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A bring-your-own booze music venue is opening in Manchester
'Make the night as expensive as you want it to be'
A brand-new nightlife concept offering bring-your-own-booze is coming to Manchester this month.
XLR will be the very first BYOB licensed music venue in Manchester, and it’s set to open on Wilmslow Road later in September.
Club-goers will pay for a ticket, then can bring their own beers and alcohol inside the club.
They say they want people to be able to make ‘the night as expensive as you want it to be’.
XLR owner Chris said that clubbing has lost its way from the early 2000s heyday and become ‘very corporate’, so it’s hoped that this new concept will break down those money barriers.
Tickets will be priced between £10 and £20, with lockers provided inside so that you can safely store your booze.
XLR will open on 24 September with appearances from Yung Singh and Bushbaby.
Owner Chris said in a teaser snippet today: “We’re bringing a really new and exciting concept to the venue this year, where customers can bring their own alcohol into the venue.
“Clubbing has come so very far away from what it used to be, sort of back in the early 2000s, and the early 90s as well.
“Clubs were meant to be about the music, whereas now it’s become very corporate, very money grab.
“The clubs used to be cheap and the bars used to be expensive.
“Clubs now, they’re just run very commercially.
“We don’t want people feeling like they’re being priced out of venues anymore.
“It’s very important that anyone can come to a club. We all know the crisis that’s going on with clubs and hospitality this year.
“When you pay for your ticket, you know you’re paying for the DJ, you pay for the promoter, you’re helping the venue to survive, you’re contributing to the culture.
“So the tickets will be £10 to £20, you can bring your own beers in, bring your own alcohol in, we’ve got lockers in place so that you don’t have to leave everything out on the dance floor.
“That’s the way that we’re gonna go this year. We hope that you get on board with the concept.
“We hope that you drink responsibly, because that’s really important as well.
“We’ll see you in September.”
See the latest from XLR Manchester on their Instagram HERE.
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Featured image: Unsplash, Alexsandr Popov
Audio
James Blunt announces huge Manchester gig on new European arena tour
Daisy Jackson
Singer-songwriter James Blunt is heading back out on tour next year, and has announced a massive Manchester gig as part of his run of arena shows.
The singer, perhaps best-known for his iconic 2005 pop ballad ‘You’re Beautiful’, is hitting the road again in 2027.
The newly-announced European tour is in celebration of his new album Airplane Mode, which is set for release this autumn.
James Blunt will kick off his tour in Leeds next spring, before heading over for a night at the almighty Co-op Live in Manchester.
Then he’ll head to more cities including Newcastle, Birmingham and London.
His new album, Airplane Mode, is being released on 6 November and will, according to his press release, be ‘exhilarating’.
James has already released the first single, ‘Tastes Like Summer’, and ‘Weight Of It All’, with 10 more songs to come on the record.
Airplane Mode was recorded with James’ brilliant long-standing live band, who’ll be back on tour with him next year.
Speaking of the new album, and recording in Pig Music Studios, he said: “Somewhere back there, I lost my way, but found it again in a studio in Banbury.”
James Blunt will be at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester on 3 April, 2027. Tickets go on sale from 10am on 9 September.
James Blunt UK and Ireland 2027 tour dates
- 26 March – Leeds
- 27 March – Birmingham
- 28 March – Newcastle
- 30 March – Dublin
- 31 March – Belfast
- 2 April – Glasgow
- 3 April – Manchester
- 4 April – London
- 6 April – Cardiff
- 7 April – Bournemouth
- 8 April – Brighton
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Featured image: Supplied
Audio
Major pop star crowns humble rice and three cafe as ‘Jewel of Manchester’ ahead of sold-out gig
Thomas Melia
A beloved city centre takeaway has been given the title of ‘Jewel of Manchester’ by chart-topping UK singer Sam Smith.
Known for hits like ‘Stay With Me’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’ and more recently ‘Unholy’, UK pop-ballad act Sam Smith also likes to drop a food review every once in a while.
Currently on the road with a run of shows in Manchester and London for their ‘To Be Free’ live shows, Sam Smith is stopping off at some of our city’s much-loved spots.
On their food-reviewing account titled ‘Sam Served’, where they adopt the aptly-fitting nickname ‘Ham Smith’, Sam has visited restaurants across the globe – and most recently turned their attention to Manchester’s own This & That.
Smith decided to pop in and grab a cheeky rice and three from long-standing backstreet food business This & That, and it certainly went down a treat.
After sampling their amazing selection of meat, vegetable and vegan curries, the musician crowned this family-run Indian takeaway a ‘Jewel of Manchester’.
The hitmaker described this Northern Quarter Indian eatery as ‘Everything food should be’ and definitely enjoyed all the curries on offer ‘leaving belly and heart full’.
This & That prides itself on affordable and comforting food with its ‘Rice and Three Curries’ starting from just £6 – not bad for a city centre foodie spot.
Sam has racked up an impressive 490k followers via their ‘Sam Served’ profile, with famous faces like Lily Allen, Denise Welch and CMAT all wanting to know the superstar’s foodie thoughts.
After enjoying a curry or three, Sam Smith also made sure to feed their soul to by venturing down to Afflecks and getting lost in the music at Mars Tapes.
Recognised as one of the UK’s only cassette and tape shops, Mars Tapes lets you flick through their crates of physical media and even preview tracks before you buy with its dedicated listening areas.
It’s safe to say that Smith has ‘Latched’ onto Manchester’s independent business scene and we’re here for it.
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The London-born artist has just released their latest album Hazel Eyes and is currently amid a UK residency tour with two dates in Manchester’s Albert Hall and eight shows set for London Coliseum.
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Featured Image: @samserved (via Instagram)
Daisy Jackson -
2nd September 2025 
