Ed Sheeran is about to embark on an enormous four-night stint at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium.
The hugely popular singer-songwriter will take to the stage for the first time on Thursday 9 June, and will perform every evening until Sunday night.
The four-night run is part of the Mathematics Tour, with Ed heading on to Glasgow and then to perform five shows at the Wembley Stadium in Glasgow.
It follows the release of his fourth studio album Equals, released last autumn.
This will be the first time Ed has performed in the city since May 2018 when he again completed four nights at the Etihad Stadium.
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With a capacity of a whopping 60,000 per night for music concerts, there’ll be a lot of people heading to see Ed Sheeran this weekend.
Here’s what you need to know.
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How to get to the Etihad Stadium
There’s a lot of travel advice out there this weekend, especially if you’re heading to Ed’s gig on Saturday night (when The Killer, Alicia Keys and Parklife are all taking place at once at other venues).
The roads are expected to be busy so gig-goers are urged to leave their cars at home and use public transport where possible.
Metrolink trams take less than 10 minutes to run between the city centre and the Etihad Campus stop.
Sunday 12 June – Level 1 unreserved seating and pitch standing, £82.50; limited single seats in reserved seating, £82.50.
You can also pick up tickets through resale sites, though you should only pay face value for these through official websites like Ticketmaster’s fan-to-fan resale service.
Who is supporting?
Maisie Peters
Credit: Facebook, Maisie Peters
Maisie Peters’ career launched on YouTube, before she signed with Atlantic Records and began her rise to stardom.
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Her debut album, You Signed Up For This, was released under Ed Sheeran’s label Gingerbread Man Records.
She’s racked up more than half a billion streams online for her singles, including Worst of You, Favourite Ex, and Place We Were Made.
Dylan
Credit: Facebook, DYLAN
Ed Sheeran has recruited a fellow Suffolk musician to join him on tour, in 22-year-old Dylan.
This up-and-coming indie-pop musician recently released her third EP, No Romeo.
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She’ll head out on her own tour this autumn, with gigs at Manchester’s Gorilla and similar venues right across the UK.
What are the stage times?
❤️🤍 SIXTY THOUSAND ❤️🤍
Tonight has set a record for the highest-ever attended concert in the North East 🤩🎶
Ed Sheeran will perform at the Etihad this week. Credit: Dan Martensen
This tour of Ed Sheeran’s has gone digital, which means your phone will act as your ticket.
Make sure to check your booking confirmation in plenty of time to see what you need to download and have ready.
Ed’s website states: “To gain access to the concert you are required to bring your fully charged mobile phone or smartphone. You will be required to produce a valid form of photo ID that matches the name on the tickets.
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“Accepted forms of Photo ID are – A current driver’s licence (including provisional licence), a current or recently expired passport (provided the picture is a good resemblance of the holder).”
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
Richard Ashcroft teases long-awaited return with new music
Danny Jones
Local music legend Richard Ashcroft has teased his return to the studio after seemingly teasing new music on social media.
The Wigan icon remains one of the most revered Greater Manchester musicians around, from his years as The Verve frontman to his much-celebrated solo stuff.
However, it’s been a while since we’ve heard new music from Ashcroft, with his most recent release coming in the form of an acoustic collection of classics back in 2021; his last album, Natural Rebel, came out nearly seven whole years ago.
With that in mind, when we hopped on social media to see that the ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ and ‘Lucky Man’ singer had uploaded a number of posts along with a date, it’s fair to say we got rather giddy.
The lyricist with the most luscious lips in the game.New Richard Ashcroft music looks to be on the way. (Credit: Richard Ashcroft via X)
Beginning the tease campaign earlier this month, Ashcroft posted nothing but the date “22.05.2025” on his X account, leaving fans scrambling around to try and dig up more details.
Then, shared just two days later, a glowing image of his face was revealed along with an identical caption in what looks to be a snapshot from a new music video, perhaps?
Sure enough, we got the left-hand image of that instantly recognisable pout on Monday, 19 May, accompanied not only by that same date and the ‘Lover’.
Although it’s still unclear as to whether this is the name of/album artwork for a long-awaited seventh studio LP or merely the title of a new lead single from whatever his next project is, all we know is Britpop fans are buzzing – us included.
We were already stoked to hear him confirmed as one of the support acts for the upcoming Oasis reunion shows late last year, and now there’s the prospect of hearing him play new material, we literally cannot wait for the summer.
The 53-year-old’s discography is rich enough as it is, but it feels like we’ve waited forever for a new record; that being said, we really do hope we’re getting ‘RA7’.
Regardless, Ashcroft has never disappointed on the live stage, with his landmark homecoming shows at Robin Park being nothing short of a massive deal for the town.
Here’s hoping we get a full album and a UK tour with plenty of Northern dates to boot. We don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Guess we’ll find out Thursday, 22 May.
Where does he rank among your favourite Manc musicians?
Flash sale launches with two-for-one tickets to some of Manchester’s biggest gigs
Thomas Melia
Two upcoming Manchester gigs are having a flash sale where you can get your hands on some very limited 2 for 1 tickets.
The two biggest arenas in Manchester are hosting exclusive discounts on two of the biggest upcoming Manchester gigs.
If you’re after tickets to Co-op Live’s offering you’ll have to act fast as they have a legend in attendance, quite literally, as John Legend is set to take to the stage on Thursday 29 May.
It’s a very special gig for the singer-songwriter as he celebrates 20 years of ‘Get Lifted’ where Mr. Legend will be playing tracks from his debut album like ‘Ordinary People’, sprinkling in more hits too.
AO Arena are also running a limited 2 for 1 ticket discount and we’re certain it’s about to get ‘Hot In Herre’ as St. Louis MC Nelly brings his UK tour to this very stage along with a troupe of famous stars.
Anyone interested in finding ‘Where The Party At’ doesn’t have to look much further than Saturday 7 June when Nelly brings his tour to Manchester with Eve, St. Lunatics, Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous.
Co-op Live is running a limited 2 for 1 offer on John Legend tickets.AO Arena have a 2 for 1 flash sale on tickets to see Nelly and special guests.Credit:Publicity Picture (via Supplied) / Flickr
‘Let Me Blow Ya Mind’ because these tickets are too good to pass on especially when you get the opportunity to see all these rap legends under the same roof for less than three figures at £90.
And we’re giving you the ‘Green Light’ about John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ when we say these 2 for 1 tickets total at £70, It’s ‘Written In The Stars’.
Anyone after 2 for 1 tickets for John Legend and his upcoming ‘Get Lifted – 20th Anniversary Tour’ can find this exclusive running until 28 May HERE.
And there’s no ‘Dilemma’ in sight as you can get 2 for 1 tickets to see Nelly and his music crew on their ‘Where The Party At’ tour HERE.