Shania Twain has just released details of a new album and a huge global tour – and she’ll be visiting Manchester.
The country music legend has been performing a lengthy residency in Las Vegas and hasn’t headed out on a world tour in almost five years, until now.
The 49-date tour will see her performing in London, Dublin, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester next year.
Shania, a five-time Grammy Award-winner, will also release her new album Queen of Me on 3 February 2023 – her sixth full-length album.
She has become the best-selling female artist in country music history thanks to hits like That Don’t Impress Me Much,Man I Feel Like A Woman, and I’m Gonna Getcha Good.
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Shania Twain. Credit: Publicity picture
Fellow country music stars like Kelsea Ballerini, Lindsay Ell, Hailey Whitters, Breland, Robyn Ottolini, Priscilla Block, and Mickey Guyton will be joining Shania on select dates throughout the tour.
The Queen of Me Tour kicks off on Friday 28 April at Spokane Arena in Spokane, WA and makes stops across North America and Europe.
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Tickets go on sale starting Friday 4 November at 10am local time at LiveNation.com.
Stockport’s dedicated live music festival for people with complex needs is back for 2026
Danny Jones
A music festival designed specifically for people with complex needs and learning difficulties is returning to Stockport for 2026.
Marking more than half a decade of this important push for accessibility across the local and live entertainment sector, we couldn’t be prouder to hear stuff like this coming out of Greater Manchester.
Created by the Stopfordian-born charity, Pure Innovations – which has various arms, from their multiple cafes across the region, to Pure College in the town centre, events like this and more – this particular initiative is celebrating its sixth edition this year.
But it certainly doesn’t run itself, and it takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention truly admirable levels of commitment from volunteers, to put this thing on; with that in mind, we’re doing our little bit.
Whether it be helping spread the word, getting involved with sponsorship, volunteering yourselves, or offering other kinds of contributions on the day, it all goes a long way.
The organisation as a whole has been around for more than two decades now, and some of us and you may know it well (this particular writer used to work there as a teen, in fact), and their now annual ‘Access Festival’ has become a much-anticipated date on the calendar for so many.
Emily, who has overseen the festival’s growth for more than five years now, said in a statement to The Manc, “After going to a festival a few years ago, I realised that it wasn’t just the music that stayed with me; it was everything around it.”
She went on to add: “The excitement beforehand, choosing what to wear, planning the day, and then sharing photos and memories afterwards. It made me realise that many of the people we support at Pure had never had that experience.
“Access Festival is a space where everyone feels comfortable, included and able to enjoy themselves. For most people, going out to a gig or a festival is no big deal, but for many of our clients, this is the highlight of their year, a chance to connect and simply enjoy live music.”
Highlighting the charity’s long-standing commitment to ensuring that people with learning difficulties, autism and other disabilities are not denied access to everyday experiences, they’re now calling on fellow nearby businesses to help bring the festival to life.
We spoke to Emily and the rest of the team when we visited Pure’s in-house kitchen, bakery and workshop earlier this year – safe to say this is the kind of stuff that warms the cockles.
Taking place at Stockport’s Guildhall, the one-day festival is a powerful example of the difference Pure can make in their clients’ lives, supporting them to live full, independent and connected lives, with several securing paid employment thanks to skills and support gained during their time with the team.
Designed specifically for adults with learning disabilities, autism and other complex needs, the Access Festival creates a space where people can enjoy live music, socialise and celebrate in a way that works for them, something lots are sadly still routinely excluded from.
With live music, DJs, not to mention plenty of singing and dancing, karaoke, raffles, plenty of food and drink, not to mention serving as a key social outlet, it matters way more to many of these attendees, carers, families and local organisations than you’ll probably ever know.
It’s grown from a small passionate project hosting around 30 people to a heartwarming local event that now welcomes more than 300 guests every year, and it’s only getting bigger and better as time goes on.
Whether you want to help out or go along for yourselves, you can register for Access Fest 2026 on Friday, July 17, right HERE.
Music charity launches exclusive giveaway after naming Liam Gallagher as newest ambassador
Danny Jones
A local grassroots music charity is holding a special giveaway of exclusive Oasis x adidas Originals merch to celebrate Liam Gallagher becoming their latest ambassador.
The legendary British frontman and global rock icon is no stranger to teaming up with charities, but this latest project is seeing him focus on his hometown and the Manc music scene more than ever.
Brighter Sound, who are based right here in Manchester city centre, announced the one and only Liam Gallagher as their latest collaborator on Monday, 1 June, but that’s not all.
As mentioned above, they’re also holding a prize draw to raise funds for the cause, with some special kicks up for grabs – and they’re a model that became collectors’ items almost instantly.
The local music development organisation, which has been helping support young artists and aspiring creatives for more than two and a half decades at this point, revealed Liam would be teaming up not only to help promote fellow Mancunians in and around the music industry.
But there’s still much more to it than that.
With this special fundraising initiative also on the table – as are a limited edition pair of his sold-out adidas Achille SPZL trainers (including the extremely rare and highly sought-after Japanese-exclusive version) as part of the giveaway – this marks a commitment to supporting up-and-coming talent.
All proceeds from the charitable prize draw will go towards a crucial pot of money that will then go directly towards backing rising musicians across the region.
In case you haven’t seen the shoes in question, both Liam and his elder sibling Noel teamed up with adidas Originals during the Oasis Live ’25 merch boom and reunion tour phenomenon as a whole, each creating their own special ‘Spezial’ design. You can see more of them down below.
They obviously flew off the shelves rather quickly.
Speaking in an official statement, the 53-year-old said of the fresh partnership: “I’m honoured to be an Ambassador for Brighter Sound and support the new generation of creatives launch their music projects. We need more help for the arts, especially for the working class.”
Getting to work in and around his native territory across Greater Manchester will no doubt be an added bonus for the Burnage-born Gallagher brother.
As for Brighter Sound, the organisation’s director, Kate Lowes, added: “It’s a real honour to be working with Liam and his team on this special prize draw, and to welcome him as an ambassador for Brighter Sound. Manchester is an incredible place for music – and Liam and Oasis are a huge part of that story.
“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to making sure that more amazing talent continues to grow from the city and find its place on the world stage.”
For anyone looking to enter the prize draw and help support Brighter Sound’s work across Greater Manchester, you can do so right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
28th October 2022 
