Global pop icon Kylie has just announced details of a huge 2025 tour, which will include TWO shows at the AO Arena in Manchester.
This will be Kylie Minogue’s biggest tour since 2011, kicking off in her native Australia before heading around the globe.
Last time she performed in Manchester was in 2019 when she did a surprisingly intimate show at Castlefield Bowl – prior to that, it was the Golden tour at the AO Arena.
Now the princess of pop is back with her highly-anticipated Tension Tour, with more dates across Europe and America still to be announced.
Kylie said: “I am beyond excited to announce the TENSION TOUR 2025. I can’t wait to share beautiful and wild moments with fans all over the world, celebrating the Tension era and more!
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“It’s been an exhilarating ride so far and now, get ready for your close up because I will be calling Lights, Camera, Action … and there will be a whole lot of Padaming!”
The tour comes in support of Tension II, a brand new collection of 13 songs that’s set for release on 18 October and follows the chart-topping Tension.
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The new album will feature nine brand new studio tracks, plus dance hit Edge of Saturday Night with The Blessed Madonna, as well as collaborations with Orville Peck, Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo, and Sia.
Kylie Minogue announces huge Manchester show at the AO ArenaKylie Minogue announces huge Manchester show at the AO Arena
Kylie said: “The Tension era has been so special to me … I can’t possibly let it be over just yet! Welcome to ‘Tension II’.”
This year alone, she’s taken home the Global Icon Award at the BRITs, win the Best Pop Dance Recording Grammy for the smash hit, ‘Padam Padam’, attend the Met Gala, complete her inaugural Las Vegas Residency, perform at WeHo Pride and release a series of high profile collaborations.
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Kylie will perform at the AO Arena in Manchester on Monday 19 May 2025, and the newly-added date of Tuesday 20 May 2025.
Tickets for the UK dates will go on general sale at 10am Friday 27 September.
Fans will be able to sign up for venue pre-sale through the AO Arena here.
Kylie 2025 UK tour dates
Fri 16 May Glasgow OVO Hydro
Sat 17 May Newcastle Utilita Arena
Mon 19 May Manchester AO Arena
Thurs 22 May Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Fri 23 May Sheffield Utilita Arena
Mon 26 May London The O2
Tues 27 May London The O2
Fri 30 May Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Sat 31 May Birmingham bp pulse LIVE
Featured image: Erik Melvin
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Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge UK arena tour – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax (not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire), the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat long overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
Returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves, you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash; you can find the ticket link HERE.
We’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Daisy Jackson -
19th September 2024 
