UK girl group FLO visited Manchester Academy yesterday and let the crowd ‘Access All Areas’ of their discography on their tour of the same name.
Jorja, Stella and Renée, more widely recognised as R&B girl group FLO, had Manchester in awe, treating the crowd to a night of silky vocals, stylish choreography and expert harmonising.
After visiting New Century Hall in 2023, Gorilla in 2024 and Parklife twice, the latest being earlier this summer – this time they’re setting ‘The Mood’ in Manchester Academy.
As the show begins, the trio pop out one by one and poses in a way that harks back to cult classic action film Charlie’s Angels, with the girls only visible by their silhouettes.
FLO played to a very lively Manchester Academy crowd last night (Credit: Audio North)
The song soundtracking this initial greeting is none other than the Cynthia Erivo-narrated ‘AAA’, which gives each member their own individual time to shine.
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This girl group are ready to show off their musical skills in full force.
Next is the sassy and playful ‘Walk Like This’ which has the Manchester Academy crowd strutting their stuff while chanting “There’s a reason I walk like this / Side to side with a sway in my hip.”
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‘Check’, which clocks in at just under three minutes, sees the girls ticking off some important relationship traits: “Is he loyal? Check / He spoil you? Check”; “Is he faithful? Check / Gentleman? Check.”
Jorja, Stella and Renée wowing the Manchester crowd with their stacked musical roster (Credit: The Manc Group)
This fun-filled single keeps the vibes at a high with the girls finishing each chorus admitting, “The way I trust him, I ain’t gotta check”, while giving each other a smile or two.
The gospel influenced ‘Bending My Rules’ was nothing short of religious. FLO made sure to take us to church for four minutes with their vocal runs, belts and stellar harmonies.
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Following this is a number of much-loved album tracks like ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’, ‘Get It Till I’m Gone’ and the confident ‘How Does It Feel?’ which all go down a treat and show the girls in their elements or as they’d phrase it… in their bags.
As soon as the trumpet-heavy instrumental for ‘In My Bag’ plays out, the audience self-appoints themselves the role of US rapper GloRilla, making sure to recite her flow bar for bar – “On gang, gang”.
UK girl group FLO performing as part of their long-awaited ‘Access All Areas’ tour in Manchester (Credit: The Manc)
During this track, the girl group brought their A-game, recreating the choreography from this song’s music video with the audience acting as their hype men – it’s safe to say, it wasn’t just the girl group lapping up this moment; everyone was in their bag.
As Stella blurts “I got a confession”, the opening line to the band’s debut single ‘Cardboard Box’, there’s a flurry of screams from the crowd for this fan favourite.
Performing this penultimately really gave fans, such as myself, the time to process the journey these three have been on in the past five years and also to come to terms with the fact that the show was almost over.
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The introduction to ‘I’m Just a Girl’ plays out, and in that moment, it’s safe to say no one could name a better closing song, as this encapsulates the band’s feelings towards the industry they’re working in.
This R&B trio put on quite the performance at Manchester Academy last night (Credit: The Manc)
Lyrics like “What’s a girl got to do to be seen?” and “How many black girls do you see on centre stage now?” reinforce the harsh realities this girl group have had to face and how they’re slowly inserting themselves in mainstream conversations.
Although this rock-twanged R&B hit might not be the perfect fairytale ending, the fact that over 2,000 fans have shown up and shown out for FLO’s Manchester gig is.
Their fanbase isn’t leaving anytime soon, and last night was a prime example.
New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Thomas Melia -
2nd October 2025 
