Alt-rock legends Shed Seven have announced a brand new album for the first time in over six years along with a limited-run UK tour this October, with local lads The Slow Readers Club joining them on the road.
The music veterans from York have been going since 1990 and despite breaking up in 2003, they got back together just four years later and have been back playing ever since.
Set to release early next year, the new album entitled A Matter of Time will be the band’s first in over half a decade and will celebrate their 30th anniversary with just a handful of shows, including one right in Manchester.
As if that wasn’t good enough, the Northern group will be joined by one of Manchester’s very own in The Slow Readers Club — who recently opened for Manc music legend Morrissey — and the Manchester crowd will be the only ones that get to see Liverpool outfit, Keyside, as the second lot of special guests.
Guitarist Paul Banks, one of Shed Seven’s longest-serving members says, “For this album, we took a nostalgic journey back to our roots, immersing ourselves in the records and sounds that ignited our passion for songwriting at the tender age of 12.
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“The influences of bands like The Smiths, R.E.M., U2, Simple Minds, The Cure, and Duran Duran permeate every note, making it a heartfelt homage to those cherished times. It embodies the essence of rebirth, empowering individuals to embrace their true selves without inhibition. With utmost conviction, we declare this as the pinnacle of our musical endeavours – the record we’ve always yearned to create.”
Speaking of their lead single, ‘Kissing California’, vocalist Rick Witter described it as “Shed Seven’s summer anthem”, adding: “It’s essentially a celebration of being alive, grabbing the opportunity to paint the town red with someone special and have the best of times. It’s the medicine we all need sometimes.”
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As for The Slow Readers Club, they said they’re “buzzin'” to be joining the boys on tour, with frontman Aaron Starkie revealing that “this was the first band I ever saw live and I was absolutely hooked on Maximum High, bought the t-shirt went to signings and all that — they’re as big a fans as we are.
Kicking off the UK dates on October 19, Shed Seven will be playing right through to the end of the month, with the final show set for Manchester’s Albert Hall on 28 October — we couldn’t think of a better way to close out a tour.
It’ll be a fitting place to end the tour and start this next chapter, as the new album not only features fellow rock, alternative and indie icons like Peter Doherty and Laura McClure of Reverend & The Makers but Happy Mondays vocalist and Manc legend Rowetta as well.
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Shed Seven’s sixth studio album, A Matter of Time, releases on January 12, 2024, but fans who pre-order now will be able to access presale tickets from 9:30am on Wednesday, 19 July and right up until general sale goes live the same time on Friday (21 July).
You can grab your tickets HERE and hopefully see you there!
Featured Image — Shed Seven/The Slow Readers Club (via Instagram)
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Danny Jones -
13th July 2023 
