Maneskin, the Italian rock stars who became a global sensation after winning Eurovision, have announced a huge world tour – and the only UK date is here in Manchester.
The four-piece from Rome will be taking their Rush World Tour to cities across the USA, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The huge tour will wrap up here in Manchester, with a gig at the AO Arena on 19 December.
We’ll be the only city in the UK to welcome Maneskin, who have also announced a landmark gig at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York.
This will be the first time they’ve performed here in Manchester after shooting to fame by winning 2021’s Eurovision Song Contest with their song Zitti e buoni.
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They’ve since found viral fame with their cover of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ ‘Beggin’, as well as their own songs ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ and ‘Supermodel’.
Måneskin are currently on their Loud Kids world tour in Europe, which will take them to London in May.
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They’ve also been announced as performers at Glastonbury festival this summer.
Maneskin announced their Rush World Tour on social media yesterday, posting: “This year we want to keep the whole world rockin’!!!
“Get ready, cause RUSH! WORLD TOUR is coming to youuu. Tickets info soon.”
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Tickets for Maneskin’s gig in Manchester will go on sale on Monday 20 March at 10am through See Tickets.
Maneskin Rush World Tour Dates in full
Maneskin after winning Eurovision. Credit: Publicity picture
SEPTEMBER 3 – Hanover, Germany – EXPO Plaza 6 – Nancy, France – Nancy Open Air 21 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 23 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion 25 – Boston, MA – TD Garden 27 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena 29 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena
OCTOBER 1 – Detroit, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill 3 – Nashville, Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium 6 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory 10 – Los Angeles, CA – Kia Forum 13 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena 15 – Vancouver, BC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre 20 – Mexico City, Mexico – Palacio De Los Deportes 24 – Bogotá, Colombia – Movistar Arena 27 – Santiago, Chile – Estadio Bicentenario La Florida 29 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Movistar Arena
NOVEMBER 1 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Qualistage 3 – San Paulo, Brazil – Espaço Unimed 20 – Brisbane, QLD – BCEC 22 – Sydney, NSW – Hordern Pavilion 23 – Melbourne, VIC – Margaret Court Arena 25 – Adelaide, SA – AEC Theatre 27 – Singapore
DECEMBER 2 – Tokyo, Japan 3 – Tokyo, Japan 7 – Kobe, Japan 14 – Dublin, Ireland – 3 Arena 19 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
Featured image: Publicity picture
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Bez and Shaun Ryder are starring in a new gangster movie – nope, not kidding
Danny Jones
No, you didn’t misread the headline and you’re not on acid: Manchester music legends Bez and Shaun Ryder are set to feature in a brand-new gangster film.
Yes, the ones from the Happy Mondays – why are you having such trouble processing this?
Seriously though, we did a little double-take ourselves when we came across this news, but the familiar Manc faces look to be among the ensemble of a brand-new gangster movie by Irish writer, actor, producer and filmmaker, Ciaron Davies.
And this is just a little leak or rumour that may have been blown out of proportion: you can take it from the horse’s mouth as Happy Mondays frontman, Ryder, recently shared the news on social media.
As you can see, the new film is called Geezers and is billed as a “British crime caper” written and directed by Davies, featuring Shaun as hard-man Robbie and Bez as ‘Monk’. If you saw Ryder shaking off that snake biting his hand like it was nothing then you already know he’s hard as nails.
Although it’s not strictly listed as a comedy per se, ‘caper’ would suggest plenty of humour and light-heartedness, so we’re thinking more like The Gentleman, Italian Job, or maybe even Four Lions, rather than a serious crime thriller.
Now, while we’ve seen both of the Salfordians on screen before not only in the likes of music videos, interviews, panel shows and even as two of the funniest guests to ever go on Celebrity Gogglebox, this latest venture will serve as their respective acting debuts.
According to the IMDb page, the synopsis of the film is as follows: “Crime caper about a stolen bag of money. Caught in the crossfire are ‘The Geezers’ a bunch of wannabe criminals who have bitten off more than they can chew. With 24 hours to grab the cash, London may just go up in smoke tonight.”
Shame it’s not set on the mean streets of Manchester, or better yet Salford, but you’ve still very much caught our interest.
You can see the first promotional poster for the film down below.
As for Davies, he has been involved with a number of small-budget TV film projects, as well as appearing in shorts and even video games, so it’s fair to say that getting 62-year-old Ryder and his ever-energetic hype man, 60, involved is quite the coup for his movie-making career.
Although the film has no release date just yet, we know that filming locations having included parts of Warrington and Pinewood Studios, will be produced by Loose Gripp Films and distributed by publishers High Fliers.
Given the high-octane nature of Geezers and its genre, the feature will involve lots of action, stunts, violence and even martial arts – though how much kung-fu these two will have learned for the project remains to be seen…
All we know is that the film is supposedly “coming soon” and if you don’t want to see Bez and Shaun Ryder doing their best impression of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie then you’re lying to yourself. Praying for a Rowetta cameo to put the cherry on top.
Featured Images — Shaun Ryder (via X)/Loose Gripp Films/IMDb
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Blossoms at O2 Ritz Manchester – five-night hometown residency is already a triumph
Daisy Jackson
Blossoms are a band who were born and forged here in Greater Manchester, and now they’re back retracing their steps with a five-night residency across the venues that launched them into the big leagues.
Their star has risen all the way to arena level and headline shows at Wythenshawe Park at this point, especially here in their hometown, so the chance to see them back in these cosy-ish little venues is special, and a little bizarre.
For night two of their landmark sold-out gig series, it was the turn of the O2 Ritz, that sweaty spot off Oxford Road where the floor bounces downstairs and you stick to the carpets upstairs.
Poetically, the first time I ever saw Blossoms was in this very room in 2016, when they had the mid-afternoon slot at Neighbourhood festival and the queue to get in went all the way back to St Peter’s Square.
Since those days, Blossoms have come a long, long way, and their live show has evolved and matured from five lads thrashing on their instruments to this well-oiled, hip-swaying, flares-wearing, chart-topping machine.
There’s even choreography now – how fancy!
A stand-out moment from the show is actually a song from their new, fifth studio album Gary, which is still barely eight weeks old.
A spoof recording of legendary Manchester indie club 42s rings out, then all five band members abandon their stations, slinging keytars and marching drums around their necks so that they can dance together in front of neon signs.
Blossoms have just done their second of five shows in Manchester, this time at the O2 Ritz. Credit: The Manc GroupBlossoms on stage at the O2 Ritz in Manchester. Credit: The Manc Group
Blossoms promised more disco with this album and they bloody meant it. It’s not just the flares and the blow-dries and the moustaches (though those do help) – it’s in the funk and groove that’s gradually crept into their music exponentially with each album release.
This is still indie rock but it’s the most danceable of its genre. Good luck keeping your shoulders from wiggling and jiggling in here. Good luck keeping that grin off your face.
And Gary is one of the most unexpectedly fun albums to be released in the last year – the fact they called it Gary, named after a giant fibreglass garden centre Gorilla, should’ve been our clue. It could border on silly were it not such a masterpiece.
It seems like the only thing Blossoms are trying to prove is that you can be wildly successful without taking yourself too seriously. They just seem like a group who want to have a good time and it’s totally infectious.
Case in point – when each band member is introduced, keyboardist Myles Kellock plays the riff of Satisfaction by Benny Benassi and The Biz. Unexpected.
Blossoms also clearly give a sh*t about their live shows and graft at it – I’ve seen these guys an awful lot and it’s because their tour dates are plentiful and consistently worth the ticket price.
This is definitely the biggest era of their career so far, but have they peaked? Not even close.
Daisy Jackson -
16th March 2023 
