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.
Government to introduce price cap on ticket touts and launch consultation on dynamic pricing
Danny Jones
The UK government are finally set to install a price cap on re-sale tickets for touts and open an official consultation on the growing trend of dynamic pricing.
If you’ve bought a ticket to a live music show over the past year or so, you’ll have noticed that ticket prices in general are on the up – particularly if purchased from a reseller, in which case you might have paid through the nose for the privilege.
Not only does ticket touting remain a prevailing problem in the industry, with tonnes of tickets for big shows, especially, being snapped up in bulk or by bots and listed for re-sale before you’ve even added them to your basket, but the advent of this new dynamic pricing lark has made things even harder.
You only have to look at the controversy and chaos surrounding Oasis’ reunion tour, which ultimately saw some fans paying significant amounts more for practically the same ticket just a few days later in what many dubbed as ‘fraud’ and even ’emotional blackmail’.
Justin Timberlake at Co-op Live Manchester was one of countless gigs where ticket prices fluctuated. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Tackling resellers head-on
Knowing full well that people will go to extreme lengths to try and see the musicians and artists they love so dearly – in some cases being backed into a corner as the final figure displayed on the screen when they checkout suddenly jumps up – the modern ticketing industry is severely broken.
With all that in mind, the government are now looking to enact more stringent measures on resellers, by announcing a new price cap on tickets put back up for sale which is set to be introduced (hopefully) in the very near future.
Targeting sites infamous for inflating re-sale costs such as Viagogo, StubHub and others, the bill published on Friday, 10 January proposes a price cap of face value plus 10-30% but no more, with an obvious aim to keep that number as low as possible.
According to the current figures, touts reportedly cost music fans alone more than £145 million in extra re-sale fees when purchasing tickets every year – a frankly ridiculous sum. There will always be tickets ending up on re-sale sites, that’s unavoidable, but a price cap could seriously improve the situation.
The Manc music legends themselves claim they had little control over the situation.
Down with dynamic pricing
Labour, who were voted into power back in July, are also set to try and combat dynamic prices, which essentially sees gigs and events set people back more or less depending on how the popular ticket sales have been up to that point, market trends and general demand. An initial review was called for last year.
Put simply, the more people want to attend a gig, platforms like Ticketmaster feel they are able to jack up their margins even after the initial price point has been established. The European Commission has been investigating these methods since September 2024.
Although it is still unclear as to the exact time scale of when these changes will come in, Labour MP Chris Bryant told NME that although they are still in the early stages, it is “now just a matter of how the government takes action.” And that’s where you come in.
The consultation is also crucially public, with the calling for people to submit their evidence on current pricing practices and continue engaging in the discussion throughout the progress. New Year’s Resolution: let’s curb ticket touts as much as we possibly can.
The AO Arena is giving away FREE tickets for a year to celebrate 30 years in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The AO Arena has announced it’s giving away free tickets for a year to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Manchester.
The iconic music venue has welcomed the biggest names in the world in its three decades, with millions of us making memories for life inside its huge space.
And now you could win VIP tickets for an entire year, simply for sharing those memories with the AO Arena.
Fans who submit their old photos, videos and tickets will be in with a chance to win tickets to all the shows coming up in 2025 – which already includes massive gigs like Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Busted vs McFly.
AO Arena wants to dig deep into ‘first gig’ nostalgia territory, using fan-submitted snaps to build a collection of Manchester memories.
Were you in the same room as Taylor Swift, did you party like it was 1999 (because it was) with Spice Girls, did you cry over the sight of Gary Barlow or cry laughing with Peter Kay?
Britney Spears and Beyonce are among the names who have performed at AO Arena in its 30 year history. Credit: Supplied
Whatever your AO Arena memories are, you can share them before the end of the month to be entered into the competition to win VIP tickets for the year.
One overall winner picked at random will get the ultimate VIP experience, including access to a premium suite and The Beautiful North, as well as access to The Mezz with panoramic views of the main stage.
The 30th birthday campaign has been inspired by Adele’s monumental When We Were Young performance at Glastonbury, and all these memories will be projected around the arena before every performance.
You can submit your footage and enter the competition via the AO Arena website HERE.
Danny Jones -
25th September 2024 
