Royal Blood’s 2023 has been defined by two things: releasing yet another brilliant record in their fourth studio album, Back to the Water Below, and p*ssing off an entire crowd at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, not to mention even more people watching back home with their viral antics.
With that in mind, we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to feel or what this audience was going to be like before we stepped foot inside the O2 Apollo, but we can confirm the whole storm in a teacup has now well and truly blown over and we didn’t care one bit once they started playing.
The second we heard Mike Kerr’s bass being ripped like both rhythm and lead guitar at the same time, and the pure ‘oomph’ of Ben Thatcher’s unmistakable drum-playing, we completely forgot that they slightly upset the music world just a few months ago and remembered one thing: they’re rockstars and we’ve seen plenty worse.
This was the story of Royal Blood’s return to Manchester and their gig at the legendary venue on Friday night as Storm Babet hit the region — and it was fitting really, given that their set featured ‘Typhoons’, ‘Trouble’s Coming’ and lyrics like “crashed down in a hurricane” in ‘Ten Tonne Skeleton’.
Royal Blood played the AO Arena in Manchester last year but looked at home in the Apollo (Credit: The Manc Group)
Even before we knew what we were in for, the surprisingly dramatic duo delivered a proper entrance, walking out to the iconic theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, which was then followed up by an impressive light show that we’ll admit caught us by surprise and really did something epic to the atmosphere throughout.
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It didn’t take long for fans to get off their feet as they kicked the show off with recent single and album opener, ‘Mountains at Midnight’, before the pits started opening up as they got stuck into fan favourites such as ‘Boilermaker’, ‘Loose Change’, ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’, ‘Out of the Black’ and so on.
It’s been a while since we’ve been to a proper rager at the Apollo, so we’re glad that the place is still more than capable of whipping up frenzies like that. We were concerned that there wasn’t much movement during the support act but that’s always the gamble you make with the warm-ups.
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That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy them, by the way; Hot Wax were more than a pleasant surprise with arguably more overall energy on stage than the main event. Although it was clear the vast majority of the crowd were unaware of them prior to the gig, you’d be a fool to not go away and listen to more.
Once you were in the pit, there was no coming out.
With plenty of frenetic on-stage presence and more than enough confidence to remind you they’d be having just as much fun if the crowd wasn’t there, they felt plenty post-punk, a bit funk thanks to the basslines and modern enough thanks to some more intricate strum that made sure they didn’t feel like an old hat throwback.
In a word, they were great; we liked them a lot and it didn’t take long for us to realise why they were a good fit to support Royal Blood, boasting the same ability to go big with their sound using just three instruments as Mike and Ben do with just two.
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And that summed up the night as a whole, to be honest: a total of five musicians (six if you include the headliner’s session player who dipped in on a fair few songs) making a frankly ridiculous amount of noise between them — far more than a trio and just a pair of blokes should feasibly be able to make.
That’s the one thing that, regardless of whatever you think of them post-controversy, has always stunned us about Royal Blood. How do a frontman whose main instrument is a bass guitar and just one drummer make such explosive sounds between them and get people like thrashing like they were a full-fledged five-piece rock band?
We ended up being swept into various different parts of the crowd — always a good sign.
One thing’s for sure, they are well and truly in their ‘rockstar’ era right now, whether you like what comes with that or not. Mike might be four years sober now, with both he and Ben looking more svelte and stylish on stage — not only physically but in their overall presence — but they now look and feel like graduated performers who can command a crowd with a lot more authority than they did when they burst onto the scene with their debut in 2014.
And perhaps that’s why the Big Weekend moment went the way it did; these two are seasoned pros now and have earned a lot of plaudits in the genre over the past decade, so to find yourself playing to nearly 80,000 people who were mainly there to see pop acts probably felt like a loss of control and their frustration came out in the wrong way — even they’ve admitted that.
But that wasn’t the case at the Apollo. As the gig reached its crescendo with ‘Figure It Out’ and Ben stood atop a speaker and began conducting the crowd before jumping into it and preparing them for one last mosh as Mike kept the riff going, it was clear they were back in control and the audience in the palm of their hands.
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Now that’s how you get people back on-side: by simply going out there, making a big old racket and leaving the gig-goers to do the rest. We all know there’s no place that guarantees that more than right here in Manchester.
Royal Blood polished off their return with a big finish.
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.