Electronic giants The Chemical Brothers make their long-awaited return to Manchester — their musical and spiritual home — this weekend, where they are set to play a massive gig at the AO Arena.
Forming amidst their days at the University of Manchester back in 1989, DJing duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons made their way up through the underground music scene of 0161, picking up records at the likes of Eastern Bloc in NQ and went on to become one of the biggest names on the planet.
Considered absolute titans of the dance and big beat genre, you’d struggle to find anyone who doesn’t know The Chemical Brothers and at least half a dozen of their classic tunes whether they realise it’s one of theirs or not.
Boasting a huge influence and nothing short of legendary status, their Manc homecoming has remained one of the biggest dates on the city’s music calendar and since thousands of locals will be going along to their AO Arena gig, we thought we’d provide you with everything you need to know as per.
If you’re looking to be part of what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest and best nights of live music in Manchester this year, let alone this month, then you’ll be pleased to know that there are still some tickets left to see The Chemical Brothers on Friday.
With the cheapest tickets available from £38.80 for seated including venue fees and service charges, as well as the last few standing spots from £57.50, you pretty much have you pick of the bunch when it comes to where you want to be in the Arena.
You can grab your Manchester Chemical Brothers tickets HERE.
Credit: The Chemical Brothers via Instagram
Support act
The Chemical Brothers have such a massive discography and legendary status that they don’t really need a support act to get people warmed up for their high-energy sets, but it’s always nice to throw someone into the mix as a bonus.
So, with that in mind, the electronic icons have brought along indsutry fellow veteran James Holroyd, a.k.a. ‘Boggy’, along with them on this UK tour as they have on many down the years, safe in the knowledge that he’s another DJ whose career was forged here in Manchester.
With an influence reputation almost as storied as their own, Holroyd — one of the original residents at the long-standing ‘Bugged Out’ club nights which have often been hosted at The Warehouse Project — will getting the party started in 0161 as he’s done many times before.
Boggy playing Escape to Freight Island in 2022Credit: Skiddle/Escape to Freight Island
The Chemical Brothers’ Manchester stage times
Doors to the AO Arena open at 6pm and you can expect standalone support act James Holroyd to take stage around 7:15pm and play a fairly lengthy set.
Like at most venues, the headline act at the Arena is expected to start playing around 9pm, so you’ve got plenty of time to stock up on food and drink, grab some merch or nip to the toilet before the main event.
As always, the curfew is around 11pm, so you can expect a long old night of lights, dancing and nostalgia. As for what happens after, who knows? These guys are absolute local heroes around here when it comes to the Manc music so don’t be surprised if you hear of an after-party — just make sure you let us know!
Setlist
Now, it goes without saying that The Chemical Brothers full collection of songs is absolutely massive, with 10 studio albums to their name following the release of their latest record, For That Beautiful Feeling, their first in four years.
With that in mind, Tom and Ed could very easily decide to play absolutely everything or switch up their running order with a few more tracks from the new album but, according Setlist.fm and their most recent gigs, here’s what you can expect to hear on the night:
Everyone we know that has ever had the good fortune of seeing The Chemical Brothers live can vouch for how good a live show they put on and we expect Friday, 27 October to be no different.
We also had the immense pleasure of chatting to one half of the group earlier this year, discussing everything from how they got their start, the reaction to the new album and some of their favourite Manc music venues and memories.
You can read our full interview with Ed Simons down below:
We had the honour of chatting with @eddychemical, a.k.a. one-half of @ChemBros, about the new album, their upcoming arena tour and all things Manchester. 🧪🎶
No-phones nightclub Amber’s has announced it is relaunching its second room
Danny Jones
Manchester’s famous no-phones nightclub, Amber’s, is preparing for a relaunch of its second room, just over half a year on from the venue’s opening week.
The smash hit, semi-censored space, which enforces a strictly no-device policy to ensure those in attendance maximise their amount of in-the-moment enjoyment without any risk of distraction, has just announced that they will be reworking ‘Room 2’.
Confirmed just in time for the rest of summer ‘season three’, where plenty of people will be opting to rave instead of splash their cash on Oasis and/or festival tickets, the soon-to-be-refreshed space will partner with audio specialists to provide an experience set to rival the main room.
Sharing a post featuring blueprints for the fixtures and some of the top-end equipment, new-look second room opens its doors early next month.
Writing on social media, the venue wrote: “Amber’s is proud to announce the relaunch of Room Two, featuring a brand new custom soundsystem designed by Norwegian pro-audio specialist NNNN and OJAS, and installed by Neuron Audio Visual.
“The collaboration between Amber’s and NNNN is the first time that the Oslo-based company, which specialises in innovating the future of audio, has created a speaker system for use in the UK. Amber’s will be the first venue in the country to house the state-of-the-art system.”
“The partnership furthers our commitment to world-class sound and creating a truly unique club space in the heart of Manchester. Room Two also now boasts a brand new lighting system and has received bespoke acoustic treatment.”
Reacting to the news, plenty of punters and artists alike are already stoked to see what they have in store; promoters ABB Events simply said, “We can’t wait to test this out 26 September.”
Speaking to The Manc, a regular visitor of Amber’s Manchester told us: “Room Two at Amber’s always felt a little forgotten – a space with potential, but lacking the same pull as the main room. With this new Soundsystem they’re putting in, it finally feels like it’s getting the love it deserves.”
While we understand the urge to document those ‘unforgettable’ gig moments – that does kind of go against what we build them up to be, hence why the Amber’s concept has gone down so well.
Teasing a lineup of “the best in house, techno and groove”, Amber’s Room Two 2.0 will debut on 2 August, and regulars are buzzing for it.
As always, the headliner remains unannounced to keep that allure, as well as that further added feeling of anticipation and excitement.
‘No ticket, no entry’ – Council urges ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park
Emily Sergeant
Ticketless Oasis fans are being urged not to make the journey to Heaton Park this week.
With three concerts still to be played by as part of Oasis Live ’25 here in Manchester this week, following the iconic band’s two hugely successful concerts at the weekend, Manchester City Council has now reissued its repeated request – and warning – for fans without tickets to the shows to not travel to the park.
The warning comes after it was discovered that the so-called ‘Gallagher Hill’ viewing area inside the park, that went viral on social media, has now had large steel fencing erected around its perimeter.
After taking stock of how the first two shows went, the Council says additional measures have now been deemed ‘necessary’ to protect the environment of the park, ensure areas of parkland and nearby livestock are protected, and maintain public safety.
These additional measures will be in place for the next three concerts, taking place tonight (16 July), and Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July.
The Council says its decision to erect steel fencing around a large area of the hill within the cattle field in the main park is because the area is currently being developed as a new woodland for the park and has been recently planted with around 300 young trees, as well as being a measure to protect the livestock in the field, which include both expectant and nursing cows, and a bull.
“The erection of the fencing has a dual purpose – both to protect the environment from further damage and to dissuade people from gathering there,” the Council said in a statement released ahead of tonight’s show.
There are also no facilities for ticketless fans at the park, the Council confirmed, and they will not be able to see the concerts or get into the event arena – which is double-walled with solid high-security fencing all the way around.
The Council has urged ticketless Oasis fans not to travel to Heaton Park this week / Credit: The Manc Group
More than 2,000 event security staff and police officers will be on duty around the site across the next three dates to ensure both the safety and wellbeing of ticketholders, and to make sure that only those who have official tickets can access the concerts.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Employment, Skills and Leisure at Manchester City Council, commented: “As you would expect, given the size of the concerts and numbers of people attending, we go through a continuous process with partners of re-assessing the plans in place for the concerts to ensure both public safety and that any environmental impact on our award-winning park is minimised.”
“Our advice to music fans who don’t have tickets for the concerts is to head into the city centre instead,” Cllr Hacking continued.
“The whole city is going all out to celebrate and help everyone have a good time. We’ve got some fantastic things going on with a real party atmosphere for everyone to enjoy whether they’ve got tickets for the Oasis gigs or not.”
Danny Jones -
26th October 2023 
