Gigs & Nightlife

Stevie Wonder to play landmark Manchester gig as part of UK tour this year

I just called to say Stevie Wonder's going on tour.

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia - 17th March 2025

Living legend Stevie Wonder is heading on a UK tour and stopping off in Manchester for the first time in 15 years.

Manchester has been blessed by the music gods yet again, and this time, it comes in the form of funk pioneer Stevie Wonder.

The 74-year-old musician will be bringing his extraordinary grand piano, exceptional live band, and, of course, his groovy tunes like ‘Superstition’, ‘Isn’t She Lovely’, and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ to our city later this year.

Wonder last visited Manchester in 2010, gracing the AO Arena with his presence, but now he’s visiting Manchester’s newest live music entertainment venue, Co-op Live.

Stevie Wonder will be visiting Co-op Live in Manchester this year / Publicity Picture (via Supplied)

The American-Ghanaian icon has an undisputed legacy.

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He became the youngest solo artist ever to top the Billboard Hot 100 with his 1963 single ‘Fingertips’ at age 13, and has also won the prestigious Album of the Year category at the Grammys three times, as well as taking home 25 awards in total throughout his career.

His 1976 project Songs in the Key of Life was also featured in Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums at number six by esteemed critics and the public alike – a claim that not many have to their name.

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With this 2025 UK tour titled ‘Love, Light & Song’, the Michigan native will be heading to two arenas, Manchester and Birmingham, and taking on various festival performances along the way – including Lytham Festival.

The crowds will be roaring when Stevie Wonder takes to the stage, and rightly so, as this artist has racked up almost 300 weeks in the UK Top 40, with an impressive 39 singles featuring on our charts throughout his career.

He’s an undeniable force, and this show in Manchester is set to be monumental, so ‘Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing’, as you’ll be in for a night of jazz, funk, soul, and everything in between.

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Stevie Wonder will be playing Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday 5 July 2025, with tickets going live this Friday 21 March at 10am HERE.

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Featured Image – PICRYL

Gigs & Nightlife

Gig review | Catfish at Heaton Park, Manchester – are the Bottlemen properly back?

Danny Jones Danny Jones Catfish and the Bottlemen gig review Heaton Park Manchester 2025

10 months on from their last gig and more than a year since they officially ended their hiatus, Catfish and the Bottlemen finally returned to Manchester for a sold-out show at Heaton Park, and while the reviews online have been mixed, we had a blast heading back to the fields again.

Making their Manc comeback just hours before this year’s Parklife Festival got underway, the beloved Welsh band had stirred lots of worry leading up to the day itself and, in truth, even in the moments leading up to (and after) their stage time.

Apart from their huge headline slot at Reading and Leeds, 2024 was the year of cancellations and controversy, so their fans had plenty of reason to be concerned. Nevertheless, we had faith and kept our spirits high, especially with the weather holding out.

Local legends and indie rock veterans James certainly helped on that front, delighting both die-hards watching from up on the hill and younger gig-goers who may have only heard a few of the big hits like ‘Sit Down’ – though they certainly didn’t heed that message, there was merely jumping up and down.

james catfish and the bottlemen heaton park support set
Some great computer-generated imagery backdropped the set.
catfish heaton park reviews
We watched this thing like a hawk.
You can read our recent interview with them HERE. (Credit: Audio North)

Once the main support act had wrapped up their pretty perfectly timed set, we’ll admit, standing on that grass felt like an eternity, especially considering Catfish had us waiting an extra 15 minutes beyond their expected arrival at Heaton Park.

You could call it fashionably late, but in this case, it saw several people around us uttering, ‘they’re not coming on any time soon’, and some even beginning to walk off.

However, they did eventually arrive just over a quarter of an hour past schedule, and the eruption of cheers from the crowd and a fair few screams from those nearest the barrier signalled what summed up the entire night: we were just so happy to have them back.

Even more notably, in fact, the boys themselves looked to be equally as buzzing, with bassist Benji Blakeway and ever-charismatic frontman Van McCann embracing each other before the opener and the latter flashing that familiar grin all night long.

We’ve heard people debating the sound quality and taking issue with parts of Van’s performance, but we’ll just leave this here and let you decide for yourselves:

One thing’s for sure: the energy was immaculate from start to finish.

From kicking things off with ‘Longshot’ for a limb-worthy intro, to hearing a fully acoustic version of ‘Hourglass’ as the lead singer stood alone on the dramatically lit main stage, soon to be followed up by a plethora of Parklife acts, we’d wager you they’ll remain a tough act to follow all weekend.

Other highlights included an entire park’s worth of people belting every word to ‘Kathleen’, ‘Fallout’, ‘Pacifier’ and pretty much every track they played, as well Van having the crowd repeat the chorus of ‘Cocoon’ as he hung up his guitar from the stand to deliver an ice-old mic drop.

We would’ve loved to hear a fuller set filled with the extended live versions of ‘Oxygen’, ‘Heathrow’ and ‘Glasgow’ too, especially given how many sections of pure instrumentation felt like they were going to transition into another track, but you can’t have everything, I guess.

manchester and the bottlemen flag
Inflatable crocodiles and cracking flags
van mccann manchester heaton park
Credit: The Manc Group
catfish and the bottlemen photos
Eyes and arms wide open
We’re here to urge you not to be drawn in by TikTok reviews – as far as we’re concerned, Catfish were made to headline Heaton Park.

Sure, there might have been a few minor fluffed vocal notes and slightly over-lengthy solos here and there, but after all, it’s a rock show: we want a bit of mess.

The same goes for Van McCann himself, too; we worry that people are starting to forget what a proper rockstar is, and we’re not talking about contriving some kind of Hollywood lifestyle, but certainly getting lost in the music and trashing your guitar so hard that your face is draped in nothing but hair and sweat? Absolutely.

All in all, we think Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s massive outdoor show at Manchester’s Heaton Park and de facto ‘comeback after the last comeback’ was a triumph and even when they’re not absolutely 10/10, they’re still bloody good value live.

As for the question of ‘are they back?’ We think so and certainly hope that ‘Showtime’ wasn’t just released as a way of signalling fans to come along for one last ride before the final curtain call.

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Featured Images — Audio North

Gigs & Nightlife

Parklife 2025 stage times and stage splits for Saturday 14 June

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Stage times have been confirmed for Parklife 2025 Saturday

Parklife festival is officially underway for another year, with the massive Heaton Park event confirming stage times and stage splits for all of this year’s headliners.

With major performances from Charli XCX, 50 Cent, Bicep, Jorja Smith and Confidence Man (plus loads, loads more), it’s the biggest party in Manchester’s cultural calendar.

This year’s festival takes place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June with tens of thousands of people flocking up to north Manchester.

While the forecast is looking a little damp for day one of the festival, that’s never exactly stopped the party spirit for Parklife.

So without further ado, let’s get to planning your Parklife weekend – here are the stage times for Saturday.

Parklife stage times – Saturday 14 June

The Valley

12:00 – 14:15 – Rich Reason & YAMI
14:45 – 15:15 – JD Cliffe
15:45 – 16:30 – Antony Szmierek
17:00 – 17:45 – FLO
18:15 – 19:15 – Rudim3ntal
20:00 – 20:45 – Jorja Smith
21:30 – 22:45 – 50 Cent

The Hangar

12:00 – 13:45 – Nautica
13:45 – 15:30 – Joëlla Jackson
15:30 – 17:00 – Obskür
17:00 – 18:30 – Rossi.
18:30 – 20:00 – Max Dean
20:00 – 21:30 – Mochakk
21:30 – 23:00 – PAWSA

Matinée

12:00 – 13:00 – Leaha
13:00 – 14:20 – Faster Horses
14:20 – 15:40 – sim0ne
15:40 – 17:00 – MALUGI
17:00 – 18:30 – Interplanetary Criminal
18:30 – 20:00 – KI/KI
20:00 – 21:30 – Partiboi69
21:30 – 23:00 – Alex Farell

Magic Sky

12:00 – 13:30 – Niamh
13:30 – 15:00 – Inafekt
15:00 – 16:30 – Beccs Vernon
16:30 – 18:15 – Kyle Starkey
18:15 – 20:00 – Morgan Seatree
20:00 – 21:30 – Steve Angello

Big Top

12:00 – 13:45 – Hold Tight DJs
13:45 – 14:45 – Saint Ludo
14:45 – 15:45 – Champion
15:45 – 16:45 – Surusinghe
16:45 – 17:45 – 4am Kru
17:45 – 18:45 – Y U QT
18:45 – 19:45 – Skream & Benga
19:45 – 20:45 – Joy Orbison
20:45 – 21:45 – NOTION
22:00 – 23:00 – salute presents True Vision

G Stage

12:00 – 13:20 – OBP (Jelsen b2b Stocked Up b2b Simmo)
13:20 – 14:40 – Murphy’s Law
14:40 – 16:00 – Enzo Is Burning
16:00 – 17:20. – L.P. Rhythm
17:20 – 18:40 – Paige Tomlimson
18:40 – 20:00 – Chaos In The CBD
20:00 – 21:30 – Luuk Van Dijk
21:30 – 23:00 – Sally C

For more, download the official Parklife app.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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