Nearly 1000 people who work in the live music industry in Manchester participated in a socially-distanced silent march through the city centre today.
The march formed part of the #WeMakeEvents – RED ALERT Day of Action nationwide event.
The #WeMakeEvents campaign – which has been organised by PLASA – is to raise awareness of the UK’s one million highly-skilled live music industry professionals, all of whom have had little to no work for the past four months amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and with little likelihood of the industry restarting until Spring 2021.
The live music sector includes a huge supply chain of workers in areas ranging from production, audio, lighting and video, to logistics, planning, transportation, and some of the world’s leading technology manufacturers.
#WeMakeEvents is calling on the UK government to “throw us a line”.
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As stated on the PLASA website, without additional government support for the supply chain, the UK is not only “in danger of losing its global position as a world leader in world class events”, but “all of our incredible creatives and technicians could lose their livelihoods for good”.
Manchester is a city synonymous with music and the industry needs our help.
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We support the 100,000+ professionals in #Manchester who make our city one of the top destinations in Europe for live music and events.
You should support them too. Their jobs could be lost without intervention. #WeMakeEvents
#WeMakeEvents is calling for “meaningful support from the government until the industry is allowed to operate in a way that is not limited by social distancing policies”.
This includes three main objectives:
1. Grants – not loans – made available to businesses in the events supply chain.
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2. Furlough scheme extended until the industry is back to work.
3. Extension of the self-employment scheme – tailored towards the live music industry.
#WeMakeEvents Great scenes in Manchester. First industry to stop, last to return! More support is needed from the government until live music and events are able to start up again #letmusiclivepic.twitter.com/izny27imai
There has been a substantial amount of support seen for the #WeMakeEvents campaign within the wider music industry and across social media this week.
Many famous and well-respected names in the Manchester music scene have publicly expressed their support.
Sacha Lord – Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester and co-creater of Parklife Festival, The Warehouse Project and United We Stream GM – said that work by many crucial events staff goes “unseen by the public”.
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This morning I will be marching (socially distanced and wearing my mask!) to support the freelancers, event and festival staff who have been simply forgotten. Nearly 114,000 people need urgent financial support now #WeMakeEventspic.twitter.com/JterGW7Cn1
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester this morning, he said: “From my own experience with Parklife, there are about 4,500 people working on that,”
“The stages don’t erect by themselves, the Portaloos don’t arrive by themselves, the fences, the arenas, the lighting techs, it is a vast swathe of freelancers that work behind the scenes, and sadly they have been forgotten.”
Mr Lord was also seen present at the city centre March today as well.
Without major immediate support from the Government, the entire live events sector supply chain is at risk of collapse. Red Alert is a campaign to raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector #WeMakeEventspic.twitter.com/IX3YdLtvvp
#WeMakeEvents is an initiative looking for a solution to the devastating crisis that the live music industry is facing. Concerts have been organised in the past to help people all around the world – right now, it’s those who arranged and worked at those events who need help
Yes, performers, artists, speakers. But also venues, lighting/sound engineers, photographers, event planners, bar & catering teams, security, tent & stage hire, booking agents, festival teams etc etc. So many of us with little or no support. #WeMakeEvents I’ll see you there. pic.twitter.com/iIGvRVYwzL
Today the #WeMakeEvents RED ALERT Campaign calls on the government to support the live events industry before we lose the talent and expertise that is the envy of the world.#WeMakeEvents
Buildings across Manchester and the UK are also set to light up red this evening in support of the live music industry and as part of the #LightItInRed campaign.
Over 500 buildings throughout the country are said to be registered to take part.
CALL TO ACTION!
We are calling again for companies and venues to light up red on the 11th of August 2020.
With many other activities also happening throughout the day, we want YOU involved!
You can find out more information and show your support for the #WeMakeEvents campaign here.
Audio
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 as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
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 run of UK arena shows – 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 loooong 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.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), 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, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
Audio
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.
Emily Sergeant -
11th August 2020 
