Live this summer.
Situated in Cheshire, Delamere Forest has been hosting events and shows as part of ‘Forest Live’ in partnership with lots of other unique green spaces like Sherwood Forest and Cannock Chase Forest too.
This initiative is set to drive more people into these natural environments that they maybe wouldn’t visit if it wasn’t for the music and make them realise how brilliant these grounds truly are.
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is headlining on Sunday 15 June while Busted are set to headline on Thursday 19 June, both events are taking place at Delamere Forest as part of Forest Live 2025, with tickets HERE.
Forest Live 2025 at Delamere Forest line-up
13 June – Snow Patrol
14 June – Gary Barlow
15 June – Rag n Bone Man
19 June – Busted (with Twin Atlantic and SOAP)
21 June – Blossoms (with Seb Lowe and The Guest List)
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.
— Altrincham HQ – Social Media Marketing in Manc (@altrinchamhq) January 18, 2025
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.
Danny Jones -
11th November 2024 
