The 1975 are releasing a live album version of 2024’s ‘Still… At Their Very Best’ tour show at the AO Arena in Manchester.
As someone who was there in the flesh, trust us, it’s a performance worth reliving.
With the Wilmslow-formed Manc adoptees looking like they might be gearing up for another album cycle, not to mention being named as one of the headliners on the 2025 Glastonbury lineup, it seems as though they break from the spotlight is coming to an end.
It’s been two years and a half years since they dropped their last album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, but they’ve been touring around the world pretty much ever since and now they’ve decided to press one of their concert highlights onto vinyl.
As you can see, perhaps the most striking thing about the upcoming live LP is the artwork for it. Although we can’t put our finger on exactly where it is, the imagery looks to be taken from a housing estate somewhere nearby.
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To be honest, it wouldn’t matter whether it was in Greater Manchester or somewhere in their home county of Cheshire, for that matter: there’s just undeniably familiar and undeniably Northern-looking about the whole thing.
How on Earth they’ve managed to look something so normal and mundane somehow poetic and interesting we’ll never know, all we can guarantee is that the recordings pulled for this latest release are guaranteed to be brilliant.
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Following the first world tour of their critically acclaimed fifth record, we waxed lyrical over the performance and after witnessing the evolution of that admittedly barmy live set all over again just over a year later, we went so far as to dub them among “some of the best performers on the planet”.
The only dilemma we have is deciding which one we prefer more: January 2023 or February 2024. Having said that, one did include a very special surprise guest…
We’re standing by that claim we made above, by the way; maybe it’s because of just how good that Manchester energy was and exactly why The 1975 boys have decided not just to document it but immortalise that particular gig as a live album.
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Not only was it their de facto homecoming gig following a gargantuan world tour, but as it was the second iteration of that first ‘At Their Very Best’ show, the chances were it was always going to get better and more refined.
The setlist included the typical title track opening, ‘Looking For Somebody To Love’, ‘Happiness’, ‘Part Of The Band’ and ‘Oh Caroline’; ‘Robbers’, ‘Fallingforyou’, ‘Somebody Else’, ‘Chocolate’, ‘I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)’, ‘People’ and many more.
You can find the full tracklist and pre-order The 1975 ‘Still… At Their Very Best live album, taken directly from the AO Arena performance in Manchester, right HERE.
The cover for The 1975 Manchester live album and the moments it captures. (Credit: Dirty Hit/Audio North)
Featured Images — Dirty Hit Records/The Manc Group
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Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
Daisy Jackson
Niall Horan will be back in Manchester this year on a huge newly-announced European arena tour.
The former One Direction star (and chart-topper in his own right) has just announced his Dinner Party Live On Tour tour.
The tour comes in support of his upcoming fourth solo studio album, Dinner Party, which promises to be ‘cinematic and organic’.
Niall Horan will be performing at the Co-op Live in Manchester this September, along with gigs in other UK cities including Sheffield, Glasgow, and Newcastle.
He’ll then head right across Europe, playing music from his multi-Platinum-selling songbook.
Niall first shot to fame as one-fifth of One Direction, but has one of the group’s strongest solo careers, with three chart-topping albums and massive hits like Slow Hands, Heaven, and Our Song.
Niall Horan is heading back to Manchester with a massive arena show just announced
He’s also worked on some exciting collaborations with the likes of Anne-Marie, and most recently Myles Smith.
£1 from every ticket sold for Niall Horan’s Dinner Party tour will be donated to the LIVE Trust, which is dedicated to protecting, expanding, and supporting grassroots music across the UK.
Niall Horan will be at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Friday 25 September.
Tickets will go on sale from 10am on Thursday 2 April HERE.
Danny Jones -
7th March 2025 
