Thirty-something years after they first met at the University of Manchester, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands, better known by their legendary electronic alias, The Chemical Brothers, returned to where it all began to kick off the Halloween weekend at the AO Arena.
Spending their formative years in the midst of the ‘Madchester‘scene, the globally renowned group got the ball rolling on their DJ career by showcasing their skills and enthusiasm for acid house and techno at house parties across the city and former club nights like Naked Under Leather at the long since closed Old Steam Brewery on Oxford Road.
For the pair of precocious producers, it was their uni days when they reached their music maturity; fast forward 30 years and here we are: ten studio albums and six Grammy Awards later, waiting for them to emerge from the smoke in a venue with equally iconic status.
With the arena floor filled from back to front and fans packed shoulder to shoulder across both tiers, the big-beat dance duo launched into a sensational set with two of their biggest hits, ‘Go’ and ‘Do It Again‘, signalling to the crowd that there’s been no slowing down even after all these years.
The Chemical Brothers made their Manchester homecoming gig at the AO Arena one to remember (Credit: The Manc Group)
In typical Chemical Brothers style, the visuals accompanying the music helped create a fully immersive audio-visual experience and almost alternate reality — at least for a couple of hours, anyway.
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With Japanese-inspired dancing figures, painted ominous faces and mesmerising artwork splashed across gigantic screens, lasers flying across the audience and disco balls sending blinding beams of light in every direction, there was mind-bending pageantry with every track.
Stopping halfway through their practically pulverizing set, the superstar DJs turn up the lights and raise their hands in worship of the loyal fan base they’ve built over the past three decades.
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The former Glastonbury headliners went on to showcase some material from their new album, For That Beautiful Feeling, seamlessly blending new and old tracks and reinforcing the fact that regardless of age or the electronic scene looking very different these days, they are still well and truly at the very top of their game.
WARNING: FLASHING LIGHTS — and lots of them.
A massive room full of ravers celebrating one of the best to ever do it.
After grooving their way through two hours of psychedelic visuals, deafening bass and plenty of reverb, 28,000 sore eardrums made their way to the exit already wondering when The Chemical Brothers will make their next homecoming appearance.
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One thing’s for sure, you’ll find us first in line next time they do.
If you ever wanted to learn more about how these two legends of the genre got their start and how Manchester served as their proving ground all the way back at the beginning, you can check our recent interview with Ed Simons himself, who made it apparent just how much love they still have for this city.
And last but not least, be sure to keep up to date with all the latest Manchester music news over on The Manc Audio.
Richard Ashcroft teases long-awaited return with new music
Danny Jones
Local music legend Richard Ashcroft has teased his return to the studio after seemingly teasing new music on social media.
The Wigan icon remains one of the most revered Greater Manchester musicians around, from his years as The Verve frontman to his much-celebrated solo stuff.
However, it’s been a while since we’ve heard new music from Ashcroft, with his most recent release coming in the form of an acoustic collection of classics back in 2021; his last album, Natural Rebel, came out nearly seven whole years ago.
With that in mind, when we hopped on social media to see that the ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ and ‘Lucky Man’ singer had uploaded a number of posts along with a date, it’s fair to say we got rather giddy.
The lyricist with the most luscious lips in the game.New Richard Ashcroft music looks to be on the way. (Credit: Richard Ashcroft via X)
Beginning the tease campaign earlier this month, Ashcroft posted nothing but the date “22.05.2025” on his X account, leaving fans scrambling around to try and dig up more details.
Then, shared just two days later, a glowing image of his face was revealed along with an identical caption in what looks to be a snapshot from a new music video, perhaps?
Sure enough, we got the left-hand image of that instantly recognisable pout on Monday, 19 May, accompanied not only by that same date and the ‘Lover’.
Although it’s still unclear as to whether this is the name of/album artwork for a long-awaited seventh studio LP or merely the title of a new lead single from whatever his next project is, all we know is Britpop fans are buzzing – us included.
We were already stoked to hear him confirmed as one of the support acts for the upcoming Oasis reunion shows late last year, and now there’s the prospect of hearing him play new material, we literally cannot wait for the summer.
The 53-year-old’s discography is rich enough as it is, but it feels like we’ve waited forever for a new record; that being said, we really do hope we’re getting ‘RA7’.
Regardless, Ashcroft has never disappointed on the live stage, with his landmark homecoming shows at Robin Park being nothing short of a massive deal for the town.
Here’s hoping we get a full album and a UK tour with plenty of Northern dates to boot. We don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Guess we’ll find out Thursday, 22 May.
Where does he rank among your favourite Manc musicians?
Flash sale launches with two-for-one tickets to some of Manchester’s biggest gigs
Thomas Melia
Two upcoming Manchester gigs are having a flash sale where you can get your hands on some very limited 2 for 1 tickets.
The two biggest arenas in Manchester are hosting exclusive discounts on two of the biggest upcoming Manchester gigs.
If you’re after tickets to Co-op Live’s offering you’ll have to act fast as they have a legend in attendance, quite literally, as John Legend is set to take to the stage on Thursday 29 May.
It’s a very special gig for the singer-songwriter as he celebrates 20 years of ‘Get Lifted’ where Mr. Legend will be playing tracks from his debut album like ‘Ordinary People’, sprinkling in more hits too.
AO Arena are also running a limited 2 for 1 ticket discount and we’re certain it’s about to get ‘Hot In Herre’ as St. Louis MC Nelly brings his UK tour to this very stage along with a troupe of famous stars.
Anyone interested in finding ‘Where The Party At’ doesn’t have to look much further than Saturday 7 June when Nelly brings his tour to Manchester with Eve, St. Lunatics, Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous.
Co-op Live is running a limited 2 for 1 offer on John Legend tickets.AO Arena have a 2 for 1 flash sale on tickets to see Nelly and special guests.Credit:Publicity Picture (via Supplied) / Flickr
‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’ because these tickets are too good to pass on especially when you get the opportunity to see all these rap legends under the same roof for less than three figures at £90.
And we’re giving you the ‘Green Light’ about John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ when we say these 2 for 1 tickets total at £70, It’s ‘Written In The Stars’.
Anyone after 2 for 1 tickets for John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ can find this exclusive running until 28 May HERE.
And there’s no ‘Dilemma’ in sight as you can get 2 for 1 tickets to see Nelly and his music crew on their ‘Where The Party At’ tour HERE.
The Manc Audio -
28th October 2023 
