City centre grassroots music venue The Yard has just announced its new outdoor festival, where you can expect lots of impressive local live music.
Independent and grassroots music venue, The Yard, is known for hosting some of the best gigs, creative events and live music in the city, and this festival is no different.
Titled ‘Stranger Ways’ – if you don’t get that reference, then we don’t know what to tell you – anyone attending can expect to hear music that champions Manchester’s indie spirit, with a lot of local talent represented in the lineup.
Alex Spencer is set to headline day one of Stranger Ways Festival.The Yard is a brilliant venue known for hosting a variety of live music events.Credit: Supplied
This talent has seen praise from the likes of Lady Gaga and The Coral, even getting his track ‘Nightmares’ featured in EA Sports FC25 (FIFA).
They’ve seen massive success this year playing at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this summer and supporting ‘Every Breath You Take’ penman Sting in Cardiff.
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Another of our picks for Manc artists of the month for June, Arkayla. Named after “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991, the band will be stopping by to sing a couple of their hits, too.
The band are already making waves, quite literally, receiving plays from one of the biggest rock radio stations in the UK, Radio X.
Wigan band The Lilacs are set to headline day two of Stranger Ways Festival.Arkayla are one of the headliners for The Yard’s new outdoor festival.Credit: Supplied
And of course this festival falls during Oasis’ massive reunion tour, so it would be rude not to have a tribute act, or two, performing at this outdoor festival – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Carpets and The Oasis Experience.
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Now, as far as tribute bands go, that’s up there with one of the best and quietly clever names we’ve heard since we came across, well… Stranger Ways.
Speaking of Oasis, every ticket purchased for The Yard’s outdoor festival, Stranger Ways, gets entered into a prize draw to win tickets for one of the Burnage boys’ Wembley gigs with an overnight stay.
Stranger Ways Festival is taking place at The Yard across 19 and 20 July – To access the full lineup and grab your tickets, you can find everything you need to know HERE.
Anyone who has managed to bag themselves those precious Oasis tickets is in luck too, as if you can show proof on arrival to The Yard, you can guarantee yourself free entry.
Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)
Gigs & Nightlife
Ticket prices for Take That at Etihad Stadium revealed ahead of The Circus Live Tour
Lilly Boardman
Manchester-formed band Take That are back on tour, with ‘The Circus Live’, a reprise of their 2009 tour of the same name – and ticket prices have just been released.
The trio – Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – are back after nearly 17 years since the original The Circus tour, which became one of the fastest-selling tours in the UK.
The return of The Circus Live Tour gives fans who experienced the first, the opportunity to reminisce and watch the same show more than a decade later, whilst also allowing newer fans to create new memories and witness high-quality live performances from the band.
The original setlist will be performed (with a few surprises along the way), and the trio will have support from The Script (who were support on the 2009 tour) and Belinda Carlisle.
Take That initially announced two nights at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, on 19 and 20 June 2026, before adding a third on 21 June due to phenomenal pre-sale demand – and the best news is, ticket prices have been released.
Tickets for the stadium shows start from £61 (plus booking fee) for seating.
General admission standing is priced at £76 (plus booking fee).
For the ultimate fan experience, you can buy a one of the two packages on offer which include a limited-edition circus inspired gift, a collectible laminate lanyard and exclusive online content.
You can choose between the front standing package costing £200 (plus booking fee) including a front standing ticket or the premium seat package priced at £241 (plus booking fee) which includes a premium reserved seat.
There are also amazing VIP and hospitality tickets available with Seat Unique, which you can check out HERE.
If you missed the presale, the general sale takes place on Friday 26 September at 9.30am HERE.
Villanelle announce Manchester date on special UK/IE university tour
Danny Jones
Emerging rock band Villanelle, fronted by Gene Gallagher, have just announced a new tour of university-backed UK and Ireland venues, including a gig right here in Manchester.
The still relatively rookie group led by the son of legendary Mancunian music icon, Liam Gallagher, is still in its very early days, but the four-piece has already flirted with everything from straightforward indie music to post-punk, grunge and alternative.
Yes, if you were expecting LG‘s youngest son to just be imitating his dad’s sound, you’d be wrong; the impressive fledgling outfit are already carving a creative little space for themselves.
More importantly, they’ve already hit the road plenty of times over the past 12 months or so, including on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour, and now Villanelle are coming back to Manchester once again for a show and one of our most beloved live music spaces: Night and Day.
Join us across the UK on the Punchbag University Tour.
Working with promoters Punchbag, who have created the brand-new ‘Punchbag University Tour’, Villanelle are one of multiple artists joining the inaugural event.
The dedicated uni-sponsored series sees multiple names heading to key grassroots entertainment spots, celebrating up-and-coming talent as well as student culture at large.
Other bands and solo acts taking part in the debut Punchbag uni tour include Florentenes, Bino Bames and Die Twice.
Places getting involved with the shows themselves include the likes of Sidney and Matilda in Sheffield, Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds, Zerox in Newcastle, among many more.
It looks like it’s already shaping up nicely if you ask us.
Once again, Villanelle will be playing iconic Manc music institution Night and Day on Friday, 17 October, which will precede another highly anticipated headline show in the city at The Castle Hotel.
As for the Night and Day gig, it’s actually a place they’ve played before, too.
The boys visited the venue back in November last year and brought a pretty strong die-hard following with them from the off, and have played plenty more support slots around the North since then.
If you’re interested, tickets for all musicians and their respective gigs are on sale now, and they’re being snapped up fast, so click HERE soon if you’re keen on catching any of them.
Whilst you’re here, you might as well stick around and find out what we made of Villanelle’s first full studio release down below.
Thomas Melia -
4th July 2025 
