The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess has taken over the tannoys at Manchester Metrolink stations this week and become the voice of our tram network.
Commuters since Monday have been hearing Tim’s friendly voice piped over the speakers.
Mancs are loving the cheery announcements from the Salford-born singer and DJ, which occasionally captures him bursting into song.
It’s all ahead of the Vinyl Adventures Record Fair on December 5, held at multiple venues and shops in the region.
A live gig will be taking place close to a city centre Metrolink stop at the weekend.
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Tim will also be revealing the locations of 500 hidden lanyards right across Greater Manchester, which grant whoever finds them free weekend tram travel.
“I always fancied being a station announcer when I was a kid so a big thanks to Metrolink for making that dream come true,” said Tim.
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“We have a brilliant weekend lined up, with a Charlatans gig on the Saturday and Vinyl Adventures on the Sunday is going to be amazing with live sets, DJs, interviews, podcasts and more records than you can shake a stick at – and if you’re lucky enough to find a lanyard you can travel for free thanks to our friends at Metrolink.”
On Twitter, one person said: “I’m enjoying @Tim_Burgess voicing @MCRMetrolink stops! Thought someone had hacked the mic!”
Another tweeted: “This is awesomeness! Bet there will be many #Charlatans fans riding round trips on @MCRMetrolink this week”
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Someone else posted to Tim: “Just heard you on @MCRMetrolink to brighten up a drizzly Manchester morning!”
The Vinyl Adventures Record Fair is taking place at venues including Piccadilly Records, Mars Tapes, Vinyl Resting Place, Clampdown Records, Eastern Bloc Records Vinyl Revival, and Wax and Beans in Bury, with gigs, podcasts and talks.
Artists such as Pete Doherty, We Are Scientists, Badly Drawn Boy and the Lovely Eggs will be hosting their own stalls, while Clint Boon will be selling his vintage organ and synth collection.
Manchester Piccadilly station will also be hosting three musical performances on Sunday, with Apollo Junction taking to the mezzanine at 11.30am, followed by a very special guest at 12.45pm and Cold Water Swimmers at 1.30pm.
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Danny Vaughan, head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “This year Tim Burgess’s Vinyl Adventure Record Fair is back, better than ever and we are delighted to support him.
“It’s the only thing I know that’s definitely worth checking out this weekend. Whether you’re a vinyl hobbyist or just looking, it’s going to be a great experience for everyone.”
Featured image: Supplied / Unsplash
Music
Review | ‘This is a night to remember, Manchester’ – Jason Derulo’s Co-op Live debut
Amy Williams
Who’s ready for another throwback night? Because this was absolutely a night already full of nostalgia and one to remember.
American singer-songwriter Jason Derulo hit Co-op Live last night as part of his ‘The Last Dance World Tour’, famous for hit songs like ‘Whatcha Say’, ‘Talk Dirty’, and ‘Savage Love’ – we all remember the Covid TikTok dance, don’t we? – as well as many more.
With over 250 million singles sold and tens of billions of streams, you best believe his one night in Manchester was sold out.
Running through the big hits and everything in between, he and his dancers made it a proper party atmosphere on this fine Saturday evening.
He did his throwback songs and more; from the moment he said, “We’re throwing it back to the beginning, back to 2009″, we knew his first debut single, ‘Whatcha Say’, was about to grace our ears, and that it did.
He also brought back absolute classics like ‘Ridin’ Solo’ (I definitely lost my voice during this one) In My Head and It Girl.
The Last Dance run of shows has seen him visit places like Leeds, London, Glasgow and Birmingham, finishing his UK leg right here in Manchester, before he carries on to Europe, but we’re confident our date had the best crowd so far.
And just when you think this couldn’t get any better, he brought his little boy on stage to say hi to everyone, too – shattered everyone’s hearts.
He has that many hit songs, it wasn’t possible to get through them all, so his DJ halfway through did a mash-up of songs he’s also written and featured in, including ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas, ‘Secret Love Song’ with Little Mix and ‘Replay’ by Iyaz.
We knew his voice was amazing – but can we have a moment for this man’s dance moves, keeping everyone on their feet at Co-op Live tonight, and his dancers made everyone want to start dance lessons tonight too, an absolutely incredible performance by all.
Jason Derulo told the audience, “This is a night to remember Manchester’, and that it absolutely was.
Ticket requests are now officially open for Harry Styles’ one-night-only Manchester gig
Emily Sergeant
The time has come – the ticket request system for Harry Styles’ one-night-only gig in Manchester is now live.
In case you hadn’t heard, it was announced on Wednesday evening after much speculation that Harry Styles would be making a return home to Manchester for a one-night-only ‘intimate’ gig at Co-op Live to celebrate the release of his fourth studio album next month.
Styles is set to share Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally with the world on Friday 6 March – and it’s that very same night he’ll be taking to the stage in Manchester.
Although little is known about what to expect at the gig, the poster for the event does state that there’ll be a ‘special performance of the album’, so it seems fair to say that Manchester will be the first to hear the new set of songs in full live.
And if all of that wasn’t exciting enough as it is, the tickets are only £20 per person.
But, of course, there is a bit of a catch, as this isn’t your regular online queuing up for tickets scenario, this is a ‘ticket request’ system instead.
So, like us – and literally every other fan in the vicinity of Greater Manchester and beyond this week – you’re probably wondering what a ‘ticket request’ system is… what does it look like? How does it work? Basically, what the heck is it? Well, we’ve done a bit of digging around to get to the bottom of it so you’re not left too much in the dark.
According to Ticketmaster’s website, if an artist is running a ticket request, they’ll invite fans to request tickets so you don’t have to compete in a first-come, first-served sale.
This means you can take your time to review the available options and request the right tickets for you.
All you need to do is tell Ticketmaster which shows you’re interested in, the type of ticket you want, and your payment details. Then, if the tickets you request can be fulfilled, your card will be charged and you’ll get emailed instructions to access them in the Ticketmaster App.
Unfortunately, as much as we’d love it to be the case for everyone, submitting a request doesn’t guarantee you tickets – it really is just luck of the draw.
To request tickets, you’ll need to follow these three simple steps:
Select which shows you’re interested in and the type of ticket you want
Add your payment details
Harry Styles ticket requests are now live / Credit: Johnny Dufort (Publicity Picture)
Ticketmaster will then send you a summary email that details the tickets you’ve requested. Your card won’t be charged at this time, but they may charge a temporary £1 authorisation to your card to validate your request.
A maximum of two tickets per person can be requested, which has been set to allow for as many fans as possible to get tickets.
Now, here’s the crucial part – you will need to submit your request for tickets while the window is open until Sunday 8 February at 11pm GMT. After the request window closes, you’ll get a second email by 11:59pm GMT on Tuesday 10 February confirming whether or not your request has been fulfilled.
Daisy Jackson -
1st December 2021 
