If you’re a kid born in the 90s or noughties, get your classic Converse on, an old-school tie out of the cupboard and oversized camo pants with an unnecessary amount of zips at the ready, because pop-rock queen Avril Lavigne is coming to Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl this week.
We hope you still have some kind of emo fringe going on and a spare spiked bracelet or two lying around somewhere, but don’t worry if not – even if Avril seemingly hasn’t aged, the rest of us have.
That’s right, the 39-year-old singer-songwriter who soundtracked the youth of so many Mancs, let alone millions of others around the world, is the very first act of Sounds of the City 2024 lineup and what a way to kick things off.
On the scene since 1999, the iconic ‘Sk8er Boi’, ‘Complicated’ and ‘Girlfriend’ singer is still up there with one of the most iconic voices on the planet and getting her to play her first-ever gig at Castlefield Bowl is some coup for the festival if you ask us. Here’s everything you need to know.
Are there tickets left for Avril Lavigne at Castlefield Bowl?
Now, we’re sorry to break the news to you but Avril Lavigne‘s Greatest Hits show at this year’s Sound of the City is a sold-out event. No surprises there, really.
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However, when it comes to big gigs like these, there’s still the chance that you might find a few spares popping up here and there on legitimate resale sites like Twickets, Viagogo, TicketSwap etc.
That being said, we always advise due diligence when it comes to picking up second-hand tickets and we urge you to avoid ticket touts by all means necessary – they’re illegal and the only way to get rid of them as a problem in the gig industry is to ignore them altogether.
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Who’s supporting Avril Lavigne in Manchester?
For those of you who are going along to the show, you’re in for another early to mid-2000s treat as the Canadian pop-rock princess is joined by her fellow compatriots Simple Plan as the main support act on this tour.
Made famous by tracks like ‘I’m Just A Kid’, ‘Perfect’, ‘Welcome To My Life’ and a version of the Scooby-Doo theme (oh yeah, that one), they’ve been going almost just as long as Avril and are still releasing new music all these years later, with their last album dropping in 2022.
They even did a collab with Natasha Bedingfield over a decade ago and if you’re wondering whether you’ve heard them before, you most definitely have but, like the Lavigne, it’ll be their first time at the Bowl so you best make it a special one.
Judging simply from last year’s times, doors to Sounds of the City typically open from 5:30pm onwards and the main event headliners don’t usually start until somewhere between 8:30-9pm.
We’ll confess there’s still a bit of guesswork since details are yet to be confirmed, but you can probably expect Simple Plan to take the stage from roughly 7-7:30pm – but once again, these are always subject to change.
Don’t worry either way, we’ll update you with the final stage times as and when we get them.
The Greatest Hits setlist
As for what the timeless singer-songwriter will be playing on the night, we have the good fortune of this being a tour in support of her recently released Greatest Hits album and having just watched her smash Glastonbury set this past weekend, so we think we have a pretty good idea of the running order.
The order might be tweaked slightly but here’s a guess and what she is likely to play based on the performance at Worthy Farm:
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Girlfriend
What the Hell
Complicated
Here’s to Never Growing Up
My Happy Ending
He Wasn’t
Don’t Tell Me
Losing Grip
I’m With You
Bite Me
Love It When You Hate Me
Sk8er Boi
That being said, other favourite tracks like ‘He Wasn’t’, ‘Head Above Water’, ‘Rock N Roll’; ‘Keep Holding On’, ‘Smile’, ‘Bois Lie’; ‘When You’re Gone’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’ could be part of a full 20 track setlist.
Imagine how much a Yungblud guest appearance for ‘I’m A Mess’ and this version of her ultimate ballad (don’t even try to argue) would go off…
Someone get a Yungblud’s flight-tracker going right now and find out if he’s heading to Manchester.
How to get there
Castlefield Bowl (M3 4JR) is on Rice Street just down Liverpool Road which cuts off the main Deansgate strip in the city centre and you can enter Manchester’s much-loved outdoor amphitheatre via Duke or Castle Street.
It’s just a short walk from Deansgate train station or the Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, where you’ll find regular trams running all over Greater Manchester.
If you’re driving there, Great Northern Warehouse’s (M3 4EE) car park, as well as two other NCPs near Bridgewater Hall and on Quay Street in Spinningfields.
Sounds as good as she ever has.We had a blast watching Blossoms at the bowl in 2023. Credit: Justin Higuchi (via Flickr)/The Manc Audio
Avril Lavigne rocks up to Castlefield Bowl on Wednesday, 3 July to kick off a great summer of music at Sounds of the City 2024, with the likes of Jungle, The National, Tom Grennan and more.
Aren’t we lucky to get such amazing names filing into the city for such massive shows every year?
As for Avril, we’ll see you there skater boys and girls!
Featured Images — Press Images/The Manc Group/Justin Higuchi (via Flickr)
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Review | PinkPantheress turns Victoria Warehouse into one huge party on first night in Manchester
Emily Johnson
There was a point during Pinkpantheress’ set at O2’s Victoria Warehouse where you almost forgot you were watching someone perform an album that barely stretches past the 20-minute mark.
Instead, night one of two Manchester shows felt like one huge club night curated by one of the most exciting British artists around right now.
From the second you walked into the venue, greeted by an army of plaid, the world of PinkPantheress (real name Victoria Beverley Walker, for those who didn’t know) completely took over.
The stage itself mirrored that energy too, with a two-tier setup that allowed her to constantly move around the space, appearing and disappearing throughout the night alongside outfit changes, dramatic lighting and eventually, a pair of angel wings.
Backed by her dancers and DJ Joe, the entire show felt slick, immersive and miles away from the early days of PinkPantheress nervously clutching onto her handbag on stage like a comfort blanket. Ironically, the handbag did make a brief appearance during the evening.
It’s a reminder of just how much her performances have evolved – and evolve they have.
What could have easily been a short and simple set instead became a fully realised live show, complete with extended dance sections, rave-inspired moments, drum solos and seamless transitions that made the whole thing feel bigger than the music alone.
There’s also something undeniably British about a PinkPantheress show: the UK garage influences, the fashion, the awkward humour, and the understated confidence all combined into something that felt distinctly hers.
At one point, she paused to laugh: “It’s hot in this venue, f*** me,” which summed up the sweaty chaos of the night perfectly.
At one point, she joked that the last time she was in Manchester, she made it all the way to the final stage of Pointless, before being told she was now “too famous” to go on the show – a perfectly PinkPantheress anecdote that had the crowd laughing immediately.
By the end of the set, Victoria Warehouse felt less like a gig venue and more like the best house party you’ve ever accidentally ended up at.
And with another Manchester show still to come, it’s safe to say the party isn’t over just yet.
Review | We need NBHD Weekender every year – and so does the North West
Danny Jones
Neighbourhood Weekender returned for 2026 this late May bank holiday, and after its second consecutive edition following an admittedly brief hiatus, we’re more confident than ever that we want this music festival on the calendar every single year.
Actually, we’d go so far as to say that lots of people around the North West and beyond NEED it.
We know plenty of people are understandably wary of potential hyperbolic declarations like that, but let us explain ourselves…
For starters, getting an opportunity to see the likes of criminally underappreciated Northern names like Richard Ashcroft playing the big slot on the main stage is a good place to start.
Many of you will have no doubt seen the Wigan legend on solo tours – not to mention serving as the pitch-perfect support act for Oasis’ reunion tour last summer – but topping the bill on Saturday night of NBHD Weekender 2026 served as yet more proof that he is, in fact, a headline act.
Maybe that changed a little for lots of people post-Live ’25, but his set was one of several over the course of the two-day festival in Victoria Park that served as a reminder of just how good lots of these long-standing acts both were and still are.
Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, The Fratellis, Mel C, Shed Seven, and so on: they’re not just nostalgic acts that those of a certain generation get to enjoy as a throwback – they’re all still incredible, seasoned performers in their own right.
They boast a wealth of experience and aptitude for playing to live crowds that you only get by being very good at what you do for a long time. You only have to look at the countless youths who quickly realised they knew more choruses than they realised, and got to sample hearing them in person for the first time.
Strong crowds from 12 noon until curfew. (Credit: Audio North)
And then speaking of the younger, more up-and-coming section of the lineup, the next generation absolutely smashed it as well. Let’s just say there were more than a few rising stars on show.
Westside Cowboy are clearly at the start of something very special and got a healthy dose of shout-outs from punters on the day; Keo were as frenetic as everyone knew they would be, Brooke Combe was on top form as she has been every time we’ve seen her, and Cassia were class.
More Mancs rose to the challenge in the form of The Guest List’s biggest show yet, too – they were also left super humbled when we spoke to them afterwards – and fellow regional band The Royston Club were nothing short of excellent, simple as.
Hearing thousands belt out ’52’ and ‘Cariad’ at the top of their lungs was one of our highlights of the entire weekend, to be honest.
Of course, then you’ve got the likes of the already established DMA’S, who were absolutely box office and made it plain how much affection they have for “their second home” up here in this part of the UK, and Sunday’s headliners, Blossoms, have proven time and time again that they’re the real deal now.
But aside from banger after banger, it was a conversation we overheard near us during the Stopfordians’ set that helped us come to this revelation.
Somewhere between their walk-out on stage and the second/third song, a bloke and his mate behind us shared an intimate moment we felt almost rude for having accidentally eavesdropped on, right up until the point it made us well up ourselves.
Without going into too much detail, this very stereotypical-sounding Northerner dropped all pretence and confessed to his friend that he’d had a tough couple of months, and that he’d been looking forward to this for weeks – not simply because Blossoms are his favourite artist, but because he needed it.
Call it a release, that hour or so of sheer abandon, or just sharing a special music memory with his best mate: whatever it was, this evening was much more than a gig to him. People throw the phrase ‘lifesaver’ around about music a lot, and it never feels like an exaggeration in moments like this.
It was also apparent that he was a working-class Warrington native who was lucky enough for his postcode to help him afford to go to Neighbourhood Weekender and have this embrace with his pal, who was in an ideal setting to have perhaps a long overdue heart-to-heart. THIS is what it means to people.
Music is therapy, and when done in its purest form – i.e. played live to people who live and breathe the stuff – it can do more good than you’ll ever know.
Danny Jones -
2nd July 2024 
