The iconic Diana Ross has announced a huge Manchester gig this summer, performing with a full orchestra for the first time ever on tour.
The global superstar, known as “Queen of Motown Records”, will be heading to the Co-op Live Arena with the legendary Manchester-based Halle Orchestra.
Diana Ross: A Symphonic Celebration is set to arrive in Manchester on 26 June, promising a spectacular production featuring stunning visuals, iconic fashion, and a setlist that spans her solo career and her time as the lead singer of The Supremes.
Diana Ross’s career spans six decades, with a repertoire that includes chart-topping songs like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I’m Coming Out, Stop! In the Name of Love, and Endless Love.
This year she presents her “Symphonic Celebration” surrounded by an ensemble of great musicians of soul, jazz, rock, pop and more.
ADVERTISEMENT
She is known for her extraordinary vocals and magnetic stage presence and this latest event guarantees music, glamour and timeless hits.
Before embarking on her solo career, she was known as the lead singer of The Supremes, who remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of 12 number-one pop singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
ADVERTISEMENT
She has won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards twice – once as a solo artist and once for her time with The Supremes.
Diana Ross will perform at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Thursday 26 June, 2025.
A Co-op ticket presale will go live from 10am on 29 January before general sale begins at 10am on 31 January 2025.
Gig review | Catfish at Heaton Park, Manchester – are the Bottlemen properly back?
Danny Jones
10 months on from their last gig and more than a year since they officially ended their hiatus, Catfish and the Bottlemen finally returned to Manchester for a sold-out show at Heaton Park, and while the reviews online have been mixed, we had a blast heading back to the fields again.
Making their Manc comeback just hours before this year’s Parklife Festival got underway, the beloved Welsh band had stirred lots of worry leading up to the day itself and, in truth, even in the moments leading up to (and after) their stage time.
Apart from their huge headline slot at Reading and Leeds, 2024 was the year of cancellations and controversy, so their fans had plenty of reason to be concerned. Nevertheless, we had faith and kept our spirits high, especially with the weather holding out.
Local legends and indie rock veterans James certainly helped on that front, delighting both die-hards watching from up on the hill and younger gig-goers who may have only heard a few of the big hits like ‘Sit Down’ – though they certainly didn’t heed that message, there was merely jumping up and down.
Some great computer-generated imagery backdropped the set.We watched this thing like a hawk.You can read our recent interview with them HERE. (Credit: Audio North)
Once the main support act had wrapped up their pretty perfectly timed set, we’ll admit, standing on that grass felt like an eternity, especially considering Catfish had us waiting an extra 15 minutes beyond their expected arrival at Heaton Park.
You could call it fashionably late, but in this case, it saw several people around us uttering, ‘they’re not coming on any time soon’, and some even beginning to walk off.
However, they did eventually arrive just over a quarter of an hour past schedule, and the eruption of cheers from the crowd and a fair few screams from those nearest the barrier signalled what summed up the entire night: we were just so happy to have them back.
We’ve heard people debating the sound quality and taking issue with parts of Van’s performance, but we’ll just leave this here and let you decide for yourselves:
One thing’s for sure: the energy was immaculate from start to finish.
From kicking things off with ‘Longshot’ for a limb-worthy intro, to hearing a fully acoustic version of ‘Hourglass’ as the lead singer stood alone on the dramatically lit main stage, soon to be followed up by a plethora of Parklife acts, we’d wager you they’ll remain a tough act to follow all weekend.
Other highlights included an entire park’s worth of people belting every word to ‘Kathleen’, ‘Fallout’, ‘Pacifier’ and pretty much every track they played, as well Van having the crowd repeat the chorus of ‘Cocoon’ as he hung up his guitar from the stand to deliver an ice-old mic drop.
We would’ve loved to hear a fuller set filled with the extended live versions of ‘Oxygen’, ‘Heathrow’ and ‘Glasgow’ too, especially given how many sections of pure instrumentation felt like they were going to transition into another track, but you can’t have everything, I guess.
Inflatable crocodiles and cracking flagsCredit: The Manc GroupEyes and arms wide openWe’re here to urge you not to be drawn in by TikTok reviews – as far as we’re concerned, Catfish were made to headline Heaton Park.
Sure, there might have been a few minor fluffed vocal notes and slightly over-lengthy solos here and there, but after all, it’s a rock show: we want a bit of mess.
The same goes for Van McCann himself, too; we worry that people are starting to forget what a proper rockstar is, and we’re not talking about contriving some kind of Hollywood lifestyle, but certainly getting lost in the music and trashing your guitar so hard that your face is draped in nothing but hair and sweat? Absolutely.
All in all, we think Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s massive outdoor show at Manchester’s Heaton Park and de facto ‘comeback after the last comeback’ was a triumph and even when they’re not absolutely 10/10, they’re still bloody good value live.
As for the question of ‘are they back?’ We think so and certainly hope that ‘Showtime’ wasn’t just released as a way of signalling fans to come along for one last ride before the final curtain call.
Parklife 2025 stage times and stage splits for Saturday 14 June
Daisy Jackson
Parklife festival is officially underway for another year, with the massive Heaton Park event confirming stage times and stage splits for all of this year’s headliners.
With major performances from Charli XCX, 50 Cent, Bicep, Jorja Smith and Confidence Man (plus loads, loads more), it’s the biggest party in Manchester’s cultural calendar.
This year’s festival takes place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June with tens of thousands of people flocking up to north Manchester.
While the forecast is looking a little damp for day one of the festival, that’s never exactly stopped the party spirit for Parklife.
So without further ado, let’s get to planning your Parklife weekend – here are the stage times for Saturday.
Daisy Jackson -
24th January 2025 
