Last night the AO arena found itself deep inside the West Coast, as Ice Cube, Cypress Hill and D12 gave Manchester the ‘High Rollers Tour experience’. The 90s and Noughties at its finest.
2000s rap heavyweights D12 opened the show for a Manchester crowd that began filling the AO Arena from the moment the doors opened.
The Detroit legends paid homage to their heyday years with Eminem performing tracks like ‘Lose Yourself’ and ‘Purple Pills’ to get the crowd rolling back the years.
Serving as a brilliant support act for headliners, they did plenty more than just warm up the once-freezing fans on a frosty night in Manchester and before we knew it, Cypress Hill stepped up to set the arena alight.
Sen Dog, B-Real, DJ Lord and Eric ‘Bobo’ Correa demonstrated exactly how and why they have stayed in the game for more than 32 years now.
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Cypress Hill’s set was packed with plenty of nostalgia. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Lord commanded the turntables with a level of skill that’s becoming more of a rarity these days, intertwining with Bobo’s unfathomably fast and rhythmic percussion, all whilst B-Real and Sen Dog worked a lively crowd to tracks like ”Dr Greenthumb’, ‘Rock Superstar’ and ‘Hits from the Bong’.
However, the real reminder of just how crazy their sets can be at times came when they dropped the iconic ‘Insane In The Brain’. Old-school lyricism, marijuana-filled graphics on the big screen and a crowd clearly breathing just as much of the ‘atmosphere’ as B-Real himself, is was like Cali had been transported to Manny.
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And then Ice Cube arrived. Chills, pun intended.
Proving to everyone in the building that he’s still got it and then some, his arrival at the Arena was his first return to the UK since 2011, and oh how he’s been missed.
Cube owned the stage; no dancers, no gimmicks — just himself and long-time partner in crime WC giving everyone a legendary recap of a legendary career all the way back to the 80s.
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Ice Cube walked into Manchester’s AO Arena like he owned the place — and he did.
From ‘Natural Born Killaz’ to ‘Why We Thugs’ and, of course, ‘Straight Outta Compton’, the duo showed precisely what an OG can really do. It felt like an honour to watch the N.W.A legend Crip-walking across the stage as a reel of film clips played behind him. The crowd were starstruck and rightly so.
One of the greatest MCs to ever do it even blessed us with arguably one of the greatest diss tracks of all time, ‘No Vaseline’, in which he kills off four rappers and a DJ — and makes sure nobody forgets. Mint.
As he asks the crowd if they want one more, he’s met with an inevitable roar of cheers and applause four times over and then, as he’s done a thousand times before, he signed off by letting everyone know that ‘It Was a Good Day’. Perfection.
It was a truly special performance for those inside the AO on Thursday night and one which we can guarantee no one will be forgetting any time soon. Still going 35 years strong, that was all about Ice Cube making a point of reminding everyone why he’s still one of the best in the game.
After All 2026 – the affordable grassroots music festival happening in Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
Grassroots music event After All Festival is returning to Manchester this weekend, with rising local artists and affordable tickets.
Now well over half a decade since it was founded, All All Fest takes place in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and this year they’re proving that their slow and steady approach to backing the best new up-and-coming bands at core intimate venues is more important than ever.
With plenty of previous acts having impressed in recent years, we’re looking forward to seeing how 2026 stacks up in comparison to its predecessors.
Increasingly prolific native group Dirty Laces are set to headline the whole thing, Manilla Times are locked in, and Bolton’s very own James Holt also stands out on the lineup, just to highlight a few.
As the festival continues to grow in size and popularity, they have obviously had to scale things up even further this year.
That being said, beloved live music spot and Manc institution, Band on the Wall, is among the chosen arts spaces for this latest iteration.
BoW will be offering up their 500-capacity main room to the organisers for the very first time, serving as the de facto main stage of After All Fest 2026.
Joining them will be the Rose and Monkey next door, as well as cult favourite pub, Gullivers on Oldham Street, who have a long history of supporting local musicians and the arts in general.
And would you look at that, now you’ve got all the stage splits and set times, too.
Labelled by Dead Records’ Rob Fiddaman as “one of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals”, homegrown DJing legend Dave Sweetmore has also described it as “unique in so many ways”, hailing it as a “brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music.”
Having been ourselves on multiple occasions since its inception in 2019 – both as Audio North off-duty and as punters before then – we can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest edition takes place at 12 noon onwards this Saturday until 2am on Sunday, 17 May, and while the cheapest early bird tickets (£16.50) are long gone, general admission tickets are still available, with prices starting from just £20. Grab yours HERE before they sell out.
It’s not the only live music event worth being a part of this month…
Global girl group Katseye add Manchester to huge new world tour
Daisy Jackson
Katseye have announced a major arena world tour for this year – and the global girl group are coming to Manchester for the first time.
The pop superstars will be performing at the Co-op Live as part of their WILDWORLD TOUR, which is taking them right across the UK, Europe and North America.
Katseye formed through The Debut: Dream Academy, which narrowed 120,000 applicants down to just six talented singers and dancers – though the group will be touring as a five-piece this time (Manon Bannerman has taken a hiatus from the band).
The Los Angeles-based global girl group, formed by HYBE and Geffen Records, merges K-pop dance training with Western pop sounds, with members hailing from across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and beyond.
The group is currently made up of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung.
Katseye have not yet released a full studio album but have achieved major commercial success with songs like Gabriella, Pinky Up, Gnarly, and Internet Girl.
The group have already performed a major slot at Coachella, as well as taking the stage at the GRAMMY Awards this year where they were also nominated for two awards (including Best New Artist).
Katseye will be releasing their third EP, WILD, this summer ahead of their world tour, which reaches Manchester in September.
Tickets will first be on sale via a Weverse Artist Presale from 11am on Wednesday 20 May, followed by the Katseye.World presale from 3pm.
Fans can also register for presale access by pre-ordering Katseye’s new EP WILD or by signing up – no purchase necessary.
General sale will begin at 3pm on Thursday 21 May HERE.
Katseye WILDWORLD Tour – UK and European dates
1 September – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
3 September – London, UK – The O2
6 September – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
9 September – Paris, France – Accor Arena
11 September – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
The Manc Audio -
8th December 2023 
