Get Mellow With Bez sees the Happy Mondays frontman try yoga for the first time / Image: YouTube
Happy Mondays frontman Bez is back doing online exercises classes – taking part in yoga sessions led by a local journalist.
The iconic Madchester musician has signed up to sample the meditative exercise as part of a brand new series being streamed to YouTube: Get Mellow With Bez.
Classes are being led by Amy Farnworth, who works for the Lancashire Telegraph and teaches yoga in her spare time.
The exercise series follows hot on the heels of Get Buzzin’ With Bez – a gruelling January fitness class designed to rival Joe Wicks’ workouts for Lockdown 3.
According to his teacher, Bez has taken to yoga “like a duck to water”.
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Amy reported: “He’s such a good laugh, and so down to earth and he was an amazing student too, really keen to learn.
“He really got into the classes and after a while I just felt like I was teaching a mate.”
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Bez said he wanted to give yoga a try so he could become more flexible – which would allow him to keep throwing shapes whenever he’s on stage.
“I’m really enjoying learning yoga, I can feel myself getting more flexible each week,” Bez told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“It’s been great working with Amy, she’s a great teacher and I’m looking forward to carrying on for as long as I can.”
You can watch episodes of Get Mellow With Bez on YouTube.
Music
Coldplay announce huge new UK stadium shows for 2025
Clementine Hall
Coldplay have announced several huge stadium shows for 2025 as part of their seemingly never-ending Music of the Spheres World Tour.
The Glastonbury headliners will be heading up north once again to play two huge outdoor summer shows next year.
If you weren’t able to snatch a golden ticket to the iconic festival this year and instead watched the British band from the sofa seething with jealousy, then have we got some news for you.
Following the success of this year’s European leg of Coldplay’s record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour, the band have just announced eight new shows for 2025, The Hoot Leeds reports.
Coldplay are skipping the Etihad Stadium this time (it’s busy working on that big extension) but will still be venturing up north. You’ll just have to make your way over to Hull for this one.
Their tour dates include two dates at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium followed by six dates at London’s Wembley Stadium.
It’s the first time that Coldplay have performed in Yorkshire since 2008 when they took to the stage at Sheffield Arena, so you know we’re in for a fantastic show complete with all the multicoloured bracelets you could possibly imagine.
Coldplay announce huge new UK stadium shows for 2025. Credit: Stevie Rae Gibbs
Coldplay will be performing in Yorkshire at Craven Park on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 August 2025.
Coldplay have revealed that 50% of the tickets for the Hull shows – the band’s first ever concerts in the city – will go to local fans with HU, YO, DN or LN postcodes on Thursday September 26 at 6pm.
On Sunday evening, the band placed a poster in the window of the Dublin Castle in Camden, London revealing that 10 per cent of the band’s proceeds from the Wembley and Hull shows will be donated to Music Venue Trust.
Mark Davyd, CEO Music Venue Trust said: “Coldplay are the perfect example of a UK band who came through the grassroots circuit on their way to worldwide stadium-filling success.
“It’s fantastic to see them celebrating their own pathway to Wembley by giving back to the grassroots music venues that supported them and recognising the artists and promoters that are struggling more than ever to build their own careers.”
In a world first, the band have pledged to power the Wembley concerts’ production with 100 per cent solar, wind and kinetic energy, collected at the venue and elsewhere in the UK, and delivered by a specially-designed electric battery system.
In addition, one of the satellite stages at each show will be powered by energy generated by the audience via kinetic flooring and power bikes.
Tickets go on sale next Friday 29 September from 9am, and you’ll be able to get yours through See Tickets here.
Official fundraiser set up to create a mural in memory of late The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke
Danny Jones
A fundraiser has finally been set up to create a lasting mural in memory of The Smiths’ late bassist Andy Rourke in Manchester city centre.
Plans were first floated by bandmate Mike Joyce earlier this year following Rourke’s death in May 2023 and with an official charity page now set up, The Smiths drummer has unveiled the plans to create the massive mural in collaboration with local street artist Akse P19.
Manc graffiti and portrait specialist Akse is already famously known for creating the now-restored Ian Curtis mural plastered on the side of the Star and Garter and soon the Joy Division legend will have a new neighbour not too far away in the Northern Quarter.
Set to take pride of place on the recently refurbished Wheatsheaf pub on Oak Street – just behind another much-loved boozer and small gig venue, Gullivers – the mural will be entirely crowdfunded and also raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Action charity.
Joyce said in a statement: “Thanks to this Crowdfunder, fans of Andy and The Smiths can contribute to a permanent memorial in his and the band’s hometown of Manchester, but also increase awareness of this debilitating disease and raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Action.”
“The mural will not only serve as a permanent tribute to Andy’s legacy as a brilliant musician but also as a memory of the funniest, sweetest lad I had the pleasure of knowing. Many thanks, Mike.”
The Andy Rourke mural will be based on an image of The Smiths bass player by photographer Nalinee Darmrong, who has given the project her full blessing. The iconic snap was taken at Caird Hall in Dundee during the band’s 1985.1985/1986 UK/USA tour.
Speaking in a separate post on his own social media, PR for Akse and others contributing to the project added: “Delighted to finally share that after many months of planning, there is an official CrowdFunder running now…
“Your donations will go directly towards the creation of this artwork. We are offering limited editions of 100 x A4 prints for people who pledge £50 and 30 x A3 prints for people who pledge £100.”
Signed by both the artist and Joyce, these funds will also go directly towards the organisation that funds both treatment and research for the condition that Rourke suffered a long battle with before passing away aged just 59.
As the fundraiser reads: “As part of the legendary Mancunian foursome, Rourke created a soundscape which changed the course of music for not just a generation, but for popular culture the world over.
“Andy’s unique style, combining funk rhythms and driving urgency, form the very aural framework for The Smiths’ songbook. His self-effacing sense of humour and laid-back personality often belayed the indisputable impact of his creative genius.
“Why a mural? With fans the world over often revealing that The Smiths played a significant role in their lives, it seems appropriate that Rourke’s legacy be celebrated in a creative way in his home city of Manchester, which can be viewed for decades to come.”
Set to be unveiled in November, the mural is just the latest testament to a Manc music legend in this city that has been graced by so many over the decades. The fundraiser has already amassed over £11,300 in donations but you can still donate or buy your own special print HERE.
The Manc -
2nd March 2021 
