One of our favourite music events in all of Greater Manchester is back after a lengthy hiatus and has found a new place to call home: You Are Not Alone returns for 2025 and is coming to the suburbs.
You Are Not Alone (more casually known as YANA) launched back in 2019 as one of the most affordable live music festivals in years, costing only £10 for a wristband that gave you access to multiple venues and dozens of up-and-coming acts.
Holding a super successful second year post-Covid a few years later, the Manc music festival grew to eight venues in the Northern Quarter and well over 70 artists – again, all for just a tenner and with proceeds going to mental health charity, Mind, whose work is at the core of what the event is all about.
Unfortunately, with founder Benji Taylor having been busy with popular Stockport bar Bask and various other projects, the festival had to take a back seat. But fear not, because after nearly three whole years away, YANA is set to return and now right in the heart of the increasingly buzzing town centre.
Announcing the lineup on Friday, 29 November, while the latest event might by scaled back a bit, now spread across four venues whilst still boasting over 30 different artists, You Are Not Alone Festival will make its comeback next March.
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Names already confirmed to be taking part include headliners Denver County Council, who recently featured on our regular Manc bands of the month round-up, as well independent post-punk favourites outfit Dirty Laces, who have grown a passionate cult following since they formed back in 2017.
Other notable names include fellow Manchester natives, Dr Dr – who we’ve also spotlighted plenty in the past – as well as indie rockers, Uno Mas, rising Stopfordians, The Wears and many more.
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With AMP bar and Syndikat two of the biggest and most beloved venues set to host the live performances and more acts still yet to come, SK locals are already buzzing to welcome the music festival as early bird tickets have already sold out.
Having been there for the last event, we can only hope for the same energy this time around.
Leaving the familiar surroundings of the city behind for the first time, You Are Not Alone Festival is moving as close to home as it could possibly be for Taylor, who recently stepped away from his role at Bask to look after himself following a difficult period.
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Born in Heaton Moor, Benji first set up the event to help raise money for mental health awareness after multiple friends sadly took their own lives. His background in the industry through roles in promotion at the likes of Night and Day, Sound Control and Jimmy’s made starting a festival seem like the perfect fit.
Teaming up with Mind from day one, who have bases not only in Manchester but Stockport too, not only does YANA celebrate music’s ability to bring people together but it also helps raise money for crucial services and awareness campaigns, raising over £4,000 thanks to the sophomore event in 2022.
In an effort to contribute right from the off and get people booking their spot for the comeback, the organisers even offered discount prices for World Mental Health Day on 10 October. Just lovely stuff.
The only thing we love more than a live music festival is one that helps do their bit in the process and we can’t think of a better cause that mental health – it remains a crisis here in the UK and across the globe, but events like this can go along way to making a real change.
Taking place on Sunday, 2 March from 1pm onwards, the multi-venue all-dayer will still only set you back £13.75 for full access to see all the talent on show.
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Should you end up securing a ticket, you’ll find the wrnristband exchange at Blackbird Brewhouse and Kitchen (8 Vernon Street, SK1 1TY), which is another one of provided gig space for You Are Not Alone Festival 2025.
Neil Young pulls out of ‘corporate controlled’ Glastonbury Festival
Danny Jones
Music icon Neil Young has pulled out of Glastonbury Festival 2025 after claiming it has lost its identity and is now under “corporate” control.
The 79-year-old singer-songwriter, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential to have ever lived, was due to play the festival as one of the legends named on this year’s lineup.
However, despite lots of excitement around the veteran being given the nod over others from what has largely been seen as a pop-leaning pool (at least according to the detractors) in recent years, Young has now decided to drop out of the festival.
Neil Young’s latest ‘NYA Times Contrarian’ post explains the decision to drop out of Glastonbury.Neil Young in 2023 Credit: Screenshot (via Neil Young website)/Per Ole Hagen (via Flickr)
“The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs”, it reads. “We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.”
For context, the BBC has been partnered with Glasto since way back in 1997 and Neil Young has already headlined the festival back in 2009, so this shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being. Thanks for coming to us the last time!”, he continues. “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.”
The message concludes with him hoping to catch fans at other venues and a simple “LOVE Neil – Be well”, but the tenor of the somewhat abrupt update is that the ever-opinionated and long-celebrated protest song-writer clearly believes the BBC‘s influence over the festival has now grown too strong.
Known not only as ‘Shakey’ and the ‘Godfather of Grunge’ but as one of the pioneering anti-establishment figures of a generation, the Canadian was previously in the headlines for demanding Spotify remove his music after taking issue with Joe Rogan’s anti-vax messaging on his show.
All that to say, the solo artist co-founding member of supergroup, Buffalo Springfield, is no stranger to taking on big business and companies if he feels he has good reason. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart will be performing in the coveted ‘Legends’ headliner slot at teatime on Sunday, 29 June.
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts are looking set for a European tour this summer but if he’s taking on corporations and concerts under umbrella control, it seems unlikely we’ll see him at too many festivals or the likes of Co-op Live.
The better question is: do you agree – has Glastonbury Festival become too corporate and sanitised, or do you think it still upholds the same core values it had when it first popped up on Worthy Farm in 1970?
Featured Images — Ross Belot (via Flickr)/The Manc Group
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Popular Manchester city centre club forced to close on New Year’s Eve due to flooding
Daisy Jackson
The heavy rain that hit Manchester on New Year’s Eve has caused flooding across the region, including the city centre.
One city centre venue had to close early on one of the biggest nights out of the year as water rushed into its basement.
In a statement shared today, Joshua Brooks shared that it had to close its New Year’s Eve party prematurely ‘to ensure everyone’s wellbeing’.
The popular city centre club had moved revellers upstairs to its clubhouse, rather than its basement, but ultimately feared the ‘unknowns regarding electrical safety’ and shut down early.
Luckily, party-goers were able to ring in the new year before the venue shut at around 2am.
Joshua Brooks shared: “Unfortunately, in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, we had to make the difficult decision to close the club prematurely due to unexpected flooding in our basement. The heavy rainfall in the Pennine mountains caused the River Medlock and several tributaries to overflow, impacting multiple venues along the riverbank, including ours.
“Our top priorities are always the safety of our ravers and the preservation of our equipment. As water levels continued to rise, we considered moving the party to the clubhouse upstairs. However, there were too many unknowns regarding electrical safety, so we ultimately decided to shut down the event around 2 AM, just under two hours before the end of the night, to ensure everyone’s well-being.
“We understand the inconvenience and disappointment this has caused you and sincerely apologise for disrupting your New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“Our warm-up DJs were absolutely smashing it, and Alan Fitzpatrick was playing great until the moment we had to close.
“While this type of incident is rare and hasn’t happened in years, there is always a risk due to our location. We want to assure you that we are taking this matter seriously and exploring all options to minimise the chances of this happening again.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”
Luckily, Joshua Brooks hasn’t been left with any lasting damage to its main bar area, and is set to go ahead with its New Year’s Day party this evening.
Danny Jones -
30th November 2024 
