Feature

22 things to look forward to in Greater Manchester in 2022

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 26th December 2021

So 2021 didn’t exactly go to plan, did it – but our buzzing region is looking forward to the year ahead with some seriously exciting things on the horizon.

Greater Manchester has done its best to bounce back from another year of decimated tourism, delivering amazing outdoor experiences and attractions.

2021 saw the return of huge city events like Manchester International Festival, Manchester Pride festival, and Parklife.

New restaurants and bars have continued to spring up in every direction too.

So, what have we got in store for 2022?

Marketing Manchester, the organisation that incorporates our tourism board and the official website visitmanchester.com have once again pulled together their list of things to get excited about in the year ahead.

It includes outdoor experiences, cultural developments, hospitality openings, and events.

We’ve picked out 22 things heading to Greater Manchester in 2022.

Mayfield Park

Credit: Mayfield Parnership

Manchester’s first new park in more than 100 years will be unveiled in late 2022.

Spanning 6.5 acres, Mayfield Park is currently under construction on the sprawling Mayfield site adjacent to Piccadilly Station.

UEFA Women’s EURO 2022

This will be massive for Greater Manchester – the women’s tournament is kicking off here next year.

England will play Austria at Old Trafford on July 6, with several other fixtures at Manchester City Academy, Leigh Sports Village, and DW Stadium in Wigan.

Mrs Doubtfire the Musical

One of the best films of all time has been turned into a Broadway show, and Manchester will be treated to the first performances on home turf in 2022.

Mrs Doubtfire the Musical will have its UK premiere at the Opera House Manchester on September 2 and will run until October 1.

Read more about it here.

Castlefield Viaduct

Credit: Twelve Architects & Masterplanners

This long-neglected and under-appreciated gem of industrial architecture in Manchester city centre will have new life breathed into it in 2022.

The Grade II-listed Castlefield Viaduct is being turned into an elevated urban park, much like New York’s High Line, by the National Trust.

Phase one will open to the public in the summer – read more here.

Soho House

One of the biggest hospitality names in the world will make its way to Manchester in 2022, taking over the upper three floors of the former Granada Studios building.

It will be a key operator in the new St John’s neighbourhood, which will also be home to MIF’s The Factory from 2023.

It’s expected to include a rooftop bar and pool as well as dining rooms, lounge areas and a Mollie’s Motel & Diner concept.

Band on the Wall

CGI of how Band on the Wall will look

Gosh, we’ve missed this place – the historic gig venue Band on the Wall will finally reopen in the spring.

It’s been undergoing a big renovation while we’ve all been nipping in and out of lockdowns, expanding into the Victorian Cocozza building that’s been derelict at the back of the venue for decades.

Manchester Museum

Another reopening here – the much-loved Manchester Museum closed back in the summer while it grows into its £13.5 million extension.

When it reopens late in 2022, it will have a new two-storey extension, a new exhibition hall, the South Asia Gallery, and Chinese Culture Gallery.

Rugby League World Cup

Old Trafford might be famed for its football pedigree, but in 2022 it will turn its attention to the world of rugby.

The rescheduled 2021 Rugby League World Cup, and Women’s Rugby League World Cup, will take place in October and November.

The Wheelchair Final will be held at Manchester Central, and additional fixtures are taking place at the University of Bolton Stadium and Leigh Sports Village.

Sexy Fish

Credit: Spinningfields

Decadent Mayfair restaurant Sexy Fish, owned by The Ivy’s Richard Caring, is taking over the old Armani unit in Spinningfields.

It first opened in 2015 and is famed for its luxurious dining environment and will be one of the most talked-about restaurant openings of 2022.

Gratitude Games

This is a new event – a multi-sport games created to support the mental health of emergency service and NHS workers.

It will be held at venues across Greater Manchester in April and May. Spanning 20 sports – including both traditional sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming, as well as niche sports like angling, lawn bowls and squash – it’s a chance for our emergency services and NHS to have fun, enjoy the benefits of sport and for the public to thank them for the amazing work they do.

Northern Roots

Oldham’s ambitious eco-project, which will see the UK’s largest urban farm built just outside Oldham town centre, is moving forward.

The 160-acre Northern Roots will include hand-on community projects like beekeeping, animal husbandry and growing plots, as well as a bike hub, mountain biking trails, arts, culture and events, and a natural amphitheatre and swimming pond.

Pollen Bakery

Credit: Pollen / No Chintz Studio

Famed Ancoats bakery is expanding with a second location, this time at Kampus.

The new location will offer an expanded brunch menu as well as more room for baking their sell out breads and pastries, with a chance for customers to see the kitchen working.

Leonardo Hotel

The Leonardo will open in Manchester in 2022. Credit: Capital & Centric

Capital & Centric’s Jenga-inspired hotel is well on the way and due to open in spring.

The £35m development, in the heart of Piccadilly East, will be draped in plants and plans include a ground-floor restaurant, cafe, and external terrace connecting to a new public square.

Jodrell Bank

Cheshire’s UNESCO attraction Jodrell Bank will welcome its new addition, the £21m First Light Pavilion, in May.

It will be a new gallery dedicated to telling the story of Jodrell Bank, with an immersive projection space and auditorium, and a new education hub and café.

Wigan Pier

The long-vacant 18th century buildings of Wigan Pier will finally be brought back to life, as a waterside destination.

It was made famous by George Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier in 1937 – but its new life will include a gin distillery, microbrewery, events venue and cultural hub.

The Locationist

Manchester has a rich history of being used as a filming location, including Peaky Blinders, Captain America, The Crown, and It’s A Sin.

The Locationist tour is set to launch early in the year and will show off the city’s top locations.

Bistro Marc

There’s been painstaking work going on in Stockport, where the historic Winter’s building on Little Underbank is being turned into a new French restaurant.

Bistro Marc will be a 70-cover restaurant spread over two floors that will serve French favourites, with a focus on using fresh local produce from Stockport Indoor Markets and other local suppliers.

Treehouse Hotel Manchester

That big brutalist Renaissance Hotel on Deansgate is being turned into a 206-bedroom hotel.

Forming part of the wider £200m redevelopment of the area, there’ll also be new retail space and room for pop-up food and drink vendors alongside the River Irwell.

Royal Exchange

Credit: Flickr

The magnificent Royal Exchange theatre has a packed year-long programme that will celebrate the joy of theatre, with bold plays, new writing and cast-iron classics.

Maxine Peake will star in a new show Betty! A Sort of Musical, while Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie will also come to the stage.

Queer Contact

Queer Contact has been a staple of Manchester’s cultural calendar for more than a decade, but this will be its first year in its newly-transformed home.

Contact theatre on Oxford Road has undergone a £6.75m refurbishment.

The event in February will again be a celebration of queer culture and LGBTQ+ talent, including drag kings, comedy, variety, ground-breaking performance and the annual Vogue Ball.

Claus the Musical

There’s a world premiere in store for Salford, with a brand new Christmas musical debuting at The Lowry.

From the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes Claus the Musical, telling the story of Claus and how he became an icon of our hearts and the skies.

Manchester Open

The walls of HOME’s gallery will again be filled with work from the region’s artists, with more than 400 residents taking part.

Following on from 2020’s award-winning exhibition, almost 2,300 artwork entries were submitted for judging for its second outing and the resulting show promises to deliver an unmissable insight into the city-region’s local artistic talent.

Featured image:

Feature

The very best and booziest bottomless brunches in Manchester city centre

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bottomless brunch at Blues Kitchen Manchester

If you’re looking to find the very best bottomless brunch places Manchester city centre has to offer, then look no further.

You’ll probably be struggling to see straight after you finish brunching anyway, but that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it?

In Manchester, we love a good brunch like the best of them.

Getting stuck into some free-flowing drinks with your friends around a table of food is a match made in heaven if you ask us.

To help you achieve your ultimate bottomless brunch goals, we’ve put together a list of some of our top spots in Manchester to help you find the right one for you.

Keep reading to discover our top picks.

25 boozy bottomless brunch places in Manchester

1. The Blues Kitchen – Deansgate

One of Manchester’s most popular bars has recently relaunched its Hip Hop Orchestra Brunch, with live music, bottomless drinks and food.

At Blues Kitchen, you can tuck into soul food-inspired mains like fried chicken and gravy, taco bowls, shrimp sandwiches and beef dip melts, with 90 minutes of unlimited drinks for £35 per person.

And in true Blues Kitchen fashion, there’ll of course be live music aplenty, from live soul and R&B in the bar to the house band playing upstairs in the gig space.

There are loads of options and packages to check out – head HERE to make your booking.

2. Ramona/Firehouse – NQ/Ancoats

ramona pizza manchester
ramona margaritas
Credit: Ramona (via Instagram)

Bordering two of Manchester city centre‘s coolest and best foodie neighbourhoods, the team who run the show over at Ramona and Firehouse during the day and well into the night have become famous around the UK for their Detroit-style pizza, loaded tater tots, margaritas and good vibes.

Better still, you can turn those Cali peps slices, helpings of fresh burrata, spicy margs, mimosa and more bottomless at just £38pp.

Between 12pm and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, you can get any slice of pizza plus frozen margs, selected spritzes, prosecco and Ramona pilsner.

3. New Century – NOMA

New Century in Manchester serves a great bottomless brunch. Credit: The Manc Group
New Century in Manchester serves a great bottomless brunch. Credit: The Manc Group
New Century in Manchester serves a great bottomless brunch. Credit: The Manc Group

All the traders from the New Century food hall band together at the weekends to serve up a bottomless brunch with more menu options than anywhere else in the city.

You can order a brunch item from any trader inside – and that includes egg banh mis from Banh Vi and chicken and waffles from Parmogeddon – then add on a bottomless drinks package for 90 minutes.

Options include bottomless lager, stout, IPA, cider, prosecco, and Aperol Spritzes for £30 (including one brunch item), or for an extra fiver you can also get Pornstar Martinis and Bloody Marys.

4. Peaky Blinders – Deansgate

peaky blinders bottomless brunch
peaky blinders manchester
peaky blinders food menu
Credit: The Manc Eats

The Peaky Blinders bar on Peter Street grows more popular year after year, and not just because people enjoy dressing up in fancy old-world clobber and coming along to see the lookalikes – it’s the birdcage of tasty bites, ‘Cherry Ada’s and ‘Shel-bee’ whiskey-based specials that keep them coming back.

There are different bottomless brunch menus available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from classic brunch platters to steak and fries to bottomless roast dinners.

And they all come with endless cocktails, beers, spirits and more drinks, with bottomless packages between £37.50 and £40.

5. Sexy Fish – Spinningfields

One of the fanciest new openings in Manchester, Sexy Fish, serves one of the city’s swankiest bottomless brunches.

For £48 per person, you can indulge in a range of starters, unlimited sushi from the sushi buffet, a main course with a side, and desserts.

Or you can just have your fill at the sushi buffet for £28 per person.

Then you can add on free-flowing cocktails for £30 per person or indulge in limitless bubbles from £34 per person.

6. Diecast – Piccadilly East

Diecast in Manchester does a bottomless brunch with its frozen daiquiris.
Diecast in Manchester does a bottomless brunch with its frozen daiquiris.
Diecast in Manchester does a bottomless brunch with its frozen daiquiris.

90 minutes of pure drag entertainment is what’s on the menu at Diecast in Piccadilly East, as Dragstravaganza takes over for an interactive bottomless battle.

There are also more regular bottomless brunch offerings, where you can choose a pizza from the menu plus add on 90 minutes of frozen daiquiris.

The event schedule is a busy one so check HERE to book your bottomless at Diecast.

7. Banyan – Corn Exchange and Spinningfields

Another solid Manchester bottomless brunch spot is Banyan, offering two hours of the good stuff for £36.95 and free reign on their food menu – we’re talking breakfast hash, Korean fried chicken burgers, flat iron steak and curry.

You can go bottomless in the evenings too for £39.95.

And endless drinks include loads of their house cocktails, plus your usual suspects like prosecco, beer and spirits.

8. Tampopo – Corn Exchange and Albert Square

tampopo manchester
tampop bottomless brunch
Credit: Tampopo UK (via Instagram)

A Pan-Asian bottomless brunch with dishes like an Asian twist on a full English, a Rendang roti, a Bali brunch bowl and Bang Bang steak and eggs? Sign us up.

Running seven (yep, seven!) days a week, the Tampopo bottomless (and they have two restaurants in Manchester) includes 90 minutes of free-flowing bubbles, lager, rum beach buckets and house cocktails, plus any brunch plate or vegetarian, chicken or pork large plate.

Not bad for £38 a head.

9. Italiana Fifty-Five – Great Northern Warehouse and Castlefield

Italiana Fifty-Five does bottomless Aperol brunch and a tower of treats at all three of its Manchester restaurants
Italiana Fifty-Five does bottomless Aperol brunch and a tower of treats at all three of its Manchester restaurants
Italiana Fifty-Five does bottomless Aperol brunch and a tower of treats at all three of its Manchester restaurants

Next up is one we’d consider an old faithful: Italiana Fifty-Five, formerly known as Cibo. With three sites in Manchester, now including one in Didsbury. We’ve had this particular bottomless brunch so many times now we’ve lost count but it never disappoints.

Available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with sittings between 12pm and 7.30pm, you’ll be presented with a tower of Italian treats and endless cocktails, including Aperol Spritzes.

See more and book your sitting HERE.

10. Canto – Ancoats

bottomless brunch ancoats
bottomless brunch canto
tispy tapas manchester
Credit: The Manc Group

Bottomless tapas and sangria at Canto puts a Portuguese twist on boozy brunch proceedings over in Ancoats. The sister site of AA Rosette restaurant, El Gato Negro, this is what they call ‘tipsy tapas’.

Priced at £40 a head, you get a choice of three plates each and 90 minutes of unlimited drinks with choices like sangria, fizz, bellinis, house wine and lager.

Tapas choices include options like jamón croquetas, salt cod fritters, patatas bravas, crispy squid and plenty more. Never fails.

11. Elnecot – Ancoats

One of the best bottomless brunches in Manchester? Don’t mind if we do. They keep it simple at Elnecot as you just opt for your unlimited drinks on top of the usual but you’ll hear no complaints from us whilst we’re sipping on house Cosmos, mimosas, Bloody Marys, boozy ice teas and lager.

Brunch dishes, meanwhile, feature the likes of crispy pork belly with rosti, fried eggs, savoy kimchi, Elnecot chilli jam and yoghurt; wild mushrooms on toast with goat’s curd and dukkah, as well as Elnecot’s full English and eggs on toast, just to name a few.

Bottomless drinks are £26 per person, plus whatever brunch dish you want, for two hours of drinking time.

12. The Bay Horse Tavern – Northern Quarter

brunch places manchester
bottomless brunch manchester
Credit: The Manc Eats

Affectionately known by locals as ‘Horse-moor’, the boozy brunch menu at upmarket NQ pub The Bay Horse Tavern is a pretty traditional affair dish-wise, although there is a funky peanut butter, bacon and fried banana croissant bad boy to be found here too.

Priced at £32.50 for a dish and unlimited drinks until 4pm every weekend, think egg, bacon and sausage butties; fry-ups; poached and scrambled eggs (they do eggs really well here) mushrooms, avo and smoked salmon on toast, as well as fizz, Irish coffee, beer, mimosas, bloody marys and house wine. Easy.

13. Gaucho – Deansgate

Maybe one of the more expensive on this list but worth every penny, Gaucho’s ‘Electro Brunch’ is one of the Manchester OGs and it also happens to be one of the best steaks in town. Setting you back £65, it’s all about the beef here which is wet-aged and can be cut with a butter knife it’s that soft.

The music-fuelled all-you-can-eat midday feast also features cocktails like pornstar martinis and Aperol spritz alongside glasses of Argentinian Domain Chandon and even includes a brunch dessert of smoked chocolate ganache. They have a maximum of eight drinks per person but, let’s be honest, that’s plenty.

14. Lucky Cat – King Street

Another more boujee, boozy brunch option is at Gordon Ramsay’s very own Lucky Cat.

For 90 minutes, you can enjoy endless prosecco alongside a two-course meal, with dishes like vegetable tempura, crispy beef rice bowls, and teriyaki salmon.

You can also add dessert platter for an extra tenner or upgrade from prosecco to champagne for £20. This is definitely a more classy excuse to get tipsy, whilst enjoying some proper high-quality food. 

15. Fress – NQ

Fress is an award-winning white-subway tiled restaurant on Oldham Street that often has queues out the door for its bottomless boozy brunch. There’s a hearty menu featuring all the favourites, from a full English and beans on toast to mouth-watering waffles and pancakes, but it’s the sweet stuff we go for.

With a 1 hour 15 minute £37 per person sitting (that price includes a main from the menu) drinks choices include prosecco, mimosas, house wine and lager.

16. Zouk Tea Bar and Grill – Quadrangle

curry bottomless brunch
zouk bottomless brunch
Credit: The Manc

Just off Oxford Road Corridor, you’ll find one of the very best bottomless brunches in Manchester and it’s over at Zouk — also one of the best places for a curry in town that you can enjoy bottomless style, but that’s a separate matter. Two plates and as much booze as you can stomach. Glorious.

Either way, for £35 a pop from 11am to 4.30pm every Saturday, you can get an incredible South Indian and Pakistani-inspired menu featuring everything from masala omelettes to the ‘Bollywood Benedict’ and SO much more. Absolutely slaps every single time.

17. Manahatta – Deansgate

A favourite amongst the flag-waving bottomless brunch brigade, we can’t think of many places that come more immediately to mind than Manahatta on Deansgate. Two whole hours of non-stop booze and some Insta-worthy scran for £36.95 until 3pm and you can upgrade to any dish for an extra fiver.

Manahatta’s brunch menu features a wide range of spritzes, bloody marys or lager to enjoy alongside plates that range from Mexican wraps to breakfast hash, pancakes, steak frites and other NYC-inspired plates. You can also book big parties and the main menu for £41.95.

18. The Pen and Pencil – NQ

Another long-standing favourite over ours, you’ll find plenty of people heading to The Pen and Pencil when they’re round Northern Quarter way and after a solid bottomless brunch.

Their bottomless brunch runs on the last Saturday of every month, costs £50 and will leave you full to bursting – and that’s just the booze part.

You’ve got all of the staple egg dishes, pancake stacks and more, as well as all your classic cocktails – and you can eat and drink as much as you like.

19. BLVD – Spinningfields

Very similar vibes here – no list of the best bottomless brunch places in Manchester is complete without BLVD, the Spinningfields venue without the vowels but all the flavour, putting their own unique spin on things with a selection of small plates like veg tempura to duck spring rolls to salt and pepper chicken wings.

You can choose two small plates, one side, and then dive in to different flavours of Bellinis, prosecco, rum punch, gin smash cocktails, vodka raspberry ripples, and bottled beers.

It costs £35 per person and is available every day that BLVD is open.

20. Crazy Pedro’s – NQ and Deansgate

Yes, Crazy P’s does do bottomless brunch and yes it is mint. Enjoy unlimited slices from their ever-rotating daily menu of crazy pizza concoctions, as well as non-stop Hooch, beer, prosecco and their classic Frozen Margz for 90 minutes

It’s just £29.50pp for pure carbs and the fun-time juice when you book and it also happens to be ‘r Amy’s favourite pizza place and quite a few of us would probably agree with her.

21. Shack Bar and Grill

Shack’s brilliant disco brunch starts from £32.50 per person, with a few levels of drinks packages if you want to step things up a little bit.

Dishes include French toast, chorizo chilli eggs, breakfast buns, and absolutely massive pancake and waffle stacks, plus a full menu of grilled cheeses, wraps and burgers.

See more HERE.

22. Ducie Street Warehouse – Piccadilly

In our opinion, Ducie Street Warehouse quietly does some of the best bottomless brunch in Manchester, there just aren’t enough people that know about it, so we’re fixing that. Croque monsieurs, pancake stacks, breakfast baps and more. This menu is elite.

Changing themes each month, as well as wheeling out their ‘disco’ brunch every Saturday, their parties (and believe us, they are) will set you back £42.

23. Dirty Martini – Deansgate

Once again, no list of bottomless brunch hotspots in Manchester city centre would be complete without the Deansgate cornerstone that is Dirty Martini. Someone pass us a phone, we need another picture in front of them wings because the last 20 or so weren’t quite good enough.

Just as good during the day as it is for a night out, their bottomless brunch costs £37.50pp on Fridays and Saturdays but their Martini brunch from Sunday-Thursday is the cheaper option at just £30.

24. Almost Famous – Great Northern and NQ

bottomless brunch manchester city centre
almost famous manchester locations

We will take any excuse to head to one of the best burger joints in Manchester so, naturally, the fact Almost Famous also does bottomless brunch is ideal. Available Friday-Sunday from 12-3pm, you get the standard 90-minute sitting from £37.50pp.

Get ready for this: get absolutely ANY famous burger with winning or bacon bacon fries and chicken nuggets as well a free run at as much draught beer, cider, prosecco and cocktails as you fancy sinking. We call that heaven.

25. Foundry Project – NQ

Finally, the Foundry Project over on Thomas Street does a bang-up bottomless brunch with plenty of variety for just £36 per person.

Hash brown nachos, breakfast brioche, fry-ups, brunch burgers and more to go with prosecco, bellinis, mimosas, Aperol spritz or pints of Amstel. What more could you possibly want?

Read more:

It goes without saying that there aren’t plenty more places we could have out on this list and we’re sure it’ll keep growing over time, but 25 should do you for now.

Manchester really does have some of the best bottomless brunch culture in the country and we’re saying that with our chests, so don’t even try and argue with us.

And if you’re just looking for really good morning/early afternoon scran that isn’t necessarily bottomless, you can also check out our list of the best breakfast and brunch places in Manchester city centre — and yes, there’s plenty of overlap.

The top 25 places for the best breakfast and brunch in Manchester

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

Feature

Gig review | Catfish at Heaton Park, Manchester – are the Bottlemen properly back?

Danny Jones Danny Jones Catfish and the Bottlemen gig review Heaton Park Manchester 2025

10 months on from their last gig and more than a year since they officially ended their hiatus, Catfish and the Bottlemen finally returned to Manchester for a sold-out show at Heaton Park, and while the reviews online have been mixed, we had a blast heading back to the fields again.

Making their Manc comeback just hours before this year’s Parklife Festival got underway, the beloved Welsh band had stirred lots of worry leading up to the day itself and, in truth, even in the moments leading up to (and after) their stage time.

Apart from their huge headline slot at Reading and Leeds, 2024 was the year of cancellations and controversy, so their fans had plenty of reason to be concerned. Nevertheless, we had faith and kept our spirits high, especially with the weather holding out.

Local legends and indie rock veterans James certainly helped on that front, delighting both die-hards watching from up on the hill and younger gig-goers who may have only heard a few of the big hits like ‘Sit Down’ – though they certainly didn’t heed that message, there was merely jumping up and down.

james catfish and the bottlemen heaton park support set
Some great computer-generated imagery backdropped the set.
catfish heaton park reviews
We watched this thing like a hawk.
You can read our recent interview with them HERE. (Credit: Audio North)

Once the main support act had wrapped up their pretty perfectly timed set, we’ll admit, standing on that grass felt like an eternity, especially considering Catfish had us waiting an extra 15 minutes beyond their expected arrival at Heaton Park.

You could call it fashionably late, but in this case, it saw several people around us uttering, ‘they’re not coming on any time soon’, and some even beginning to walk off.

However, they did eventually arrive just over a quarter of an hour past schedule, and the eruption of cheers from the crowd and a fair few screams from those nearest the barrier signalled what summed up the entire night: we were just so happy to have them back.

Even more notably, in fact, the boys themselves looked to be equally as buzzing, with bassist Benji Blakeway and ever-charismatic frontman Van McCann embracing each other before the opener and the latter flashing that familiar grin all night long.

We’ve heard people debating the sound quality and taking issue with parts of Van’s performance, but we’ll just leave this here and let you decide for yourselves:

One thing’s for sure: the energy was immaculate from start to finish.

From kicking things off with ‘Longshot’ for a limb-worthy intro, to hearing a fully acoustic version of ‘Hourglass’ as the lead singer stood alone on the dramatically lit main stage, soon to be followed up by a plethora of Parklife acts, we’d wager you they’ll remain a tough act to follow all weekend.

Other highlights included an entire park’s worth of people belting every word to ‘Kathleen’, ‘Fallout’, ‘Pacifier’ and pretty much every track they played, as well Van having the crowd repeat the chorus of ‘Cocoon’ as he hung up his guitar from the stand to deliver an ice-old mic drop.

We would’ve loved to hear a fuller set filled with the extended live versions of ‘Oxygen’, ‘Heathrow’ and ‘Glasgow’ too, especially given how many sections of pure instrumentation felt like they were going to transition into another track, but you can’t have everything, I guess.

manchester and the bottlemen flag
Inflatable crocodiles and cracking flags
van mccann manchester heaton park
Credit: The Manc Group
catfish and the bottlemen photos
Eyes and arms wide open
We’re here to urge you not to be drawn in by TikTok reviews – as far as we’re concerned, Catfish were made to headline Heaton Park.

Sure, there might have been a few minor fluffed vocal notes and slightly over-lengthy solos here and there, but after all, it’s a rock show: we want a bit of mess.

The same goes for Van McCann himself, too; we worry that people are starting to forget what a proper rockstar is, and we’re not talking about contriving some kind of Hollywood lifestyle, but certainly getting lost in the music and trashing your guitar so hard that your face is draped in nothing but hair and sweat? Absolutely.

All in all, we think Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s massive outdoor show at Manchester’s Heaton Park and de facto ‘comeback after the last comeback’ was a triumph and even when they’re not absolutely 10/10, they’re still bloody good value live.

As for the question of ‘are they back?’ We think so and certainly hope that ‘Showtime’ wasn’t just released as a way of signalling fans to come along for one last ride before the final curtain call.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Audio North

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