We had the pleasure of going along to see Hello Cosmos play a special one-off show at none other than St Mary’s Church in Stockport town centre on Friday night, just the gig the building has ever seen and given how incredible an experience it was, we hope there’ll be many more.
Picture the scene: it’s a frosty Foodie Friday night in Stockport with people wearing beer jackets and sharing hot street food to keep warm as the tunes ring around the marketplace; then you spot some light off in the background and notice the windows of the old town centre church glowing.
Not only was that our signal to get a move on, finish our scran and head over to the intimate gig, but it was also a beacon of light for other punters to go and check out as they looked for any excuse to come in from the cold.
And that’s pretty much how it happened. Our three-man party was full of SK natives who wanted to see what it would be like to have a church we grew up with turned into a gig venue, so we were always on board, but plenty of other locals had the pleasure of simply stumbling upon tickets at the door.
We don’t think we’d be putting words in their mouths to say they will have been glad they did, as within a few seconds of walking into the oldest parish church in Stockport, we had never seen the already ornate and historical site look so stunning.
ADVERTISEMENT
This wasn’t just a case of plonking some speakers and some drums near the altar like some half-arsed church fête, the roof, windows, pillars and various arches were all lit up by various multi-coloured projectors and strobes and it all felt pretty surreal.
If you’ve ever watched any kind of performance at Manchester Cathedral or a similar venue, you’ll know this kind of set-up is nothing new per se, but it did feel like something different for Stockport, especially when one of our party’s last memories was standing at the pulpit to read the Christmas story.
ADVERTISEMENT
Then the music kicked off and we have to start by saying we were pretty impressed by the two support acts, Fondabath — fellow Stopfordians who were probably just as surprised to be in St Mary’s as we were — and Big Society, also local lads, both of which gave plenty of reason to go away and listen to more.
Then came the main event, Hello Cosmos, spearheaded by frontman and bass player Ben Robinson, who along with his jumpsuited bandmates wasted no time in transporting the crowd to what felt like a little pocket of space in some alternate reality.
Having had a few drinks and being given kaleidoscope glasses on arrival certainly helped, but it really was a truly audio-visual experience, from the various coloured jumpsuits and neon hula-hooping to the truly mesmerising light show that lit up the church throughout the set.
ADVERTISEMENT
It all felt rather fittingly though when you take into account that Robinson is not just a musician but the founder of both Kendal Calling and bluedot Festival — I mean, even their sophomore album Golden Dirt has a glowing spaceman walking through a sea of sunflowers.
If you’ve never heard them before, think post-punk spoken word and almost Yard Act vibes, only if Christopher Ecclestone was on vocals instead. But their sound is truly sprawling, with ‘Fuse’ from their debut record giving the harder-hitting sounds and ‘Loud is Beautiful’ showing how they best intertwine electronics, keys and those oh-so-good horns from sax player Elara.
Be it jumping up and down in unison as the electric violinist played or Ben dropping to his knees to scream his head off, hopping off stage to walk around the crowd with a megaphone or releasing a sea of balloons from above for the big finish, this ‘Live at St Mary’s’ one-off special had a bit of everything.
It went from a little gig on a random winter evening in Stockport to an unforgettable one that SK-born gig-goers like us never thought we’d see in this particular borough of Greater Manchester whose culture and music scene are clearly thriving.
We really hope this is among the first of many — Hello Cosmos helped make it a success and we can seriously see the Live at St Mary’s series taking off if it continues to get the backing.
Charli XCX at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for BRAT tour
Daisy Jackson
Charli XCX is touching down in Manchester this week for the first night of her long-awaited BRAT tour.
The massive tour follows a huge summer for the British artist, where tracks from her sixth studio album – including Apple, Guess, and 360 – dominated festival circuits and dancefloors across the globe.
The 32-year-old star then took things a step further with her remix album, Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.
Her latest album was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, and it’s up for seven Grammy Awards early next year.
Charli XCX has even performed a huge surprise free gig at Times Square in New York City, no less, just last week.
This massive new tour will bring her back to the UK for just a handful of arena shows, including a gig at the Co-op Live in Manchester.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Charli XCX 2024 UK tour dates
Wed 27 November – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live Arena
Thu 28 November – London, UK – The O2
Fri 29 November – Birmingham, UK – Resorts World Arena
Mon 02 December – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro Arena
Charli XCX has announced details of a huge UK tour. Credit: Hayley Weir
Charli XCX tickets for Manchester Co-op Live gig
No, you’re too late.
After such a hugely popular summer, Charli XCX has driven HUGE demand and her massive arena shows are totally sold out.
Your only chance of getting tickets now is to check fan-to-fan resale sites like Twickets.
Who’s supporting Charli XCX?
Charli XCX is being supported by singer and DJ Shygirl on all her UK dates.
The British singer, rapper, songwriter and DJ, who also founded record label Nuxxe, is famed for her blend of dance, hip-hop, experimental pop, grime and deconstructed club music.
Her big hits include Cleo, encore, Mr useless, Nasty and BB.
What are the stage times for Charli XCX in Manchester?
These haven’t been announced yet by Co-op Live but we do know that doors to the venue will open at 6.30pm.
The venue has said that there’ll be an 8pm start, which will presumably be when Shygirl takes to the stage.
Then Charli XCX herself should be on somewhere between 9pm and 9.30pm before a gig curfew of 11pm.
Once the venue shares official stage times we’ll be sure to update this article.
Expected setlist
Well, this is an unusual one – as Manchester gets the BRAT tour before anyone else, we actually have no clue what the setlist will look like.
There are sure to be plenty of club bangers and dance floor fillers from Charli XCX’s latest album as well as her earlier work.
ADVERTISEMENT
She recently held a joint tour with Troye Sivan in the states, so we’ve picked out her parts of the setlist there below to give you a rough idea.
365 360 Von dutch Club classics Unlock It Sympathy is a knife Guess Spring breakers Girl, so confusing Everything is romantic Speed Drive Apple Vroom Vroom 1999 Track 10 I Love It Talk talk
Dance legends Basement Jaxx are coming to Castlefield Bowl next summer
Danny Jones
Dance and electronic legends Basement Jaxx are coming to Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl next year for a massive outdoor show.
Summer 2025 is shaping up nicely.
The iconic DJing duo, famed for everything from disco and New York house to pure big-beat bangers, first formed back in 1994 and have created some of the most well-known hits to ever come out of the UK electronic scene.
Be it ‘Where’s Your Head At’, Do Your Thing’, ‘Romeo’ or one of their many other chart-toppers, they’ve been filling dancefloors all over the world
Starting from the base back in Brixton down in the capital, the expert disc jockeys and producers – real names Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe – are the latest act announced as part of the month-long festival Sound of the City Festival.
The SOTC 2025 lineup is looking absolutely stacked, with the likes of Rizzle Kicks, Bloc Party, Elbow, Hacienda Classical and more already confirmed for the big summer celebration, but with Basement Jaxx now joining them too, it really is going to be a party atmosphere.
For the younger ones amongst you who might be wondering whether you know their music or not, even if you’re not sure of the song titles and can’t readily hum the tune etc., we promise you’ll know plenty of these once you hear them.
Jaxx and co. are set to arrive at Manchester’s much-loved amphitheatre next July, the Castlefield Bowl show will be one of their first proper live headline shows in over a decade, along with slots at the likes of Latitude Festival, Wilderness and Camp Bestival, as well as just a handful of other dates.
Speaking on the announcement, one-half of BJ, Buxton, said: “After a few years DJing around the globe, it’ll be great to return to the live stage and the Live Show Experience; to connect to people with life-affirming energy and give people a great time.”
He went on to add: “It feels like 2025 is the beginning of a new era for many and I think that’s probably true for Basement Jaxx too.”
Basement Jaxx will be landing at Castlefield Bowl on Saturday, 12 July 2025 and tickets go on sale this Friday, 29 November from 9am onwards.