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.
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
Audio
Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.