Coldplay appear to have just announced a huge concert in Manchester through a hidden message in their latest music video.
The British rock band released the video for Humankind last night, which features footage from their stadium show in Mexico City.
At the very beginning of the video, a drone whizzes around the quiet city streets – but all is not quite as it seems.
Did that taxi passing by have ‘Amsterdam’ written on it? Why is there a poster in the train station advertising Cardiff? And who has scrawled Barcelona in the graffiti under the bridge?
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it easter eggs and clues in Humankind also mention cities including Coimbra, Milan, Naples, Zurich, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.
ADVERTISEMENT
If Coldplay’s fans are to be believed, this is the group announcing new 2023 tour dates across Europe – and Manchester looks to be on the cards.
A teaser for Zurich in the new Coldplay video.
I have neither the time nor the patience to decode the scrambled symbols scrolling around on screen, but one clever sod on Twitter has done the work for us.
ADVERTISEMENT
They found that it contained a potted history of Coldplay’s 26-year career, as well as venues around Europe.
COLDPLAY SEARCH
AMSTERDAM
ETIHAD STADIUM
AND RECEIVED A BRIT AWARD FOR BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR A GRAMMY AWARD FOR BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM AS WELL AS A MERCURY PRIZE NOMINATED pic.twitter.com/g5xIbWrbGI
If their decoding work is to be believed, Coldplay are going to perform at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
It’s great news for Mancs, as the band skipped our city on their current tour, which has included six sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium as well as dates in Glasgow.
Coldplay are famously big fans of a cryptic message, even inventing their own language to tease details of their most recent album, Music of the Spheres.
And now it looks like they’re dropping a trail of breadcrumbs for their next tour too.
Watch this space…
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
Lily Allen at AO Arena, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for West End Girl UK tour
Lydia Mastrolonardo
The ‘Nonmonogamummy’ herself, Lily Allen, is visiting AO Arena in Manchester for her theatrical and unforgettable West End Girl UK tour.
After releasing one of 2025’s biggest albums West End Girl, a run of intimate gig dates up and down the country were announced including right here at Aviva Studios in Manchester in March.
The demand for this British pop star to add more dates was inevitable and that’s exactly what Allen did, as she now kicks off an arena tour across the UK.
Once wasn’t ‘Just Enough’, and we’ve been blessed with not one, but two nights of Lily Allen at the AO Arena in Manchester, on Friday 19 June and Saturday 20 June – lucky us.
Although the ‘Smile’ singer refrains from playing some of her older smash hits, this gig is still remarkable, with the Hammersmith-born singer performs the previously mentioned tongue-in-cheek LP in full.
Meet us at the ‘Pussy Palace’ (aka the AO Arena) for an evening of messy lyrics and quality vocals, fulfilling all of our nosey desires, she even provides text receipts for us to read.
Expect to feel like you’re having your friend relay the truth about their toxic relationship post-break up and then celebrating them finally leaving that loser – Lily just gets us.
Gig Guide | Lily Allen at AO Arena, Manchester
Lily Allen returns to Manchester for two gigs at AO Arena. Credit: Henry Redcliffe
Lily Allen UK tour dates
16 June – Newcastle Utilita Arena
17 June – Glasgow OVO Hydro
19 June – Manchester AO Arena
20 June– Manchester AO Arena
21 June – Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
23 June – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
24 June – Cardiff Utilita Arena
26 June – Birmingham BP Pulse Live
27 June – London The O2
30 June – Dublin 3Arena
Are there tickets left for Lily Allen at AO Arena?
Yes and it’d be a real ‘Shame For You’ to miss out on this one.
Lily’s gone for a rather novel support act on her West End Girl tour, which is proving to be quite a laugh at arenas so far.
She’s pulled in Dallas Minor Trio to warm up the crowds, a trio of cellists who perform a setlist of Lily Allen’s biggest hits from through the years.
And if that’s not enough, they put the lyrics on screen too, so it’s like a true karaoke moment.
Lily Allen setlist for 2026 tour
The show ‘Lily Allen Performs West End Girl‘ will see the singer/songwriter play her brand-new album in its entirety, in the order the songs appear on the record:
West End Girl
Ruminating
Sleepwalking
Tennis
Madeline
Relapse
Pussy Palace
4chan Stan
Nonmonogamummy
Just Enough
Dallas Major
Beg For Me
Let You W/In
Fruityloop
Stage times for Lily Allen at AO Arena, Manchester
Lily Allen has announced a gig at the AO Arena in Manchester. Credit: Charlie Denis
These are the only times that are confirmed, but it’s expected that Lily Allen will be on stage around 9pm:
Doors open 6pm
Starts 7.50pm
Getting to AO Arena
Tram
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station, and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
ADVERTISEMENT
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena andVictoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces, including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
Drink prices for Parklife 2026 revealed, with big new discount leading to £5.04 pints
Daisy Jackson
As tens of thousands of music fans flock up to Parklife for the 2026 edition of the hit Manchester festival, the question they’ll all be asking is – what are the drink prices looking like?
Well thanks to sneak preview inside the festival site this afternoon, we can exclusively let you know exactly how much beer, wine, spirits and more will be costing you in Heaton Park this weekend.
The bars will be the same for Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts on Friday 19 June too, who’ll be performing on the main The Valley stage before Parklife kicks off.
Brand-new for this year is a cheeky trick to get a 20% discount at the bars right across Heaton Park.
That means beers could cost as little as £5.04, pre-mixed cans like White Claw could be as cheap as £6.40, and wine could be £6.80.
The new discount scheme is thanks to Parklife partnering with PayPal, so if you’re a PayPal customer you might be able to nab 20% off drink prices throughout the weekend.
To claim your discount, you’ll to sign up for a PayPal account and set up a virtual card on your phone’s wallet – then whenever you pay with that card, the discount is automatically applied.
Without it, you’re looking at between £6.30 and £7 for beers and ciders, around £12 for a spirit and mixer, and between £8 and £9 for pre-mixed cans.
Parklife 2026 drink prices
Beer and cider
Budweiser Lager – £6.70 normal / £5.36 PayPal
Corona Extra – £6.30 normal / £5.04 PayPal
Kopparberg Crisp Apple – £7 normal / £5.60 PayPal
Spirit & Mixer
Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka – £12 normal / £9.60 PayPal
Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold – £12 normal / £9.60 PayPal
Gordon’s London Dry Gin – £12 normal / £9.60 PayPal
Johnnie Walker Black Label – £12 normal / £9.60 PayPal
Casamigos Blanco Tequila – £15 normal / £12 PayPal
*Double measures, single measures priced £8/10 for normal, £6.40/8 PayPal
Premixed cans
Smirnoff Ice – £8 normal / £6.40 PayPal
Smirnoff Miami Peach – £9 normal / £7.20 PayPal
Smirnoff Raspberry Crush – £9 normal / £7.20 PayPal
Captain Morgan & Pepsi Max – £9 normal / £7.20 PayPal
Party Punch
Beatbox Blue Razzberry – £8.50 normal / £6.80 PayPal
Beatbox Fruit Punch – £8.50 normal / £6.80 PayPal
Beatbox Juicy Mango – £8.50 normal / £6.80 PayPal
Beatbox Orange Blast – £8.50 normal / £6.80 PayPal
White Claw
White Claw Strawberry – £8 normal / £6.40 PayPal
White Claw Mango – £8 normal / £6.40 PayPal
White Claw Black Cherry – £8 normal / £6.40 PayPal
White Claw Natural Lime – £8 normal / £6.40 PayPal
Wine
Rose/white wine – £8.50 normal / £6.80 PayPal
Soft Drinks
Pepsi Max / Pepsi Max Cherry / 7UP Free – £3.50 normal / £2.80 PayPal
Rockstar Original / Tropical Guava – £4.25 normal / £3.40 PayPal
Lipton Peach – £4 normal / £3.20 PayPal
Still Water – £2.50 normal / £2 PayPal
Alcohol-free
Captain Morgan 0.0 with mixer – £9 normal / £7.20 PayPal
Corona Cero – £5.50 normal / £4.40 PayPal
Koppaberg Strawberry & Lime Zero – £5.50 normal / £4.40 PayPal
Daisy Jackson -
18th August 2022 
