Anyone hoping to put on the kind of rollicking, rip-roaring party that gets the crowd on its feet can always turn to one dependable event for inspiration: Bongo’s Bingo.
An epic promotion famed for putting a boisterous spin on a centuries-old card-playing game, Bongo’s is – on the surface – absolute mayhem.
Each new party is as rowdy as the last, with excitable toastmasters weighing in between bursts of music, head-slapping dance-offs, and bizarre prize revelations that range from giant unicorns to Henry Hoovers.
But beyond the frenzied stages, winding conga lines and roof-shaking decibels, there’s a team at work making it all tick. The chaos is organised. And the promotion is a phenomenon.
Bongo’s Bingo has, to date, sold over 1.5 million tickets – appearing in 50 countries and over 150 private hire events. A regular stop-off is Manchester – and the responsibility of implementing these crazy shows in the Rainy City has fallen to events company Square Fish.
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Neil Lofthouse – co-founder of the firm alongside his sister Steph – has been working with Bongo’s Bingo for years to make the magic happen at Albert Hall in a previous role.
Their partnership has proven such a success, in fact, that Square Fish has now been chosen to organise bespoke Bongo’s shows that can be booked by organisations for special one-off events.
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Ultimately, this means audiences can enjoy the intense, high-energy atmosphere of a classic Bongo’s night – only with the formula tweaked to fit the occasion.
Square Fish’s mission is to level up the entertainment and tailor shows to the client – whether it’s a private corporate party, conference, awards show or business festival.
Performances run for around two-and-a-half hours, featuring electric rounds of bingo buoyed by Bongo-branded extravagance.
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Neil said that he and his sibling Steph set up the events business to realise their ‘dream’ of running a firm together as a family. Manchester’s synonymy with music made this city the obvious geographic spot to get things going.
Just months after launching, a big name like Bongo’s has put its faith in Square Fish to manage the madness of its local shows.
Neil stated: “Manchester is a city like no other, the industry and people that support it are incredible. Manchester offers it all, from fresh and creative concepts, incredible music, and club scene to a thriving event sector.
“The events industry has been incredibly challenging, especially with the pandemic and the aftermath. We wanted to find a way to keep pushing forward and adapt our offering so we all could come out of the other side – we switched our business model to offer virtual experiences and created Boxspoke the bespoke gifting experience.
“We’ve got a great partnership with Bongo’s now and it’s hugely exciting to work with them.”
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As well as hosting virtual shows for thousands of viewers via Boxspoke and booming live experiences for bonkers crowds at Bongo’s, Square Fish has also established itself as an invaluable asset when it comes to the nuts and bolts of creating events.
The company can curate special lineups to ensure unforgettable shows, with a dedicated team handling all production and concept design work. Square Fish also operates as a ‘Venue Finder’: Helping clients pinpoint the perfect location for events that fit requirements, budget and vision.
The fact that Neil and Steph’s startup has thrived in such testing surroundings is testament to its capabilities – but the founders believe this is only the beginning.
“The future is bright for Square Fish and Manchester,” Neil clarified.
“We are super excited to have grown the team and can’t wait to share exciting upcoming projects very soon.”
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It sounds like the Square Fish parties are only going to get bigger, wilder and more ambitious as we move into 2022. If that sounds like your bag, it’s worth reaching out. A private Bongo’s Bingo is guaranteed to be a night that lives long in the memory.
If you fancy hosting a Bongo’s Bingo show for your business, you can contact Square Fish to talk arrangements via: [email protected].
You can also learn more about Square Fish and what they’re doing for the local events industry via their official website: https://squarefishevents.co.uk/
Gigs & Nightlife
Blossoms deliver most rock and roll performance in years as Declan McKenna joins them on stage
Danny Jones
Last night, we were fortunate enough to be there in the flesh not only to see Blossoms play a special anniversary show in Manchester, but to witness Declan McKenna join them on stage.
A tiny part of us was wondering if we’d see Rick Astley roll out into the venue, but let’s just say we’ll absolutely take this.
Celebrating a decade to the day since the release of the self-titled debut LP – yes, we feel old, too – Blossoms announced the one-off intimate show at The Deaf Institute, a venue they hadn’t played in 12 whole years (good lord…), and it served as much more than a night of nostalgia.
But we’ll admit, the highlight was almost certainly seeing the ‘Brazil’ and ‘British Bombs’ singer join Tom Ogden, Charlie Salt, Josh Dewhurst, Myles Kellock and Joe Donovan on stage for their smallest gig since god knows when.
We’ve gotten somewhat used to seeing the Enfield-born solo artist popping up at random venues across the country and even performing DJ sets at local pubs.
If you haven’t seen that Kylie Minogue clip before, you really need to…
However, we don’t think anyone in the crowd was expecting this cameo, let alone hearing them perform a co-written track off the new record live in front of the audience for the very first time.
As if all of this wasn’t already a bit bonkers and left-field, the song in question, entitled ‘Additional Driver’, was self-admittedly so surprising in SO many ways that Tom felt he needed to explain the full story behind it and why Declan shouted “shoulda got the 192” before they started playing.
Yes, in some kind of Greater Mancunian fever dream, we’ve finally got artists writing lyrics about the region’s most infamous bus route that we’re sure most, if not all of you, can relate to.
But it wasn’t just this moment that had us debating in our heads, ‘are they the best Manc or maybe in Northern band full stop going right now?’, it was seeing them slip so seamlessly back into the more straight-down-the-line indie rock from their first chapter of studio material that did it.
Everyone knows and loves the biggest bangers from that inaugural outing: ‘Getaway’, ‘Charlemagne’, ‘At Most a Kiss’, ‘Honey Sweet’, etc.; but it’s hard to forget just how quintessentially rock and roll tunes like ‘Blow Rose’, ‘Cut Me and I’ll Bleed’, ‘Texia’ and even some of the other deep cuts/early releases are.
Don’t get us wrong, we love how much the dressing up (musically and quite literally) they’ve done over the years as their production, creativity and experimentation has increased, but it’s always hard to beat that feeling you get when finding an artist’s first album – especially one as good as Blossoms‘.
In fairness, listening back to ‘Deep Grass’ all these years later, we’ll still remember how spacey, psychedelic and downright different that intro felt back in the day; it now feels like a fitting end to that maiden outing and the perfect jumping-off point for what has been a real sonic exploration ever since.
For a lad born in SK2 and lucky enough to have seen these lads right from the start, stuff like this will never not feel surreal to me.
Long live ‘Blossoms from Stockport‘, and roll on Songs From The Wedding Cake this October.
Nostalgic rock icons Weezer announce huge arena show in Manchester
Daisy Jackson
Weezer have announced a massive gig in Manchester as part of an upcoming arena tour, celebrating a brand-new album release.
The nostalgic rock icons will be playing at the Co-op Live next spring, alongside gigs in UK cities including Leeds, Newcastle, and Glasgow.
The American rockers have announced The Gathering 2027 World Tour and released the music video for C.E.O, starring Tony Hawk, Curry Barker, and more.
They’ll also be releasing a self-titled new album, Weezer, on 21 August, which Rolling Stone has already called ‘one of the best Weezer albums of this century’.
It’s set to be their 20th (twentieth!!!!) studio album, joining chart-topping records like Make Believe, Maladroit, and the Green Album.
Weezer will be performing hits from their huge back catalogue, including Buddy Holly, Hash Pipe, and Say It Ain’t So.
The huge tour will kick off in the States in February next year before heading across to Japan and Europe.
And Weezer will have some huge support in the form of fellow American rock group, Taking Back Sunday.
Weezer will be performing at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday 25 May, 2026.
You can pre-order the new album from the Weezer webstore before 3pm on Monday 10 August to get pre-sale access.
Then the general sale begins from 10am on Friday 14 August, with tickets on sale HERE.
Weezer, The Gathering World Tour – UK and European dates in full
Wed 12 May – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
Fri 14 May – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena
Sat 25 May – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Mon 17 May – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena
Wed 19 May – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
Fri 21 May – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
Sat 22 May – London, UK – Alexandra Palace
Sun 23 May – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
Tues 25 May – Paris, France – Zenith
Wed 26 May – Amsterdam, The Netherlands – AFAS Live
Daisy Jackson -
1st December 2021 
