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The National named as next act on lineup for Sounds of the City 2024 at Castlefield Bowl

Tickets go live this week and you best believe we'll be first in the queue. (this article contains affiliate links)

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 13th November 2023

American rockers The National have been confirmed as the latest act on the Sounds of the City 2024 lineup at Castelfield Bowl in July.

The legendary alt-dad-rockers, as we like to think of them, have officially been named as the next artist for the annual summer festival right here in Manchester city centre, joining the likes of Tom Grennan, Manic Street Preachers, Jungle, Suede and more.

With a Grammy award win and countless other nominations to their name down the years, The National has become one of the best-loved contemporary rock and indie outfits around the globe and now they’re making their Sounds of the City debut in front of roughly 8,000 Mancs.

These lads have been around for over two decades now and have just released their 10th studio album this past September. They show no signs of slowing down and will no doubt light up Manchester’s iconic Castlefield Bowl as they have done countless other arenas and amphitheatres.

The National confirm Castlefield Bowl and Sounds of the City debut in 2024.

Announcing the show as part of their current tour which kicked off this November at home in the States, this latest leg is promoting the new record, Laugh Track: a surprise release which comes just a couple of couple of months after their previous project, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, which dropped in July.

While the band confirmed the songs were all written at the same time, the five-piece has insisted that if the last album “represented a rebuilding of trust between us after 20+ years together, Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent.”

In a continued sea change for the group, the new record features some seriously cool feature artists including Phoebe Bridgers and Rosanne Cash (daughter of country legend, Johnny) — two very exciting names to follow up the equally surprising collaboration with Taylor Swift.

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All that being said, these lads will be putting on anything but a ‘Slow Show’ and it’s safe to say that if you miss out, everybody else will be there.

General sale for The National at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl for Sounds of the City 2024 goes live at 10am on Friday, 17 November, adding to an already stacked month of mega live music here in 0161.

You can grab your tickets HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — The National (via Instagram)

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Oasis are clearly doing something very deliberate for the as-yet-unconfirmed Live ’25 reunion album

Danny Jones Danny Jones Oasis Live '25 reunion world tour album

We’ve still not emotionally recovered from Oasis’ five homecoming nights in Manchester, and after seeing that the band just released a live recording of ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ from Heaton Park, it’s taken us right back to Friday, 11 July, and we can’t stop thinking about a Live ’25 album.

In fact, while the live record of the reunion world hasn’t been confirmed just yet, we’re becoming increasingly convinced that this is exactly what fans are going to get – and following the second Live ’25 concert capture dropping this week, we’re almost certain we know what they’re doing.

And if so, you can consider the vinyl of the ‘Oasis Live ’25‘ LP already in the basket.

Many of you might have already thought the same thing, but for anyone it hasn’t yet clicked for, let us explain; we got the live taping of ‘Slide Away’ from the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to start with, i.e. the first stop on the world tour. Here’s a snippet of how it sounds:

Have we listened to it pretty much non-stop ever since? Yes, but concentrate, that’s not the point we’re getting at; we think Oasis are doing something very specific for their almost inevitable Live ’25 album.

Up next was the aforementioned ‘Cigs and Alcohol’, performed and recorded on home turf right here in 0161, and released in honour of their magnificent Manc comeback.

More accurately, the live version of the song is plucked from their unforgettable opening evening at Heaton Park, as opposed to any of the other five dates.

Can you see where we’re going with this yet?…

With their place of birth having waited more than a decade and a half to hear the first few iconic chords that signal the start of the timeless Oasis classic and a pure rock and roll blowout, you can literally hear the energy from the crowd in your ears.

If you haven’t heard it dozens of times already, take a listen for yourselves and feel free to Poznań wherever you happen to be reading this:

Upon checking the date of the Cardiff recording of ‘Slide Away’ was taken from, we noticed that they had also chosen the inaugural night of the entire Live ’25 tour, i.e. their very first live show in 16 years.

While we’re aware an official Oasis reunion tour album is technically still TBC, if you see a third live track released after their five shows in the capital get underway this Friday (25 July), you can pretty much bank on the special live release being all but nailed on.

So, not only are we getting an Oasis Live ’25 reunion documentary from the man behind Peaky Blinders, but it looks like they’ll be providing fans with a virtual tour and a chance to experience/relive the gigs aurally, with each of the 23 tracks on the setlist being pulled from a different city on the world tour.

Now, while this isn’t an entirely unheard of idea in the world of live albums, that’s not all.

Better still, if our suspicions are correct and the next drop is taken from night one of Oasis Live ’25 in London (bonus points if you can guess which tune they go for), then the entire thing will capture the sonics and atmosphere at its best: propped up by the utter euphoria of a dream finally being realised.

We’re sure they could pull the audio at any part of the set, from any old date, and it would sound great, but nothing is like the palpable ecstasy you could quite literally hear on the opening nights in Cardiff, Manchester and, no doubt, Wembley. Having said that, the final farewell was pretty biblical too.

Oasis 25: Heaton Park send off Oasis like only Manchester could – with biblical rain
Put simply, isolate any night of the world tour and there’ll be something unique in the master.

Die-hards have been waiting what feels like a lifetime to finally see their favourite band in the flesh again; actually, like many of us here in Greater Manchester and indeed all over the world, some were simply too young to experience the Britpop craze and ‘Oasis Mania’ the first time around.

They obviously have a huge following not just in the UK and Ireland, but all over: the US, Japan, across South East Asia and throughout most of South America – you only have to watch clips or even hear Noel Gallagher talk about Buenos Aires to not how ‘mad fer it’ they are over there.

For a lot of fans, this IS their 1990s moment, and even those who sadly didn’t manage to get tickets have a chance to almost feel like they were there.

One thing’s for sure: if/when the Oasis Live ’25 album arrives, that Manchester buzz will take some beating in the unofficial contest to see who loves the legendary British rock band the most.

@the.manc For one last time – Oasis in the city where it all began- Manchester forever 🤘 #themanc #manchester #oasis #oasislive25 #mcr #oasismania ♬ original sound – The Manc

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Featured Images – Oasis (via YouTube)/Audio North

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Biffy Clyro announce massive Manchester comeback on upcoming European tour

Danny Jones Danny Jones Biff Clyro Manchester gig tickets Co-op Live 2025

British rock giants Biffy Clyro have just announced a massive Manchester gig as part of a huge tour across the UK and Europe.

The Scottish stars haven’t been to our city since 2018, if you can believe that, having seen their intended 2020 AO Arena date cancelled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

But good things come to those who wait, as they say, and now the thrashing three-piece are heading back in our direction on their 27-stop tour across the continent, including nine domestic dates in the UK and Ireland.

Announcing their return on Thursday, 24 July, the multi-award-winning outfit will be making their debut at Manchester’s newest and biggest arena.

That’s right, set to play the space for the first time, the Biffy boys will be performing at Co-op Live early next year, and you can expect fans to be clamouring for Clyro tickets the very second they go on sale.

With a capacity of 23,500, we’d say you have a decent chance of getting your hands on some, but then again, they haven’t been here in seven years – well, it’ll be close to eight by the time they get here.

In fact, when they last came to Manchester, it was for a stripped-back ‘MTV Unplugged’ concert at the Manchester Opera House, which almost seems surreal to think of now.

More importantly, this also means they haven’t had a proper big, bouncing up and down arena gig since 2016, which means it’ll have been almost a DECADE since a full-on Manc headline show.

All that being said, we’re sure you’ll agree it’s been far too long already, and having announced their highly anticipated 10th studio album, Futique – which is set to release on 26 September – fans will have a whole bunch of new songs to hear live.

The Kilmarnock trio formed way back in 1995 and last released a record back in 2021, just months on from their previous outing, but it’s fair to say that plenty of excitement has been built in the ‘fallow years’ since that prolific period.

As if this all wasn’t exciting enough as it is, they’ll be joined by two brilliant support acts in the form of Soft Play (formerly known as Slaves) and American hardcore and punk collective, Armed.

This is going to be a real rager, isn’t it?…

Early access for Co-op members and those who pre-order the album goes live at 10am on Tuesday, 29 July, and general admission tickets will be available from the same time the following Thursday (31.9.25).

You can get ready to grab your tickets for Biffy Clyro at Co-op Live, with Manchester being their only Northern show in all of England, HERE.

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Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Audio North

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