Listen, we here at The Manc and Audio North have been to a fair few gigs in our day, and heavy ones at that – we’re fortunate to have a fair few happy headbangers in our office – but we’re not sure many things encapsulate a proper rock show like seeing Frank Carter and the actual Sex Pistols.
You know, as you do…
When we first heard that the legendary punk band were not only back on tour over 16 years after their last handful of festival sets (and nearly in their 70s, by the way) but bringing the ex-Gallows and current Rattlesnakes frontman along for the ride, it felt like we’d be asked one of those dream lineup questions.
As the literal godfathers of the genre and entire movement that changed the face of music here in the UK and all over the world, there are very few people who could even attempt to fill the shoes of Johnny Rotten, but at times it genuinely felt like there’d never been anyone else other than Frank f***ing Carter.
Lots of legs wheeling into the air, lots of circle pits, lots of sweat. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Limited-run shows like these are obviously always going to be special and watching the last remaining Sex Pistols members play their iconic Never Mind The Bollocks album in full to what we can only describe as one of the most mixed crowds you’ll ever come across.
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Now, we’re fully aware that the Pistols pre-date us by some way and, of course, there were A LOT of dads and old punk-rockers with multi-coloured mohawks to be seen, but much like we’re hoping with those upcoming Oasis reunion gigs, there were a lot of young fans filling out the front rows.
But no matter what age group they belonged to, the Manchester crowd did us proud as it always does and even at some of the rowdiest metal gigs we’ve been to in the past, we have never seen so much crowd-surfing, circle pits and all-round chaos.
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It was nothing short of utterly delightful and, we have to say, a lot of the thanks has to go ‘Franky Boy’, as he was affectionately referred to throughout the show.
Once again, I don’t think we can overstate how hard it is to follow in the footsteps of arguably one of the greatest albeit controversial frontmen of all time, but somehow the 40-year-old made it look effortless.
Frank Carter is born to play the Rotten role and the Sex Pistols are better for it. (Credit: Audio North)
Actually, that’s a lie: if you’ve ever seen Frank Carter live you’ll know how much energy goes into those sets and we think of ‘blood, sweat and tears’ performances, he’s pretty much the epitome of it.
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Nevertheless, what we’re trying to say is that these now-legendary one-offs/revival/comeback shows, whatever you want to call them, simply couldn’t have happened without him – certainly not at this level, anyway. In fact, we’d go so far as to say he was born to play this role.
You could tell the boys know it too; not only have they put their faith in him but you can tell they’ve already struck a lifelong friendship, as they beckoned their lead singer back from the mosh multiple times by simply saying, “Frankie baby, we miss you.”
The man himself has made no secret of how much of a dream come true being chosen for this tour. He recently wrote to his followers: “In case anyone was wondering what it’s like to share the stage with these three legends… Pure joy.”
He went on to add, “It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to be up here and I cherish every moment of it… Every single show feels special and I am having the time of my f***ing life” – and so were we. Frank actually spent what felt like half of the gig in the crowd and you just don’t get over moments like that.
He can scream in our faces any day.Unreal energy from start to finish.We’re not sure where Manchester ranks on the current tour for Frank Carter and the Sex Pistols, but it’s bloody high on our best of 2024.
It has to be said too that Paul Cook, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock don’t seem like they’ve missed one single beat even after all this time.
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In terms of the tunes that went the hardest, we’re still not over the pure surrealness of hearing those opening notes of ‘Holidays in the Sun’, ‘No Feelings’ and ‘God Save the Queen’ were obvious favourites but it will surprise absolutely no one to hear that ‘Anarchy in the UK’ was the perfect closer.
We limped out of Manchester Academy with a couple of bruises to show for it and probably smelling like a bin fire, but if you’re asking us whether nearly losing a tooth whilst hugging a dozen random blokes in leather and/or denim was worth it, yes, it absolutely was.
In fact, rather than pretend this is much of an actual muso review (that doesn’t feel very Sex Pistols or particularly punk) we’ll go one further and declare that as possibly the most raucous gig we’ve ever been to – and it’s all Frank Carter’s wonderful f***ing fault.
A brand new grunge and hard rock festival is kicking off in Manchester
Danny Jones
Manchester grungers, hardcore heads, and fans of all things rock, pay attention because there is a brand new festival coming to the city centre – and it has possibly the best name for a live music event we’ve heard in some time.
Ahem… let us introduce you to Broken Knees Fest.
Yes, donning a name that feels increasingly more relatable the closer we get to the wrong side of 30, Broken Knees Festival 2025 marks the inaugural edition of Manchester’s newest series of rock and grunge gigs, helping spotlight rising artists across the genres from within two crucial grassroots venues.
Very loud music inside tightly-packed, small-capacity rooms? It’s a winning formula that never fails. It’s about time we broke a sweat – here’s hoping the knees just about hold out.
Hosted in the heart of the Northern Quarter, which continues to thrive as a creative hub for new music and art of all forms, the festival will be debuting at small-cap favourites Gullivers and Castle Hotel just across the road.
As you can see, the lineup is full of up-and-coming talent within the guitar-driven space, but you can bank on more than a few bringing their die-hard fans to fill the place out to the rafters.
It doesn’t matter if you prefer punk, hardcore, grunge or another specific sub-genre found somewhere in between the ever-sprawling rock spectrum, there’s something to suit all alternative tastes at this one.
With the likes of Bohmen, Mavis, One Dimensional Creatures and Smother headlining the first-ever iteration of the festival across four stages, you can expect plenty of energy and even more noise.
Set up by the events group of the same name, Broken Knees Promotions, who help platform rock and alt acts across Greater Manchester and beyond year-round, this is more than just a festival: it’s a grassroots celebration through and through.
Best of all, if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait long because it’s kicking off next month.
Gigs go off in here. If you know, you know… (Credit: Audio North)
Broken Knees Fest 2025 is happening on the weekend of 21-22 June, and you’ll be glad to hear that, as a brand new event, prices have been kept nice and low.
The early bird window had prices starting from just £12, and although this tier has now sold out, day tickets are still only £15 while a full weekend pass will set you back £25.
Until then, why not dive into another load of new Manchester music? We round up artists from all genres each month; we’ll also confess to leaning slightly more towards the heavier stuff from time to time.
Olly Murs cancels Manchester gig after walking off stage six songs into huge arena show
Daisy Jackson
Olly Murs has now officially cancelled his show in Manchester tonight, a day after walking off stage just six songs into a huge arena gig.
The Heart Skips a Beat star had been performing in Glasgow last night when he abruptly stopped the show, apologised to fans, and left the stage.
The gig was cancelled around 30 minutes into his show, which is part of a huge UK arena tour that was meant to be heading to Manchester tonight.
A tearful Olly said that he was seeing a doctor last night and would update fans of the rest of his shows ‘as soon as I know anything’.
It’s now been confirmed that his gig at the AO Arena will not be going ahead.
Olly Murs said in a statement: “30 minutes into my set in Glasgow I lost my voice & unfortunately had to leave the stage midway through the show. This has never happened before and not something I take lightly.
“I’m sorry to all the fans who came out to the show last night and am forever grateful for your support.
“To everyone in Manchester and Birmingham I’m deeply sorry, but am unfortunately going to have to cancel my shows this weekend. I have contracted a respiratory infection and have been instructed to go on a strict 48 hour voice rest by the doctor to ensure no further damage to my vocal cords.
“I have been enjoying this tour so much, and am so sorry to let down my fans – but have to put my health first. I’m hoping to be fighting fit in a few days to finish this amazing 15 year celebratory tour with a bang.”
In a video he shared to Instagram last night, Olly Murs said: “Firstly I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I had to walk off after six songs and cancel the show. I’ve never done this in 15 years.
“Most of the time as singers you can kind of get through it if your voice isn’t 100% – I walked out tonight thinking my voice was great, I maybe felt a little bit run down but I didn’t think I couldn’t do the show. I wouldn’t have come out there otherwise.
“So to walk off after six songs, as I said, I’m so sorry. As you can probably hear from my voice, I just sounded rubbish and it’s unfair for you guys that spent all that money to come and see me. You deserve the best show and me being at my best, and I’m so sorry from the bottom of my heart.
“Hopefully I can recover from this.
“I’m actually going to see a doctor tonight which is great, so I’ll give you guys an update as soon as I know anything. Obviously I wanna try my absolute best to make these shows possible at the weekend.
“So yeah, so sorry for everyone tonight, apologies from the bottom of my heart. Gutted.”