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The Slow Readers Club to support Shed Seven as they announce new album and UK tour with Manchester gig
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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.
“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.”
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.
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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.
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!
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Image — Shed Seven/The Slow Readers Club (via Instagram)
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Fans are preparing to pay tribute to Mani from The Stone Roses ahead of his funeral service
Danny Jones
Stone Roses fans and Greater Manchester locals alike are getting ready to pay their respects to the late, great, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, following his tragic passing last month.
As well as details surrounding his funeral being announced earlier this week, the iconic Manc musician’s cause of death has also finally been revealed.
Mani was sadly confirmed dead on 20 November, aged just 63, just over a month on from attending fellow local legend and friend Ricky Hatton’s memorial and public procession.
While Hatton’s service featured a high-profile cortège which started all the way from his hometown of Hyde, past multiple landmarks and ending at the Etihad Stadium, those local to Mani’s family home on the edge of Stockport are also being welcomed to help send him off.
It has now been confirmed that Mani – born in Crumpsall but raised in Moston and Failsworth – unfortunately passed away from long-term respiratory issues.
He had been struggling with emphysema for some time; he was declared dead at his home in the suburb of Heaton Moor, and is said to have died peacefully in his sleep.
As you can see from the posters put in various places around the area, residents wishing to pay their own tributes to Mani before his private funeral service at Manchester Cathedral are encouraged to line the long street leading down from St Paul’s and Heaton Moor United Church as he heads towards the city.
Departing Parsonage Road from 10am on Monday, 22 December, before turning right onto Heaton Moor Rd, then Wellington and eventually on to the Cathedral, you can expect plenty of people to show up.
One of those people will be his former bandmate and another influential guitarist, John Squire, who is one of many famous musical names to have honoured him in their own way over the last few weeks.
Other members of The Stone Roses, as well as Primal Scream (who he joined in 1996), are expected to join the close family and friends at the service itself.
Nevertheless, we have no doubt that plenty will be observing the funeral in their own way.
So, for those of you also looking to honour him, you know what to do; and to quote the poster itself, “together we can show this local legend and his family that he was truly adored.”
Rest in peace.
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Featured Images — @gachayatta (via X)/@aktivioslo (via Flickr)
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Boyzone to reunite for exclusive New Year’s Eve special on the BBC
Danny Jones
2025 has very much been the year of the comeback – be it Oasis, Britpop fashion in general, or short bobs and pixie cuts – so it’s only fitting that we round off the calendar with one last reunion, as throwback boyband Boyzone are set to feature on a TV special on the BBC this New Year’s Eve.
Turns out ‘All That I Need’ to make a year memorable is a load of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, obviously, despite plenty of other music names enjoying a second renaissance over the past 12 months or so, nothing is ever going to be quite as big as the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour.
However, if you asked us to guess which group from the era were also going to reunite this year back in January, there’s not a chance we would’ve said Boyzone.
After news first began circulating earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that musician turned presenter Ronan Keating will be getting back together with two of his former bandmates.
Joining the 48-year-old for ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’, ex-Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch are part of an exciting live music lineup.
Other names include actor and singer, Shona McGarty, who recently starred on season 25 of I’m A Celeb, as well as fellow 90s pop artist Louise Redknapp and singer-songwriter Calum Scott.
The exclusive reunion comes after the success of the recently aired Boyzone: No Matter What documentary show.
Spread across three parts on Sky, the docuseries (named after their hit song from 1998) looks back on the career and journey up the charts back in their heyday, all the way up to the present. After seemingly striking a chord with fans and the lads themselves, it looks like they’re not done after all…
Yes, not only is the festive TV special going to see three of the original members performing alongside each other again, but
Here’s hoping that turns into a springboard for something even bigger, and we get a Manchester arena show sometime soon.
As for the programme itself, ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’ will be broadcast on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
Will you be tuning in?
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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.
Featured Images — @vagueonthehow (via Flickr)/Virgin Radio UK (screenshot via X)
