Music

Parklife Festival reveals 2021 lineup

Organisers say the lineup is the "greatest in Parklife history”.

Hannah Starkie Hannah Starkie - 23rd March 2021

Manchester’s annual Parklife Festival has announced its biggest lineup to date ahead of the event’s return to Heaton Park on 11-12 September.

Across the two days, there’s a jaw-dropping selection of artists set to play, featuring some familiar faces back to finish what they started after being booked to play the cancelled 2020 edition last June.  

Headlining the bill on Saturday 11 September is Brit Award-winning rapper Dave, in an exclusive UK festival appearance for 2021.

Meanwhile, “WAP” star Megan Thee Stallion will make her Parklife debut and will be joined by some of the finest grime, rap and hip-hop artists including Skepta, AJ Tracey, slowthai, Burna Boy, Mist and DaBaby.  

In true Parklife style, we also have a stellar selection of world-class DJs providing the dance soundtrack this year. Over the weekend, Jamie XX, Disclosure, Four Tet, Carl Cox, The Blessed Madonna, Annie Mac, Jamie Jones, Skream and Solardo are all confirmed to play, plus Bicep will spin a special live set.

ADVERTISEMENT

For the bass heads among you, Andy C will be joined by Wilkinson, Sub Focus, Dimension, Friction, My Nu Leng, along with the CruCast lads for one massive reunion.

Presale begins at 10am on Wednesday 24 March. Only those who have signed up in advance will be able to access presale tickets – the link should land in your emails soon.

ADVERTISEMENT

Organisers have warned that the presale list is massively oversubscribed, with more 250,000 people signed up to it. So, tickets are in extremely high demand.  

General Sale will begin at 10am the following day (Thursday 25 March) for everyone else.  

Back in December, organisers announced that the long-awaited return to Heaton Park would take place on 11-12 September, instead of their usual June dates, due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Up to 80,000 festival-goers are expected to descend on Heaton Park each day, making it one of the UK’s biggest metropolitan festivals.

This year’s much-anticipated edition has been two years in the making and with a lineup like this, we know the organisers will make sure it’s one to remember.

Now, all you need to do is set your alarms! 

Stay up to date with Parklife on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for full lineup details, further announcements and festival info. 

  

Music

Up-and-coming musicians in Manchester to take over Band on the Wall for FREE shows this month

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

There’ll be three nights of gorgeous new music taking place across Manchester this month, as the students of Spirit Studios have their degree show. 

Up-and-coming talent from the renowned music education provider will take to the stage at the much-loved Band on the Wall and at Spirit Studios itself – and the gigs are totally free. 

Spread over three evenings, the degree show will include DJ sets, performances, and immersive audio-visual experiences and soundscapes. 

Those showing off their skills have come from the studio’s Electronic Music Production and Performance and Music Production degree courses.

The final year students have been tasked with creating and producing music to show to a public audience as part of their major project. 

Spirit Studios
Spirit Studios. Credit: Supplied

The gigs at both Band on the Wall and Spirit Studios are free to attend, and will take place on 22, 24 and 29 March. 

The first event at Band on the Wall will be an evening of live music and DJ sets, spanning indie, hip-hop, EDM and drum and bass. 

Then on Friday 24 March, the degree show will head over to Spirit Studios, just past Piccadilly, where guests can explore a range of sound installation, soundscapes, and multi-genre live performances in their very own studios and live venue.

Read more

The final installment of the Spirit Studios degree show will be back at Band on the Wall, where students will showcase a journey of everything they’ve learnt throughout their degrees. 

Spirit Studios was established in 1980 as a small creative community of experienced tutors in the heart of Manchester, teaching talented students sound engineering and music production. 

As well as degrees, there are other industry and short courses, and the studios and facilities on site can be hired for commercial purposes.

You can find out more here. 

Featured image: Supplied

Music

‘An emo kid’s dream’ – Fall Out Boy’s insanely intimate gig at Band on the Wall, Manchester

Sophey Donohue Sophey Donohue Fall Out Boy

It’s been five long years without new music from pop-punk icons Fall Out Boy – and rather than launching back into our lives with a huge arena show, the American rockers chose one of Manchester’s most intimate venues for their return. 

The Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum group announced a very special intimate performance at Band on the Wall just last week, with tickets selling out in minutes. 

The chance to see them performing in the 500-capacity venue is the stuff of a former emo kid’s wildest dreams.

Fall Out Boy are here to celebrate the release of So Much (For) Stardust, their first album since Mania in 2018. 

They open the show with the first release from the new album, ‘Love from the Other Side’, the room immediately erupting in unified, punk-rock glee. The lads seemingly revel in the crowd belting back the lyrics of the two-week old track.

Then it’s a jump back 10 years with The Phoenix, a track taken from the album Save Rock n Roll, the record that brought them back together from their hiatus.

Despite Patrick Stump being the lead singer, and all individual members having their own long-standing fan bases, Pete Wentz takes the lead with crowd interactions, talking to us between songs and keeping us hyped during. 

But of course, the 90-minute set gives each member their own time to shine. The band’s 19-song set plays out the band’s last two decades and shows just how far the emo veterans have come. 

Three songs in, the four-piece explain they are ‘pretty f**king jetlagged’ and in true Manchester style, a member of the crowd shouts in response: “Do you want a tequila!?” Because if nothing else, us Manc lot know the cure for everything – booze.

Fall Out Boy Band on the Wall tickets Manchester
Fall Out Boy

The floor bounces underneath your feet as 500 fans jump, dance, and mosh in unison, as Wentz extends a salute accompanied by a grin from ear to ear – after years of selling out huge venues, you can only imagine how great an intimate one of this size must feel. 

The band perform with a backdrop of two sides of a smiley face, which they go on to explain represents the two halves of the new album, how it was built, and what it means. The second half of the record is based on the movie Field Of Dreams and the quote ‘If you build it, they will come’, acknowledging their five years of no music. Yet still, their fans are loyal as ever, as demonstrated by the enraptured congregation before them. 

“It’s been a minute,” Pete says, “But we wanted to get it right so thank you for being patient, it’s almost here. 

Read more

“Our band would not be a band at all, we probably wouldn’t be playing together if it weren’t for this city and what happened here for the music scene.” He makes nods to Manchester legends Oasis, The Smiths and Stone Roses and then jokingly says ‘anyway, here’s Wonderwall’. The crowd erupts, because who wouldn’t want to hear a live Fall Out Boy x Oasis mashup?

The end of the show is near but the band aren’t letting us Manchester lot go without us having something to remember as our own. After a quick intro from Pete, ‘Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet’ is played to their fans for the first time since 2009. The atmosphere in the room is unmatched and seriously nostalgic – I can almost feel my arm reaching for the heavy black emo eyeliner buried in my drawer somewhere. 

The band end the show with ‘Centuries’ and ‘Saturday’, where Pete Wentz ends his night of crowd interaction by climbing into the arms of fans as we channel our teenage angsty selves, because even though So Much (For) Stardust isn’t a throwback record, this was undeniably a throwback show. 

Featured image: Publicity picture

More Music

Affiliate

Eurovision rock stars Maneskin announce Manchester gig as ONLY UK date on world tour

Robert Smith sickened by Ticketmaster prices

Audio

Robert Smith says he is ‘sickened’ by ridiculous Ticketmaster prices

The Lathums second UK Number One album

Audio

The Lathums heading for their second UK Number One album in a row

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches