A brand new gig venue with a late-night bar and restaurant and a plunge pool is opening in Manchester city centre next month.
Canvas will throw open the doors to its ‘next-generation’ music venue at the new Circle Square development just off Oxford Road.
The new three-storey hangout will have live music, club nights, a members’ lounge, and a bar and restaurant open until 4am, seven days a week.
It comes from the team behind two legendary London venues, The Pickle Factory and Oval Space, as well as the MAMA Group, which operated Lovebox and Wilderness festivals as well as the Manchester Ritz, G-A-Y and Hammersmith Apollo.
Canvas comes from the team behind Oval Space in London. Credit: Supplied
Canvas will also welcome creative music, art, wellness and technology programmes.
The 600-capacity gig space itself will host live concerts, album launches and listening parties.
It will be kitted out with cutting-edge technology to deliver a world-class sound and visual experience, with video mapping and projectors enveloping audiences.
Canvas will host panel talks for members. Credit: Supplied
It hopes to create a ‘blank space’ for emerging and underground talent.
The Canvas members’ lounge will invite members to participate in events, panel discussions and wellness classes, and will host some of Manchester’s most enterprising young professionals.
Later this summer, a plunge pool and sauna will be added for members to find their own serenity in the city.
At Your Beat dance classes will take place in a dark room filled with colourful lights and pumping tunes.
Memberships will be held in the form of a Canvas token (an NFT) which will include benefits like free access to gigs and club nights, discounts on food and drink, and part-ownership of the members’ club platform.
They’re priced at £15 per month for under 30s, with a different option for older members.
A food and drink lounge will serve global small plates – curated by Miam Miam Glou Glou – all day, before switching to a late night bar after 10.30pm.
Diners can expect breakfasts like the Persian (Merguez sausage, hummus, spinach, harissa and poached egg) and the Cali (avocado, chilli, lime and egg) with sides of fresh juices, breakfast cocktails and health shots.
The rest of the day, small plates will incorporate dishes including sumac lamp chops, disco fries, and Korean barbecued chicken, plus slow-cooked chicken thighs, steak bavette, and road plum duck leg.
It will also serve sandwiches between 12pm and 5pm every day.
Cocktails will champion ‘a new breed of bartending’, like the Jasmine Margarita (El Jimador Blanco, Muyu Jasmine, silver needle and citrus), the Jungle Bird (Bacardi Cuatro, Appleton 8, Campari, pineapple, galangal and tamarind cordial) and Cafe Torino (Mr Black Coffee Amaro, Martini Rubino and soda).
Dean James, co-owner and co-founder, said: “We’re thrilled to finally open our doors at Canvas. With authenticity at the forefront of everything we do, our key ambition is to provide the most innovative space where emerging music and new talent can grow.
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“We’re incredibly proud of our diverseness; in both what we do and who we are – from our growing Canvas community, right through to our teams.
“By giving people a platform to share and collaborate, Canvas has a really unique way of bringing together artists and audiences from underrepresented backgrounds. We try hard to avoid being polarised – I think it’s this passion that keeps us ahead of the curve and relevant to what our communities actually want adjoin to.
“Through the development of Canvas membership programmes, our long-term vision is to forge an environment that young creatives and grass-roots talent are not only excited to be a part of, but we also hope that they share in a sense of ownership with us too.”
Featured image: Supplied
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Country star Tyler Childers is coming to town for his biggest Manchester show to date
Danny Jones
US country music star Tyler Childers is returning to Manchester for his biggest ever show in this city, and tickets go on sale very soon.
Fresh off the back of his new album, Snipe Hunter – which was only just dropped back in July – the 34-year-old singer-songwriter is riding a fresh wave of excitement after years of hard work within the genre, mixing in plenty of classic bluegrass and folk into his modern take on the classic American sound.
As one of the most-streamed and well-respected contemporary country musicians on the scene right now, the Kentucky-born solo star and understated acoustic guitarist often falls into that category of your favourite artist’s favourite artist.
Now Tyler Childers is coming to our most legendary arena as part of his UK and European tour early next year, and we’ll certainly be queuing online for tickets.
As far as AO Arena shows booked in for the new year go, we’re very excited about this one.
His seventh studio album has been well-received by his die-hard followers and newcomers alike, delivering that same traditional Appalachian storytelling and hard-bitten humour, as well as plenty of attitude and anecdotal idiosyncrasies, not to mention plenty of vocal range as always.
Having not long come back from a pilgrimage to India, Lawrence County king teamed up with legendary producer Rick Rubin (along with some help from Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn) to create one of his most eye-opening, broad and best records yet.
Post-release, the Associated Press went on to label him “one of country music’s most compelling and unpredictable artists”, and we tend to agree.
The LP immediately spawned plenty of fan favourites, and we certainly have ours – and the video has definitely had a hand in it:
It may just be his best work yet.
Experimenting with his current unique take on country rock sound more than ever, you couldn’t ask for a better time to go and see him live.
Once again, Tyler Childers comes to the AO Arena in Manchester on Sunday, 8 March 2026, with an official pre-sale available via Three+ from 9am on Wednesday, 10 September.
As for general admission, tickets go live at the same time on the following Friday (12 Sep); you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
We don’t know about you, but we’re very much enjoying our country moment at the minute…
Lil Baby cancels entire European tour including Manchester Co-op Live date
Daisy Jackson
A major act at Co-op Live has cancelled their gig today, just weeks ahead of their scheduled appearance.
Rapper Lil Baby has called off his entire European tour, which included a massive gig here in Manchester.
Fans have been notified via email that the shows will no longer be going ahead.
The Grammy award-winning artist was set to play the Co-op Live on Friday 26 September as part of his WHAM World Tour.
But Lil Baby will no longer be performing in Manchester – along with cancelled shows in London and across Europe – due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’.
A statement from AXS sent to fans said: “The event organisers have been in touch to let us know that due to unforeseen circumstances, Lil Baby’s performance has now been cancelled.
“We will be automatically refunding your tickets to the method of payment you used to buy your tickets, so you don’t need to do anything further.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Lil Baby has released four chart-topping albums, with his seminal album My Turn going seven-time Platinum.
Fans have been voicing their dismay at the cancellation of the tour, with one writing on X: “All rappers do is cancel SMH. Lilbaby cancelled tour cba.”
Another wrote: “Why the hell has lil baby cancelled his show.”
Someone on TikTok said: “I woke up to this email now my day is ruined cos Wdymm.”
And someone else posted: “I PURPOSELY TOLD MY PEOPLE NOT GOING ON HOLIDAY FOR MY BDAY BECAUSE LIL BABY PERFORMING IN LONDON ON 27 THE NEXT DAY! FOR HIM TO CANNNNCEEELLLLL 2 WEEKS BEFORE.”
Daisy Jackson -
12th May 2022 
