Manchester musician Robbie Cavanagh is set to release his third studio album at the end of this month – and he’s announced a homecoming gig at Band on the Wall to celebrate.
The artist, recipient of the Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award, will be performing at the iconic gig venue on Thursday 18 May.
It’s ahead of the release of Tough Love, which is due for release on Friday 26 May. Robbie and his band have announced a pair of very special live shows, the first of which will be in the newly-refurbished Bar room of Band on the Wall.
This homecoming gig will be a celebration of his history with the city, from trips to see the family’s beloved Manchester City to discovering the joys of live music around our many gig venues.
Robbie now lives in the city centre and is a familiar face on the stages of The Blues Kitchen, The Castle and Gullivers, alongside a whole host of other venues he has performed in regularly over the past 10 years.
Robbie, who has lived and worked around Manchester his whole life, says he’s a devotee of ‘real music’. That means great musicians, real instruments, and performances packed with emotion.
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He says he’s in the game to create ‘fine dining music’.
‘Tough Love’ will come as a grittier and stronger-minded letter to himself and to anyone who may need a touch of tough love.
Robbie has written his album over the last five years, creating a record of ‘country tinged americana with british blood running through its veins’.
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Robbie Cavanagh
While creating this latest release, he went on a journey of self-reflection and maturity, which is reflected in each track.
It’s a contrast to his previous 2017 album ‘To Leave/To Be Left’, which grappled with emotions of loss and self-pity from leaving or being left behind.
Over the years, Robbie Cavanagh has received huge nods of approval from the likes of Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 (“One of my absolute favourite UK grassroots artists”) and BBC Radio Manchester, Absolute Country Radio and Chris Country Radio.
He and his band have also taken to the stage at festivals like Kendal Calling, Wilderness, Black Deer, Cornbury, Silverstone Woodlands, Americana Fest UK & USA, British Country Music Festival, Maverick, and Buckle & Boots.They’ve performed in the UK, Europe and USA alongside artists including The Shires, Us The Duo, Charlie Winston, Wildwood Kin, Ferris & Sylvester, The Wandering Hearts, Mary Gauthier, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Fiona Bevan, Cale Tyson, and Aaron Lee Tasjan.
After their show at Band on the Wall, Robbie and his band will make their way down to London to perform at Pizza Express’s intimate underground live venue in Holborn, a very special show hosted by ‘Nashville Meets London’, on 24 May.
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Tickets for Robbie Cavanagh’s gig at Band On The Wall on 18 May are on sale now with See Tickets.
Robbie Cavanagh 2023 tour dates
18 May – Band On The Wall, Manchester
24 May – Nashville Meets London
9 June – Thorington Theatre, Suffolk
23 July – Coolham Music Club
25 August – The Long Road Festival, Lutterworth
3 September – The British Country Music Festival, Blackpool
Plus more UK live dates to be announced for autumn 2023.
Featured image: supplied
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Daisy Jackson -
6th May 2023 
