The 1975 are back in Manchester once again this weekend with two massive dates at the AO Arena and, if Matty Healy and the name of the tour are to be believed, they are ‘still at their verrrrrry best’.
The pop, indie and alternative chart-toppers are currently on their biggest world tour ever and finally touched back down in the UK this month, having already played the likes of Glasgow and London, with their Manc gigs up next.
They might be from just outside of Greater Manchester but they came up through our legendary live music scene and have always considered this their de-facto town of origin, with legions of local fans more than happy to welcome that label.
With that in mind, their pair of homecoming performances are absolutely going to go off and if you’re lucky enough to be going, we’ve got the info you need. Here’s everything you need to know about The 1975‘s return to Manchester.
If you were wondering if there are tickets left for The 1975’s Manchester gigs whatsoever, we were fully ready to say, ‘fat chance this time, mate’. However, it turns out there are still tickets left for 17 and 18 February at the AO Arena.
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They sold out faster than you can say ‘smells like Chocolate’ last time the Wilmslow lads visited back in January 2023 but, presumably since there’s now less of a gap since their previous show and they put on a double bill of shows last year too, it’s meant that the scramble for tickets hasn’t been quite as hectic.
They’ve added an extra Manc date due to demand this time too, which should make sure as many people as possible stand a chance of grabbing a ticket; if you still fancy springing for one, standing has sadly gone but seated spots are still available for both Saturday and Sunday from £47.05 upwards HERE.
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Their previous show at The O2 in London — Credit: Tahiya Brewin (supplied)
Support acts
Better still, you’ve got an unreal support act in store as well, with fellow Dirty Hit label-mates The Japanese House also joining them on this tour and set to get things warmed up at the AO Arena.
The stage name of fellow indie pop talent Amber Bain who recently released her second album and is only getting more popular year after year, the singer-songwriter and her band played a sold-out show at New Century Hall in October last year and is set to return for another solo show this May.
But before then, they’re set to play their biggest Manchester crowd to date and we’re sure we’ll see Matty hopping on stage to help sing cult favourite single ‘Sunshine Baby’ before their headline slot.
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Stage times for The 1975’s Manchester show
Doors to The 1975 gig at AO Arena will be open from 6pm and The Japanese House aren’t expected to start playing until 7:30pm, giving you day-ones and die-hard fans plenty of time to get as close to the barrier as you can manage.
Playing a roughly half-hour set, you’ll get a decent interval to empty your bladders and re-stock drinks before the party gets in full swing at 8:30pm. It’s a long old set with more than 25 tracks due to be wheeled out, so best to be prepared.
Speaking of which, we’ve got you covered on that front as well, don’t worry.
Setlist
While the last tour obviously leant heavily towards playing tracks from their most recent release, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, this current show has allowed them to dip back into other beloved tracks from previous albums, especially after seeing what surprises worked on the night in 2023.
Here’s the average setlist for the ‘Still… At Their Very Best’ tour, according to Setlist.fm…
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Credit: The 1975 (via IG)
The 1975 (BFIAFL)
Looking for Somebody (to Love)
Happiness
Part of the Band
Sincerity Is Scary
Oh Caroline
I’m in Love With You
A Change of Heart
An Encounter
Robbers
fallingforyou
About You
Consumption
Be My Mistake
If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America
TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME
Heart Out
It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)
The Sound
I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)
Somebody Else
Love It If We Made It
Sex
Give Yourself a Try
People
All that being said, these lot always like to chuck in a few surprises depending on what city they’re in, so don’t be shocked if they mix things up a little bit for us Mancunians.
Travel and parking for AO Arena
If you’re driving in for the show, there’s a large multi-storey car park based right next to the AO Arena, with access through the car park to the main entrance of the venue.
Trinity Way will be closed southbound between Great Ducie Street and Cheetham Hill Road for up to an hour as guests leave following larger shows like this, but if you’re parking at the Arena itself you’ll still be allowed to exit during this time — just turn right and follow the diversions.
As for getting there via public transport, your nearest stop is Manchester Victoria, with trains and trams going directly into the station where you can then walk directly up the steps and straight into the attached Arena entrance, with plenty of bus stops and taxi bays right outside too.
We never quite know what to expect from Healy and co. when it comes to live shows, but you can expect high production value, the same gorgeous set they’ve been rocking for well over a year now; most likely a new hairstyle or look from the charismatic frontman, not to mention plenty of banter and on-stage antics.
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This particular music fan won’t pretend to be anything less than a massive 1975 fan, so if you’re wondering what The Manc Audio has made of their live performances in the past, you can read our review from their Manchester show last Jan HERE.
If not, you can always watch us dancing to every track like a bunch of prats down below, instead:
Featured Images — Tahiya Brewin (Supplied)/The 1975 (via IG)
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Olly Murs at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more
Thomas Melia
The ‘Troublemaker’ himself Olly Murs is ready to cause some more chaos, and this time he’s returning to Manchester with throwback boyband, Blue.
X Factor and British star Olly Murs is embarking on his latest UK arena tour, which feels more like lads on tour with a helping hand from UK boyband, Blue.
Back in the late noughties, it was hard to escape the blazer-wearing, trilby-wearing popstar as he was dropping back-to-back bangers like ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ and doo-wop inspired ‘Dance With Me Tonight’.
Now, this cheeky chappy is embarking on the ’15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025′ tour, where he’ll be belting out all those classics as well as some more recent tunes too.
Olly Murs is coming to Co-op Live in Manchester this week.Credit: Marcos Moreno via Wikimedia Commons
Are there tickets left for Olly Murs’ Co-op Live gig?
There are just a few tickets left for Olly Murs at Co-op Live, so make sure you bag yours before your ‘Heart Skips a Beat’.
To see a range of tickets and prices in all sections of this impressive new entertainment venue, Co-op Live, tickets can be found HERE.
Plus, even if you miss out on the Co-op Live, we wouldn’t worry too much, because the British popstar is also coming to AO Arena later this month near the end of his tour with tickets HERE.
Olly Murs 2025 tour – ’15 Years Of Hits’ setlist
This Essex chap might have a solid setlist which he follows night in and night out, but he’s no stranger to being a bit ‘Unpredictable’ – I mean, he’s bringing a flamethrower on stage…
After being on our screens and airwaves for almost two decades, it’s no surprise that this setlist is lengthy, totalling at just over 20 songs, give or take the 80s medley weaved into the mix.
Who doesn’t love a bit of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ paired alongside Murs’ stacked setlist?
Troublemaker
Right Place Right Time
Please Don’t Let Me Go
Thinking of Me
Oh My Goodness
Heart Skips a Beat
Kiss Me
Army of Two
Hand on Heart
Up
Die of a Broken Heart / I Found Her / Dancing on Cars / I Hate You When You’re Drunk (Marry Me Medley)
Seasons
You Don’t Know Love
I’m Your Man / Never Gonna Give You Up / Livin’ On a Prayer / Beat It / Careless Whisper / I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) / I’m So Excited (80s Medley)
Dear Darlin’
Years & Years
Never Been Better
Wrapped Up
Save Me
Dance With Me Tonight
What are the stage times for Olly Murs in Manchester?
Olly Murs sporting his usual blazer and top-hat style back in 2013.
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning concertgoers can be ‘Wrapped Up’ in the Essex popstar’s hits without having to worry about getting home too late. It’s a school night after all!
Doors for Olly Murs’ ‘15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025’ are scheduled for 6:30pm, with a kick-off time of 7:30pm and support from 2000s UK boyband, Blue.
The BRIT Award winners, Eurovision-performing and one-time chart toppers, are back together once again and about to take us back to pop school as we re-learn the words to boyband textbook classics, including ‘All Rise’, Best in Me’, ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ and more.
How to get to Co-op Live
Tram
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, fortunately, it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre; they run until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there are limited parking spaces available at the venue but these must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are also designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day – though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Featured Images — Mark Hayman/ Edward Cooke/Marcos Moreno(supplied)
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A music festival is coming to a Manchester skate park
Danny Jones
With the sun starting to shine more consistently and the music festival season well and truly on its way, we’ll admit we weren’t expecting to see an event taking place on a Manchester skate park, of all places.
Projekts Skatepark, the long-standing skating hub and cultural hotspot located under Macunian Way, is set to host the fourth edition of the unapologetically named ‘Metlchester’.
Starting out life as little more than a small Oldham Street takeover, the city centre festival is returning for this year, bringing plenty of alternative music, skate vibes, bevs and more.
You can see the lineup confirmed so far down below:
The 2025 edition of the festival, a.k.a. ‘Metlchester Vol. 4’, is taking place later this month.
Projekts has been catering to local boarders for the past two decades, and along with their on-site cafe and bar, the space has been put to use for several other special events – case and point, Meltchester Festival, which first started back in 2022.
Bringing a healthy dose of garage rock, post-punk and psych music to NQ from the outset, now it’s expanded, you can expect even more variety when it comes to genre this time around, as well as a well-stocked in-house bar and street food stalls.
Oh yeah, and of course there’ll be the usual merch and skate shop for you to browse.
As for the aforementioned tunes, while last year’s festival was headlined by Night Beats and Frankie & The Witch Fingers, topping the bill this year are Snapped Ankles, along with a mix of grassroots artists, including local duo, Slap Rash, who recently featured as one of our Manc artists of the month for April.
Projekts opened back in 2004Slap RashCredit: Supplied
Set in collaboration with Sour Grapes Records, an equally longstanding regional promoter with hundreds of successful events to their name, they make up part of the Greater Manchester Music Commission.
Serving up an exciting springtime event full of energy, from the skate culture to the performances themselves, this is the perfect appetiser ahead of a busy summer schedule as we approach festival season.
They also happen to be the event coordinators for local music venue Big Hands, where not only are current Sicilian traders Rizzo’s are based (also set to join the festival for the day) but where this year’s after party will be held, which is free for ticket holders, by the way.
Set to kick off from 12 noon on 17 May, with a pro skater session running until 2pm before the tunage, Metlchester sounds like a belter.
Danny Jones -
13th February 2024 
