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.
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.
PlayStation ‘The Concert’ is coming to Manchester’s Co-op Live next year
Danny Jones
Coming to Manchester and the rest of the world for the very first time, PlayStation™ ‘The Concert’ descends upon the Co-op Live in 2025.
The industry-leading entertainment venue is the largest of its kind in Europe and is already welcoming a whole host of incredible events in its first full calendar year, with countless gigs, the UFC, WWE Live and even Salford poet John Cooper Clarke set to play the arena.
But now Co-op Live is expanding its debut programme with even more variety, including Sony and PlayStation’s ‘The Concert’ World Tour, which will see live orchestras perform some of the platform’s most soundtracks in front of your very eyes.
Landing in Manchester next April, this is one of just six UK dates named as part of the landmark new show and whether you love gaming or simply enjoy a good movie/TV score, this one is for you.
Kicking off in Dublin, it does exactly what it says on the tin: each evening will see the music and soundscapes from some of the most iconic games ever made brought to life by fully-fledged live orchestras like never before.
Bolstered by a state-of-the-art sound system and the level of high-fidelity visuals gamers have come to expect from Sony Entertainment and generations of PlayStation titles, they’re promising a groundbreaking experience.
The first iteration of this live event came with an initial one-off event at the Royal Albert Hall back in 2018 and after growing concept and production value since then, PlayStation The Concert is now coming to over 200 different cities around the globe.
An innovative multi-screen design, combining advanced LED and projection technologies, will enhance the event and deliver the most iconic moments and imagery from these games. Coupled with surround sound, the show delivers breathtaking visual and audio depth, creating an immersive experience that will allow the audience to relive their gaming adventures like never before.
Set to deliver legendary scores from composers like Gustavo Santaolalla (The Last of Us), Joris De Man (Horizon), Ilan Eshkeri (Ghost of Tsushima), and Bear McCreary of the rebooted God of War franchise will reach new heights, offering fans a unique, deeply immersive live concert experience.
An example of the iconic PlayStation sounds you’ll see played in person.
2025’s PlayStation The Concert world tour starts its British leg in Birmingham before arriving here in Manchester on 22 April.
General admission tickets for the tour go on live this Friday, 18 October at 3pm but, as per with events at this venue, Co-op Members can access pre-sale from today (Wed, 16 October).
VIP packages are also available. You can get ready to grab yours HERE.
Featured Images — Supplied/PlayStation/Sony/The Manc Group
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Blossoms and Rick Astley combine to deliver one of the coolest Live Lounges in ages
Danny Jones
Let’s start this off by clearing something up: we’re by no means saying that there haven’t been good appearances in the Live Lounge of late but, in terms of the calibre of covers to have ever graced BBC Radio, this Blossoms and Rick Astley collab is one of the best we’ve heard in years.
Blossoms and Rick Astley have become firm friends and have performed together on multiple occasions in recent times – most famously performing a number of The Smiths classics back in 2021 – so it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when we saw him joining them at the Radio 1 studios earlier this week.
The Newton-le-Willows-born singer even featured in videos as well as promo clips for their latest album Gary, which went straight to number one back in September, and now his latest crossover comes in one of the coolest little remixes the Live Lounge has been given for a while.
Please enjoy Charli XCX‘s ‘360’, the lead single from her smash-hit record, Brat, bleeding seamlessly into ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust.
Really, is this Blossoms with Rick Astley covering 'The Music Sounds Better With You'?
The first time we saw this clip reposted on social we didn’t even know Rick was going to pop up towards the end but boy are we glad we did it.
After Blossoms frontman Tom Odgen delivers his pared-down performance of one electronic pop song, the 59-year-old effortlessly sidles up to sing the other, even putting a bit of gruff behind that chorus.
With Josh Dewhurst blending the two tracks perfectly with that instantly recognisable little guitar riff, it’s like the listener gets that exciting moment of realising where the remixed cover is going – a feeling we’ve not had from a Live Lounge session in some time.
Not only does it work as a split but it also works because those key tones and the simple but catchy acoustic progression running throughout do feel very Blossoms, and if there’s one thing that outlines a great BBC Radio Live Lounge it’s an artist covering an iconic track whilst still sounding like themselves.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t even the first time the Stockport boys have nailed a Live Lounge performance as their 2017 cover of ‘In Da Club’ by 50 Cent still live rent-free in our heads too.
We really enjoyed their performance of their ‘Perfect Me’, ‘There’s A Reason Why’ and ‘I Like Your Look’ on the day too and the whole session served as yet another reminder of how the local lads really are on top form.
It also begs the question: are they up there with the best Live Loungers ever?…
You can watch the rest of Blossoms‘ Live Lounge performances over the years down below: