Gigs & Nightlife

Watch the incredible moment Mancs peer-pressure JLS into recreating viral ‘Merry Christmas’ video on stage

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 25th November 2021

A pair of Mancunians hilariously peer-pressured JLS at their AO Arena gig last night.

After a fair bit of persistence, the audience members managed to get JB Gill to recreate a viral moment from the band’s X Factor Days.

If you cast your mind back to 2008, you might remember the fresh-faced foursome’s now-infamous Christmas performance.

Striding around the X Factor stage in white suits singing a cover Wham’s Last Christmas, the cheesy footage resurfaces every festive season.

It’s all thanks to the brief moment JB stares straight down the camera and cheerful bellows “MERRY CHRISTMAS.”

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Joe said the ‘shrill yet nasal‘ moment ‘ruined Christmas for everyone’, and said it was ‘the sound of satan’.

But the insane clip inspired a wonderful moment at the band’s huge reunion gig at the AO Arena in Manchester last night.

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Two fans in the crowd apparently shouted ‘Merry Christmas’ at JLS every time there was a quiet moment, until JB caved and recreated the original.

In the video on Twitter, the person in question can be heard shouting “DO MERRY CHRISTMAS! DO IT!” and “YAAAASSSSSSS.”

Then, when JB says his famous line, they scream so loudly they sound like they’re ‘being murdered’.

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It was a busy night at the AO Arena last night, with another couple getting engaged right in the front of the crowd, to rapturous applause.

She said yes, naturally.

Featured image: Twitter @LiamLambrini / ITV

Gigs & Nightlife

Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs

Danny Jones Danny Jones Akon prefers Manchester to London

Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.

In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.

The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.

Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.

As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.

Same, mate. Same.

Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.

He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.

Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.

Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.

@the.manc @NE-YO is back in Manchester tonight for his tour with @AKON so we sat down with him to play shag, marry, kill, and ask the all important question… will we see you in a plastic bubble? 😂 #manchester #neyo #akon #nightslikethis #cooplive ♬ original sound – The Manc

As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.

That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.

You can listen to the chat in full right HERE.

Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.

One giant house party – Ne-Yo and Akon at Co-op Live, Manchester

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

Featured Images — US Embassy Nairobi (via Flickr)/Audio North/BBC (screenshot via X)

Gigs & Nightlife

Antony Szmeirek announces second album along with biggest UK tour dates yet

Danny Jones Danny Jones Antony Szmierek Manchester gig tickets UK tour dates 2026

Greater Manchester spoken word artist Antony Szmeirek has finally revealed the name, cover art and release date for his second album, along with his biggest run of UK tour dates yet.

The Tameside teacher turned full-time artist dropped his maiden record, Service Station at the End of the Universe, back in February 2025, and now, just over a year on from its launch, he’s getting ready to deliver his highly anticipated follow-up.

Entitled Decoding Birdsong, the sophomore studio project is scheduled for this summer, with a series of live shows booked for the following autumn.

Having already dropped lead single ‘The Heron’ earlier this year, Szmeirek has just released the opener from his upcoming LP, which is simply called ‘Chalk’; he’s also unveiled the rest of the tracklist and a rather striking bit of album artwork.

The Hyde-born artist is making big moves not only within the spoken word space but across multiple genres, with his music blending everything from indie, hip-hop, electronica and more.

His latest song, for instance, is more of an acid-house-esque meets contemporary EDM outing, and has quickly gone down as a popular addition among fans.

On the album name itself, he’s never one to shy away from a weird title or two – case in point, ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’ from his debut and ‘Dave’s Angling Superstore’ on this new record.

The 34-year-old carries that same idiosyncrasy throughout his lyricism and creative concepts, as well.

‘Chalk’ is a perfect example of this, as the song is inspired by The Edge of Everything documentary: a film about the career of legendary British snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Here’s the music video…

As for his latest raft of live shows, these will be some of the biggest domestic gigs that the local lad has played in his career so far.

In addition to a pair of hometown shows here in Manchester, he is set to play a dozen different cities across Great Britain and Ireland.

Antony Szmierek UK/IE tour dates – October 2026

We’ve highlighted the Northern stops for you, too:

  • 8 – O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
  • 9 – The Level, Nottingham, UK
  • 11 – Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, UK
  • 12 – O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • 14 – CHALK, Brighton, UK
  • 15 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK
  • 16 – O2 Academy Bournemouth, Bournemouth, UK
  • 17 – O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol, UK
  • 20 – Queen Margaret Union (QMU), Glasgow, UK
  • 21 – Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
  • 23 – Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
  • 28 – The Button Factory, Dublin, IE

It’s also worth noting that ‘Smerick’ will also be joining the legendary ‘Bard of Salford’ himself, John Cooper Clarke, in November for a night of pure poetry.

For those of you looking to grab tickets to his headline gig, they go on sale at 10am on Friday, 8 May via the likes of SeeTickets.

You can get ready to grab your tickets right HERE.

Read more:

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

Featured Images — Press shots via Zak Watson (supplied via SJM Concerts)

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