When you think of Manchester music, you probably think Oasis, The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and not quite the pop and Clubland-style bangers of the 90s and 00s. And really, we wouldn’t blame you.
But there are a ton or artists to come out of our great city, aside from the bucket hat wearing Madchester crowd, too with pop, dance, garage and house tracks from back in the day that are still played now.
So, here’s a selection of oldies, goldies and a couple of newbies to unlock the nostalgia of those forgotten nights and festival moments. Scroll to the playlist at the bottom to listen to them all.
LMC vs. U2 – Take Me to the Clouds Above
Forever a summer anthem in our eyes, the 2004 hit ‘Take Me to The Clouds Above’ by Manchester trio LMC was the most played track on UK radio at the time of its release. It peaked at number one in the UK charts for two consecutive weeks.
The song is actually a mash up of Whitney Houston’s 1986 hit ‘How Will I Know’ with a sample of U2’s ‘With or Without You’, which most people don’t know. Nor Whitney Houston or U2 were ever present when the song was recorded, but U2 are still listed as one of the song’s artists.
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it became LMC’s most popular track of their own. But they’ve since produced for the likes of Avicii, Jessie J, New Order, Craig David and Jackson 5 – a seriously diverse catalogue if you ask me.
Sweet Female Attitude – Flowers
Sweet Female Attitude.
When Manchester duo Sweet Female Attitude released this garage classic in 2000, it landed itself in the top 40 biggest selling songs of the year and was awarded platinum certification with more than 600,000 sales and streams.
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It’s experienced a resurgence in more recent years though, with multiple covers and samples bringing it back into our lives thanks to DJ Spoony, the Sugababes and by Nathan Dawe and Jaykae.
Unfortunately for them, it was dubbed a bit of a ‘one hit wonder’. But what a hit to bow out with.
JP Cooper & Jonus Blue – Perfect Strangers
Jonas Blue’s huge track ‘Perfect Strangers’ featuring vocals from JP Cooper went platinum in 2016 and Cooper’s solo single ‘September Song’ followed. You know them both too well, you couldn’t escape them on the radio – and you could probably instinctively still sing along to every word.
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But, did you know JP is Mancunian?
Born and raised in little old Middleton, now the soulful singer boasts a whopping 11.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Go on, lad, for representing the boroughs.
Dario G – Sunchyme
Okay, Dario G actually formed in Cheshire but we’ll let that slide because it’s a banger. This summery one, ‘Sunchyme’, was the debut single from electronic music trio, released in 1997.
Now just one of the original members remain, Paul Spencer. He’s recently made a comeback in the charts working with the likes of Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne on his 2020 album, ‘Hola’ which got to number 3 in the UK Dance Album chart.
A proper summer classic. If you don’t think about drinking cocktails on a European beach whilst listening to this, there’s something wrong with you.
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Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl
Forming whilst at Manchester Uni in the late 80s, the Chemical Brothers rose to fame in the 90s to become some of the ultimate pioneers of electronic music. The absolute belter that is ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ came in 1999, and remains (arguably) one of the most iconic dance tracks to grace the UK charts.
M People – Moving On Up
This one needs no introduction. The soulful sounds of M People have been around since 1990. You only need to hear the intro to ‘Moving On Up’ and it’ll be stuck in your head all day – oops, sorry.
But the name M People is taken from the first letter of the first name of band member Mike Pickering, who over the years has also become synonymous with the Haçienda years. Whilst in December 2016, Billboard ranked them as the 83rd most successful dance artist of all time with over 11 million records sold worldwide.
N-Trance – Set You Free
Dance group N-Trance.
Originating in Oldham, N-Trance were one of the biggest-selling UK dance artists of the 90s and the legendary song ‘Set You Free’ is a certified clubland banger.
N-Trance’s Kevin O’Toole has said the song was inspired by a night out at the Haçienda a couple of years prior to producing the song. The first release of it only made it to number 39 in the Top 40 UK Charts in 1994 though. But a re-release in 1995 gave it a bump all the way to number 2. And rightly so because this is iconic stuff.
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K-Klass – Rhythm Is A Mystery
K-Klass met in the 1980s at The Haçienda. They soon became known for their remixes of popular songs like . But the first hit of their own was ‘Rhythm Is A Mystery’ in 1991. It sort of flopped when it was first released, however upon a re-release later that year, it charted at number 3 un the UK singles chart.
Calvin Harris & Alesso – Under Control ft. Hurts
If this doesn’t bring back clubbing memories amongst the under 30s, then nothing will. Hurts provide the vocals on this monster dance track ‘Under Control’ produced by Calvin Harris and Alesso.
Made up of vocalist Theo Hutchcraft and instrumentalist Adam Anderson, Hurts formed in Manchester more than 10 years ago. And their debut album ‘Happiness’ in 2010 achieved platinum states thirteen times over across Europe.
Ben Pearce – What I Might Do
The debut single from Manchester producer Ben Pearce went straight to the top of Beatport’s Deep House chart. If you frequented the clubs on Deansgate Locks circa 2013, ‘What I Might Do’ one was played on repeat so this surely has to bring back some memories of £2 vodka and Red Bulls. This deep house track with bluesy vocals was – and still is – a personal fave.
Have a listen to them all below!
Featured image: Chemical Brothers/Getty Image Archive
Music
Katy Perry at AO Arena, Manchester – stage times, setlist, tickets and more
Daisy Jackson
Katy Perry will be playing a huge arena show here in Manchester this week, with a sold-out night at the AO Arena imminent.
The popstar is bringing her The Lifetimes Tour, which features an extravaganza of props and pyrotechnics, to town on Wednesday 8 October.
The Roar singer will be heading to the AO Arena this week, alongside shows in Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham and London.
Whether you’re going to watch hits like ‘California Gurls’, ‘Hot ‘N’ Cold’ or excited for the newer tracks like ‘I’m His, He’s Mine’, it’s sure to be one of the biggest gigs to hit the legendary arena all year.
Perry has the second most Diamond-certified singles in for a female artist in the U.S, four guiness world records and five UK number one hits.
Her latest album ‘143’, which is a numeric synonym of ‘I love you’ and the singer’s angel number, came out last year and stormed straight into the top 10 on the UK album charts.
If you’re heading to Katy Perry at the AO Arena tonight, we’ve rounded up all your essential information.
Stage times for Katy Perry at the AO Arena
The AO Arena hasn’t yet confirmed exact stage times for tonight’s show, but we do have enough information to give you a good estimate.
Doors will open at 6pm, with a show start of 7.45pm.
That will mean the support act should wrap up around 8.15pm and Katy Perry is likely to take to the stage between 8.30pm and 8.45pm.
For her Manchester show, Katy Perry will be supported by singer-songwriter Goldie Boutilier.
Goldie, who has also performed under monikers Kay, My Name Is Kay, and Goldilox during her career, will be joining Katy on most of her UK dates, before handing over the reins to Au/Ra and then Becky Hill.
Tickets for Katy Perry at the AO Arena
Katy Perry has completely sold out the AO Arena with The Lifetimes Tour, with no general tickets left at all.
However, there are a few tickets remaining on Ticketmaster’s resale platform, which are priced between £78.73 and £131.18 each.
Expected setlist
Katy has split her show into sections she’s calling ‘Levels’, as a nod to the video game inspiration behind the tour.
Each one is absolutely packed with pop bangers, as you’d expect.
Here’s the latest setlist from her most recent show in Glasgow.
Level 1: Artificial
ARTIFICIAL
Chained to the Rhythm
Teary Eyes
Dark Horse
Level 2: Woman’s World
WOMAN’S WORLD
California Gurls
Teenage Dream
Hot n Cold
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
Peacock
I Kissed a Girl
Level 3: Nirvana
NIRVANA
CRUSH
I’M HIS, HE’S MINE
Wide Awake
Level 3.5: Choose Your Own Adventure (fan requests)
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station, and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
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Getting there by car and parking
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces, including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
Manc music legends James announce MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.