Are you someone caught in that annoying middle ground of loving a boogie to some tunes but not being the biggest fan of the traditional night out in the usual club setting?
If so, we’ve got some good news for you: a brand new way of clubbing is coming to Salford Quays that is prioritising neurodivergent live music lovers whilst hoping to create a safe and fundamentally sensory-friendly night out.
Cleverly named ‘Disco Neurotico‘, the new series of club nights is created by founder Byron Vincent as well as author and fellow DJ, Stefan Mohamed, who are ensuring people’s mental health comes first.
Receiving funding from Arts Council England for this first run of research and development events across the UK in 2024, the first show of 2024 arrives at The Lowry this August.
The tagline for the event is, “Reimagining raves for the nervous and neurospicy” – now that’s the kind of motto we can get behind.
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But what exactly does that look like? Well, it starts with something as simple as wearing whatever you want (even if that means your PJs or cosplaying as Corrie character) and goes on to involve everything from board games and consoles, a silent disco, a UV doodle wall, a calming ‘breakout’ space and more.
You can even pick which music you want to funnel into your headphones – the cornerstone of this sensory-friendly club night and increasingly popular sight at gigs and festivals in general – so whether you want to fully rave in your own headspace, groove out or just enjoy soothing sounds, it’s up to you.
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However, there are also plenty of snacks and drinks, calming recovery rooms for anyone feeling overwhelmed, and they actually already recommend guests come in and take a pre-event venue tour to familiarise themselves with the surroundings, be that in person or virtually.
Speaking on the concept, Vincent said: “I love the idea of clubs and festivals but as an autistic person with complex PTSD, I often struggle with the reality.
“So with the help of a fantastic neurodivergent team of artists, I’ve designed a lovely night with gaming and multiple music genres that’s kinder to sensitive little squirrels like myself.”
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We love the idea of a properly inclusive, sensory-friendly club night with full safeguarding measures in place and the neurodivergent community firmly in mind. We sincerely hope this takes off.
Taking place on 31 August at the iconic Salford venue and running from 8pm until midnight, affordable tickets are just a tenner and general admission is just £12. You can find out all the information you need to know about the event and grab your Disco Neurotico Manchester tickets HERE.
Featured Images — Disco Neurotico/The wub (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Sound of the City 2024 | Avril Lavigne at Castlefield Bowl – supports, stage times, setlist and more
Danny Jones
If you’re a kid born in the 90s or noughties, get your classic Converse on, an old-school tie out of the cupboard and oversized camo pants with an unnecessary amount of zips at the ready, because pop-rock queen Avril Lavigne is coming to Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl this week.
We hope you still have some kind of emo fringe going on and a spare spiked bracelet or two lying around somewhere, but don’t worry if not – even if Avril seemingly hasn’t aged, the rest of us have.
That’s right, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter who soundtracked the youth of so many Mancs, let alone millions of others around the world, is the very first act of Sounds of the City 2024 lineup and what a way to kick things off.
On the scene since 1999, the iconic ‘Sk8er Boi’, ‘Complicated’ and ‘Girlfriend’ singer is still up there with one of the most iconic voices on the planet and getting her to play her first-ever gig at Castlefield Bowl is some coup for the festival if you ask us. Here’s everything you need to know.
Are there tickets left for Avril Lavigne at Castlefield Bowl?
Now, we’re sorry to break the news to you but Avril Lavigne‘s Greatest Hits show at this year’s Sound of the City is a sold-out event. No surprises there, really.
However, when it comes to big gigs like these, there’s still the chance that you might find a few spares popping up here and there on legitimate resale sites like Twickets, Viagogo, TicketSwap etc.
That being said, we always advise due diligence when it comes to picking up second-hand tickets and we urge you to avoid ticket touts by all means necessary – they’re illegal and the only way to get rid of them as a problem in the gig industry is to ignore them altogether.
Who’s supporting Avril Lavigne in Manchester?
For those of you who are going along to the show, you’re in for another early to mid-2000s treat as the Canadian pop-rock princess is joined by her fellow compatriots Simple Plan as the main support act on this tour.
Made famous by tracks like ‘I’m Just A Kid’, ‘Perfect’, ‘Welcome To My Life’ and a version of the Scooby-Doo theme (oh yeah, that one), they’ve been going almost just as long as Avril and are still releasing new music all these years later, with their last album dropping in 2022.
They even did a collab with Natasha Bedingfield over a decade ago and if you’re wondering whether you’ve heard them before, you most definitely have but, like the Lavigne, it’ll be their first time at the Bowl so you best make it a special one.
Judging simply from last year’s times, doors to Sounds of the City typically open from 5:30pm onwards and the main event headliners don’t usually start until somewhere between 8:30-9pm.
We’ll confess there’s still a bit of guesswork since details are yet to be confirmed, but you can probably expect Simple Plan to take the stage from roughly 7-7:30pm – but once again, these are always subject to change.
Don’t worry either way, we’ll update you with the final stage times as and when we get them.
The Greatest Hits setlist
As for what the timeless singer-songwriter will be playing on the night, we have the good fortune of this being a tour in support of her recently released Greatest Hits album and having just watched her smash Glastonbury set this past weekend, so we think we have a pretty good idea of the running order.
The order might be tweaked slightly but here’s a guess and what she is likely to play based on the performance at Worthy Farm:
Girlfriend
What the Hell
Complicated
Here’s to Never Growing Up
My Happy Ending
He Wasn’t
Don’t Tell Me
Losing Grip
I’m With You
Bite Me
Love It When You Hate Me
Sk8er Boi
That being said, other favourite tracks like ‘He Wasn’t’, ‘Head Above Water’, ‘Rock N Roll’; ‘Keep Holding On’, ‘Smile’, ‘Bois Lie’; ‘When You’re Gone’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’ could be part of a full 20 track setlist.
Imagine how much a Yungblud guest appearance for ‘I’m A Mess’ and this version of her ultimate ballad (don’t even try to argue) would go off…
Someone get a Yungblud’s flight-tracker going right now and find out if he’s heading to Manchester.
How to get there
Castlefield Bowl (M3 4JR) is on Rice Street just down Liverpool Road which cuts off the main Deansgate strip in the city centre and you can enter Manchester’s much-loved outdoor amphitheatre via Duke or Castle Street.
It’s just a short walk from Deansgate train station or the Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, where you’ll find regular trams running all over Greater Manchester.
If you’re driving there, Great Northern Warehouse’s (M3 4EE) car park, as well as two other NCPs near Bridgewater Hall and on Quay Street in Spinninfingfields.
Sounds as good as she ever has.We had a blast watching Blossoms at the bowl in 2023. Credit: Justin Higuchi (via Flickr)/The Manc Audio
Avril Lavigne rocks up to Castlefield Bowl on Wednesday, 3 July to kick off a great summer of music at Sounds of the City 2024, with the likes of Jungle, The National, Tom Grennan and more.
Aren’t we lucky to get such amazing names filing into the city for such massive shows every year?
As for Avril, we’ll see you there skater boys and girls!
Featured Images — Press Images/The Manc Group/Justin Higuchi (via Flickr)
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Five Manchester bands we’ve been listening to this month | June 2024
Danny Jones
Hello there (Obi-Wan Kenobi voice intended), we’re glad to see you’re back for the best new Manchester music that we’ve been funnelling directly into our ears this month.
It seems hard to believe that we’re already in June and six editions into this series; that’s half the year already gone and 30 bands already given a humble nod of approval – and now we have five more for you.
You’re forgiven if you’re new to this monthly round-up so long as you keep up to date with it regularly from now on, and why wouldn’t you? You get five Manchester bands or artists who are doing exciting things to keep us on the music map for nothing and with none of the work involved.
This is what we live for and there are few things we enjoy more than spotlighting rising talent.
Five new up-and-coming Manchester bands
Now, in a rare first for this series, we’re all bands this month but like pretty much anyone that comes out of Manchester’s music scene, they’re all absolutely belting.
Don’t worry, you’ve still got some variety in the genre to get stuck into, so let’s not dilly-dally any further, eh?
Let the tunes commence.
1. Pastel
We’re starting off June’s list of Manchester bands we’ve been listening to with Pastel. Now, we have to make a disclaimer that they are now based in Swansea but these lads started with two cousins from 0161 and have gone on to support the likes of Liam Gallagher at Knebworth, The Charlatans and more.
Playing one of the biggest headline shows to date at Band on the Wall back in May – where they were supported by LG’s son’s band Villanelle – it felt like a bit of a watershed moment for the five-piece shoegaze-inspired band with deep roots here in 0161. They’re only young but we love a homecoming.
We’ve been listening to them for a while now but it feels like they’re starting to pick up some traction, so you best enjoy them as one of your best-kept secrets while you can. Our entry point was ‘Deeper Than Holy’, but their first song ‘She Waits For Me’ is great too and so is their new single ‘Dancing On A Pin’
2. Hot Milk
Second on this month’s list is the emo-fuelled power pop rock group Hot Milk who are also well and truly on the rise, having dropped their debut album A Call To The Void last year, headlined Manchester Academy and recently supported Foo Fighters at their Villa Park show in Birmingham.
Punchy, punky, proudly Manc and with a pair of powerful vocalists fronting the band, you get flavours of everything from Vukovi, Yungblud, Against The Current, Tonight Alive and plenty of other contemporaries. What’s more, you only have to hear the energy from the crowd on their Academy live album to hear how deep their fans already are – they’re going far this lot.
‘Candy Coated Lie$’ is their most streamed song on Spotify and it’s a guess a great place to start, but from there we’d point you in the direction of ‘OVER YOUR DEAD BODY’ for the tasty breakdown alone, and then try ‘AMPHETAMINE’ which features vocals from Julian Comeau of Loveless. Oof.
From one modern punk-inspired band to another, Vulture Authority almost feels like Manchester’s semi-adopted answer to Idles meets Yard Act, Hello Cosmos and by way of Derby. Honestly, one minute you’ll get a taste of The Reytons, and the next you’re dancing like a prat to some modern ska riff. It’s chaotic.
We’ll confess that we came about these lads by way of them being a featured artist at the end of the Have A Word podcast after local comedian Jamie Hutchinson gave them a shout-out on an episode, but their unapologetic, simultaneously random and yet no-nonsense lyrics and instrumentation, twinned with lots of rolled Rs, Northern gruff and a familiar Manc whine caught our attention straight away.
In fact, the Gorton-based comic features in many of their songs and videos as you’ll see down below and while we’ll admit it’s very rough around the edges, it’s undeniably good fun. We’d suggest starting with ‘Torpedo Moscow’, ‘Working Class Jesus’ and then ‘Last Orders’, which you’ll find below.
There’s politics, football ultras humour, lots of Jamie Hutchinson and wonderful low-budget music videos.
4. Loose Articles
Oh yes, we’ve got even more punk for you and the fact they filmed the music video for their alternative Euro 2022 anthem ‘Kick Like A Girl‘ at the Peveril of the Peak, St George’s Park in Hulme and the ‘No Prawn Sandwiches’ sign outside the Man United pub in Trafford should be all the convincing you need.
Loose Articles are a Mancunian quartet with indie elements juggling the 9-5 like many up-and-coming bands but have now found themselves being championed by BBC Radio 6 Music, on Spotify’s ‘All New Punk’ playlist and also happen to have the best logo in the game: it’s the Stella Artois label…
There’s also another Foo Fighters connection here too, as the local bunch were the opening act for the rock gods’ first night at the Old Trafford earlier this month and got the energy going nice and early – not an easy job. ‘Up The Disco’, ‘Money for Booze’ and the new ‘Mr Manager’ are our recommendations.
And for the fifth and final name on our list of Manc bands this month, we’re technically heading out into Greater Manchester and the borough of Wigan to be specific, but we simply couldn’t wait any longer before bigging up the indie four-piece, Stanleys.
Flying the flag for the home of pie barms and the ‘Tics, these lads nail laid-back, melodic and catchy choruses, twinkly guitar picking and have already opened up for the likes of Inspiral Carpets, The Clause and The Libertines, not to mention endless festival slots this year.
They’re also one of six acts supporting fellow native Richard Ashcroft for his massive homecoming gigs at Robin Park next month. The new single ‘He Knows’ has some of the most soft and satisfying vocals to date, our first-ever listen was ‘Look Back’, but ‘A Better Life’ is understandably their biggest tune to date.
And we’re sad to inform you but that’s your lot for new, up-and-coming, exciting Manchester bands and artists this month; we hope it also goes without saying that we barely even scratch the surface every time we do this.
But the best part is, if you know of a band or musician who is doing exciting things here in 0161 and you think they deserve to be on this list, if you drop them in the comments enough, we just might see it.
But before we say goodbye, make sure to give all these names so love and if you missed last month’s Manc bands we’re listening to, you can find it down below.
Danny Jones -
30th May 2024 
