A pair of the North West’s biggest and brightest up-and-coming acts, The K’s and The Lottery Winners are teaming up for the return of the Newton Music Festival, celebrating the best new music from around the region.
The loud and much-loved indie rockers have emerged as two of the fastest-rising artists in the genre, not to mention a pair of bands with heaps of personality that have made them firm favourites amongst countless fans as their names have grown.
Starting with our wonderful Wiganers, they have headlined multiple festivals, achieved a number-one album and even supported the likes of Noel Gallagher and Nickelback – and that’s just in the last 12 months or so.
Looking to build on their meteoric rise and keep the momentum going, The K’s have decided to set up a brand-new music festival in their hometown of Netwon-Le-Willows, and have invited our very own lot from Leigh to join them for a very special evening of music.
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Appearing alongside the two North West big hitters will be Manchester’s Meduulla, The Rolling People from Stockport, as well as a local duo of acts, Asian Blonde and Malarkey, who’ll be flying the flag for the North West town that also the legendary Rick Astley.
Newton Music Festival will be The K’s first homecoming event off the back of reaching number three debut in the UK with their smash-hit debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows, which was released earlier this year and proceeded a sell-out album tour.
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After playing to nearly 4,000 at Victoria Warehouse and embarking on a raft of summer festivals, including playing to a 12,000-strong crowd at Glastonbury’s iconic Woodsies stage, the Earlestown-formed four-piece are absolutely flying and now looking to bring some mates along for the ride.
Ryan Breslin, guitarist from The K’s said: “We’re all absolutely buzzing to be playing our hometown for the return of Newton Music Festival. Heading back to the park we grew up on, it’s come full circle. The lineup this year is class and the support we’ve had from our town so far has been unreal, we can’t wait – see you there!”
With mainstage gigs at Reading and Leeds this August and support slots for Liam Gallagher’s highly-anticipated Malta Weekender this coming September, they’ve got plenty on the cards but this just might be the most exciting announcement yet.
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What we’re hoping will be the first of many Newton Music Festival takes place at Mesnes Park on Saturday, 3 August, and if the headliners weren’t exciting enough, you’ll be treated to lots more North West talent on show to boot.
Thom Rylance, lead vocalist with The Lottery Winners said of the event: “Not only are The K’s our good friends, they are one of the most exciting bands out there at the moment, when they asked us to support them as special guests at their hometown festival which is just down the road from us it was an absolute no-brainer”.
Newton Music Festival takes place at Mesnes Park, Newton-Le-Willows on Saturday, August 3rd from 5-10pm and tickets are priced at just £20. You can grab yours HERE and we hope to see you there.
Government to introduce price cap on ticket touts and launch consultation on dynamic pricing
Danny Jones
The UK government are finally set to install a price cap on re-sale tickets for touts and open an official consultation on the growing trend of dynamic pricing.
If you’ve bought a ticket to a live music show over the past year or so, you’ll have noticed that ticket prices in general are on the up – particularly if purchased from a reseller, in which case you might have paid through the nose for the privilege.
Not only does ticket touting remain a prevailing problem in the industry, with tonnes of tickets for big shows, especially, being snapped up in bulk or by bots and listed for re-sale before you’ve even added them to your basket, but the advent of this new dynamic pricing lark has made things even harder.
You only have to look at the controversy and chaos surrounding Oasis’ reunion tour, which ultimately saw some fans paying significant amounts more for practically the same ticket just a few days later in what many dubbed as ‘fraud’ and even ’emotional blackmail’.
Justin Timberlake at Co-op Live Manchester was one of countless gigs where ticket prices fluctuated. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Tackling resellers head-on
Knowing full well that people will go to extreme lengths to try and see the musicians and artists they love so dearly – in some cases being backed into a corner as the final figure displayed on the screen when they checkout suddenly jumps up – the modern ticketing industry is severely broken.
With all that in mind, the government are now looking to enact more stringent measures on resellers, by announcing a new price cap on tickets put back up for sale which is set to be introduced (hopefully) in the very near future.
Targeting sites infamous for inflating re-sale costs such as Viagogo, StubHub and others, the bill published on Friday, 10 January proposes a price cap of face value plus 10-30% but no more, with an obvious aim to keep that number as low as possible.
According to the current figures, touts reportedly cost music fans alone more than £145 million in extra re-sale fees when purchasing tickets every year – a frankly ridiculous sum. There will always be tickets ending up on re-sale sites, that’s unavoidable, but a price cap could seriously improve the situation.
The Manc music legends themselves claim they had little control over the situation.
Down with dynamic pricing
Labour, who were voted into power back in July, are also set to try and combat dynamic prices, which essentially sees gigs and events set people back more or less depending on how the popular ticket sales have been up to that point, market trends and general demand. An initial review was called for last year.
Put simply, the more people want to attend a gig, platforms like Ticketmaster feel they are able to jack up their margins even after the initial price point has been established. The European Commission has been investigating these methods since September 2024.
Although it is still unclear as to the exact time scale of when these changes will come in, Labour MP Chris Bryant told NME that although they are still in the early stages, it is “now just a matter of how the government takes action.” And that’s where you come in.
The consultation is also crucially public, with the calling for people to submit their evidence on current pricing practices and continue engaging in the discussion throughout the progress. New Year’s Resolution: let’s curb ticket touts as much as we possibly can.
The AO Arena is giving away FREE tickets for a year to celebrate 30 years in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
The AO Arena has announced it’s giving away free tickets for a year to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Manchester.
The iconic music venue has welcomed the biggest names in the world in its three decades, with millions of us making memories for life inside its huge space.
And now you could win VIP tickets for an entire year, simply for sharing those memories with the AO Arena.
Fans who submit their old photos, videos and tickets will be in with a chance to win tickets to all the shows coming up in 2025 – which already includes massive gigs like Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Busted vs McFly.
AO Arena wants to dig deep into ‘first gig’ nostalgia territory, using fan-submitted snaps to build a collection of Manchester memories.
Were you in the same room as Taylor Swift, did you party like it was 1999 (because it was) with Spice Girls, did you cry over the sight of Gary Barlow or cry laughing with Peter Kay?
Britney Spears and Beyonce are among the names who have performed at AO Arena in its 30 year history. Credit: Supplied
Whatever your AO Arena memories are, you can share them before the end of the month to be entered into the competition to win VIP tickets for the year.
One overall winner picked at random will get the ultimate VIP experience, including access to a premium suite and The Beautiful North, as well as access to The Mezz with panoramic views of the main stage.
The 30th birthday campaign has been inspired by Adele’s monumental When We Were Young performance at Glastonbury, and all these memories will be projected around the arena before every performance.
You can submit your footage and enter the competition via the AO Arena website HERE.
Danny Jones -
28th July 2024 
