It’s been a mad busy couple of months for Manchester’s clubs as our calendars are filling up rapid with gigs and club nights.
And whilst we’re nearing the end of festival season, music events are still coming in thick and fast.
Here, we’ve pulled together a selection of the club nights taking place this Friday. From garage tunes with DJ Q, to a Mike Skinner DJ set, there’s loads of house, techno, minimal and drum and bass in between.
And the best thing about going out on a Friday? Two whole days to recover…
Read on to find out our top picks.
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The Streets Afterparty
Earlier in the evening, The Streets will be playing Castlefield as part of this year’s Sound of the City event series.
But if you didn’t manage to get down to the Bowl for it, YES’s Pink Room will be hosting The Streets afterparty from 11pm, with a DJ set from the man himself, Mike Skinner.
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He’ll be spinning all the best in drum and bass, hip hop, house and UK garage.
Tickets are £15 on Skiddle right now. Get them here.
The Libero crew are putting on their last Manchester night of the year.
Manchester-based label, Libero, will take over Gorilla on Friday too, in what will be their final show of 2021 here in the city before the brand focuses on their upcoming UK-wide project.
Founders Luke Welsh, Mike Morrisey and Dan Costello will all be playing, of course. And they’ll be joined by Joseph Emmanuel who’ll set the tone beforehand.
Running until the early hour of 6am, there’ll be plenty of house, minimal techno and tech house to go at, if you can last the night.
Tickets will only set you back £6. Skiddle has some here.
Andy C playing WHP back in 2018. Credit: Metropolis/IG
The 12-week long Warehouse Project series kicked off this month with some serious lineups filling out the 10,000 capacity Depot Mayfield.
On Friday, Metropolis will take over the former train depot as part of the season, with one of the biggest drum and bass lineups you’ll find in Manchester all year.
Heavyweights Andy C, Sub Focus and Wilkinson will headline the show, with a huge list of other big names who’ll be warming up for them throughout the night, like High Contrast, North Base, Mark XTC, Mollie Collins and Friction.
If you fancy some house and techno, popular Manchester club night and record label Haus 22 will be joined by Slam at Joshua Brooks. The pre-party will kick off at 7pm in the bar with things moving downstairs to the revamped basement from 11pm.
Scottish duo Slam will be playing a rare all night long set until 4am. The producers have been making music and putting on their own club nights for decades and so have a load of experience in creating top class nights.
Tickets are a tenner. But student and group tickets come a bit cheaper. Find all the info here.
Calling all students: this one is a rite of passage.
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Ghosts of Garage has been making moves in the student scene for the past couple of years. And coinciding with Manchester’s freshers week the popular garage night will visit Hidden on Friday.
Clothing brand turned music label Dr Banana will be appearing, whilst Soul Mass Transit System will make his Manchester debut.
DJ Q will also play an extended UKG set. Plus, expect to see some Ghosts of Garage faves like Tht Girl, and of course Rich Reason, with B2Bs from Mattik and NG.OMA too, all hosted by T-Man.
Originally planned for March, organisers managed to confirm a new date and a new venue, now taking place at Hidden. All previous tickets remain valid though. And early bird tickets are already gone. But you can get first and second release tickets on Skiddle here.
For more music and events head here. And make sure you’re following The Manc Audio to stay up to date.
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Hip-hop, soul and R’n’B legend Mary J Blige is coming to Manchester for a massive arena show
Danny Jones
Manchester is getting ready to welcome a global icon of hip-hop, soul, pop and R’n’B as Mary J Blige is set to put on a massive arena show.
With a music career spanning more than 30 years, Mary J Blige is an absolute legend of the American music scene, with nine GRAMMY Awards and nearly 40 nominations, along with a plethora of BET, Billboard, and AMA nods over the years.
Currently on ‘The For My Fans Tour’, jetting quite literally all over and recently adding on even more dates, not only has London been given some love, but so has Greater Manchester – and rightly so.
Announcing the special one-off show and Co-op Live debut this Wednesday, 16 April, Mary J Blige won’t have to wait too long to be part of the ‘Family Affair’.
The 54-year-old from New York will be coming to the state-of-the-art, one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, in just a few months’ time.
On top of the already well-established AO Arena, this is the pedigree of truly worldwide artists that Co-op Live was built to further attract – and it looks to be working.
It’s been the best part of a decade since she was last in these parts, so she’s sure to get a huge reception.
While most audiences in the likes of North America have been treated to fellow R’n’B favourite Ne-Yo, those watching Ms Blige will be keeping things domestic as long-standing London collective and producers, Soul II Soul, will be joining her for the show.
‘Back to life, back to reality…’
So there you have it! Mary J Blige will be coming to Manchester on Friday, 4 July 2025, with her own pre-sale going live at 10am on Thursday, 24 April, but Co-op members can get there even earlier, with the venue’s early access available from the same time the day before.
As for general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets HERE from 10am on Friday, 25 April.
Fri 18 April – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley (Sean Paul, Ashanti and Big Joe)
Sat 19 April – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Sun 20 April – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
22 April – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
23 April – Brighton, UK – Brighton Centre (Sean Paul ONLY)
24 April – Bournemouth, UK – BIC (Sean Paul ONLY)
Sean Paul and Ashanti tickets for AO Arena gig
Just like Ashanti’s 2002 hit, you’d have been ‘Foolish’ not to get tickets when they first came out, however, there’s still a chance for you to ‘Get Busy’ like Sean Paul’s ‘02 throwback.
There’s a limited run of tickets left throughout the venue, including standing, seated and even an option to watch the show from ‘The Mezz’ if you’re after a VIP experience – AllHERE.
There’s no official setlist yet, however, if you consider the past selection of hits from their previous separate gigs, fans are in for a jam-packed night.
Sean Paul:
So Fine
Get Busy
Ever Blazin’
Cheap Thrills
Baby Boy
Bailando
Hot Gyal Today
Infiltrate
Breathe/ Make It Clap
Give It Up To Me
Got 2 Luv U
Mad Love
No Lie
Boasty
Love Me Ladies
Tip Pon It
Volcano
Bring It
Greatest
I’m Still In Love
Light My Fire
Punkie
Rockabye
Like Glue
Deport Them
Trumpets
She Doesn’t Mind
Temperature
Ashanti:
Happy
Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)
Mesmerise
Only U
Baby
Southside
Down 4 U
Body On Me
What’s Luv?
Ain’t It Funny
Always On Time
Foolish
What are the stage times for Sean Paul and Ashanti in Manchester?
AO Arena has a curfew of 11pm; anyone attending this link-up of a lifetime can enjoy their night knowing they’ll be ‘Ever Blazin” after a full night’s sleep.
Doors for the ‘Bring It Tour’ are scheduled for 6pm with a kick-off time of 7pm, with no confirmed or mentioned support acts as of yet.
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
Getting there by car and parking
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
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.
About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Hannah Starkie -
23rd September 2021 
