S Club 7 have shared an emotional video updating fans on their touring plans after the death of bandmate Paul Cattermole.
The group shared a video thanking fans for all their support and giving an update on their 25th anniversary reunion tour, which begins here in Manchester this autumn.
Notably absent from the video was Hannah Spearritt, who they confirmed has stepped back from the huge tour in light of the tragic news.
But the remaining five members of the pop group, visibly tearful, confirmed that they would be continuing with the live shows in Paul’s memory.
S Club 7 also announced that their tour would be rebranded to The Good Times tour in his honour.
In the video shared by Jon Lee, Jo O’Meara, Rachel Stevens, Tina Barrett and Bradley McIntosh, the group paid tribute to their late friend.
Jon said: “Sorry it’s been a while since you’ve heard from us, but in all honesty we’ve been in a bit of shock and it’s taken a while for us to find the right words to describe how we feel about losing our brother Paul.”
Rachel added: “Just taking the time to process and get our heads around it all, and also taking time to share time together so that we can remember Paul and all the memories that we had together.”
A tearful Jo O’MearaThe remaining members held each other tightly in the video
Tina said: “It’s just really sad. It’s really really hard to process it right now.”
Bradley then added: “We’re all in still in so much disbelief. Paul was a big brother to us, all of us, and even you guys out there. He truly was a unique specimen of human being. No one could ever ever replace our Paul. But he lives on inside each and every one of us.”
Jo said through her tears: “Whenever Paul would walk into the room, you definitely knew that he was there, because he would just light it up with humour and love and… just a really special person. That’s it.”
Moving on to the S Club 7 tour updates, Jon said: “You’ve probably noticed that there’s only five of us here today, and although Hannah will always be a part of S Club 7, she won’t be joining us on this tour. But we wish her all the best for the future.
“However the five of us are really excited and geared up to crack on. It’s gonna be our tribute to Paul. So we are actually renaming the tour, The Good Times tour, which is the song that Paul was going to sing- sorry.”
At this point he chokes up and stops speaking, but Tina steps in and continues: “Yeah we’re calling the tour The Good Times tour in tribute to Paul, because that was his song and all the fans know that that was his song. It just feels right.”
“He’s always going to be with us,” Rachel said. “He was such a huge part of this tour, so involved in everything that we are planning. We’re just going to keep his memory alive and share it with all of you, and it’s gonna make it even more special.”
Jo finished: “Thank you to all the fans out there that have sent so many beautiful messages to us all. We’ll see you all really soon guys.”
Tickets for S Club 7’s tour are on sale now with See Tickets. They will perform at the AO Arena in Manchester on 12 October and 21 October.
No-phones nightclub Amber’s has announced it is relaunching its second room
Danny Jones
Manchester’s famous no-phones nightclub, Amber’s, is preparing for a relaunch of its second room, just over half a year on from the venue’s opening week.
The smash hit, semi-censored space, which enforces a strictly no-device policy to ensure those in attendance maximise their amount of in-the-moment enjoyment without any risk of distraction, has just announced that they will be reworking ‘Room 2’.
Confirmed just in time for the rest of summer ‘season three’, where plenty of people will be opting to rave instead of splash their cash on Oasis and/or festival tickets, the soon-to-be-refreshed space will partner with audio specialists to provide an experience set to rival the main room.
Sharing a post featuring blueprints for the fixtures and some of the top-end equipment, new-look second room opens its doors early next month.
Writing on social media, the venue wrote: “Amber’s is proud to announce the relaunch of Room Two, featuring a brand new custom soundsystem designed by Norwegian pro-audio specialist NNNN and OJAS, and installed by Neuron Audio Visual.
“The collaboration between Amber’s and NNNN is the first time that the Oslo-based company, which specialises in innovating the future of audio, has created a speaker system for use in the UK. Amber’s will be the first venue in the country to house the state-of-the-art system.”
“The partnership furthers our commitment to world-class sound and creating a truly unique club space in the heart of Manchester. Room Two also now boasts a brand new lighting system and has received bespoke acoustic treatment.”
Reacting to the news, plenty of punters and artists alike are already stoked to see what they have in store; promoters ABB Events simply said, “We can’t wait to test this out 26 September.”
Speaking to The Manc, a regular visitor of Amber’s Manchester told us: “Room Two at Amber’s always felt a little forgotten – a space with potential, but lacking the same pull as the main room. With this new Soundsystem they’re putting in, it finally feels like it’s getting the love it deserves.”
While we understand the urge to document those ‘unforgettable’ gig moments – that does kind of go against what we build them up to be, hence why the Amber’s concept has gone down so well.
Teasing a lineup of “the best in house, techno and groove”, Amber’s Room Two 2.0 will debut on 2 August, and regulars are buzzing for it.
As always, the headliner remains unannounced to keep that allure, as well as that further added feeling of anticipation and excitement.
‘No ticket, no entry’ – Council urges ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park
Emily Sergeant
Ticketless Oasis fans are being urged not to make the journey to Heaton Park this week.
With three concerts still to be played by as part of Oasis Live ’25 here in Manchester this week, following the iconic band’s two hugely successful concerts at the weekend, Manchester City Council has now reissued its repeated request – and warning – for fans without tickets to the shows to not travel to the park.
The warning comes after it was discovered that the so-called ‘Gallagher Hill’ viewing area inside the park, that went viral on social media, has now had large steel fencing erected around its perimeter.
After taking stock of how the first two shows went, the Council says additional measures have now been deemed ‘necessary’ to protect the environment of the park, ensure areas of parkland and nearby livestock are protected, and maintain public safety.
These additional measures will be in place for the next three concerts, taking place tonight (16 July), and Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July.
The Council says its decision to erect steel fencing around a large area of the hill within the cattle field in the main park is because the area is currently being developed as a new woodland for the park and has been recently planted with around 300 young trees, as well as being a measure to protect the livestock in the field, which include both expectant and nursing cows, and a bull.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there,” the Council said in a statement released ahead of tonight’s show.
There are also no facilities for ticketless fans at the park, the Council confirmed, and they will not be able to see the concerts or get into the event arena – which is double-walled with solid high-security fencing all the way around.
The Council has urged ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park this week / Credit: The Manc Group
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will be on duty around the site across the next three dates to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticketholders, and to make sure that only those who have official tickets can access the concerts.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure at Manchester City Council, commented: “As you would expect, given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimised.”
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead,” Cllr Hacking continued.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Daisy Jackson -
15th May 2023 
