Elton John is set to touch down in Manchester this week as the legendary musician continues his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
Elton has just played 10 (yes TEN) shows at the O2 in London, and now he’s heading up north.
He’ll be doing three huge shows at the AO Arena as part of this tour, his final ever.
It’s all ahead of his headline performance at Glastonbury too. We all knew Elton John wasn’t going to retire without a fanfare, come on…
His unparalleled career spans six decades, five Grammy Awards, and a frankly unbelievable 31 studio albums.
His massive hits include Rocket Man, Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting), I’m Still Standing, and Candle In The Wind, which became the fastest- and biggest-selling single of all time after he performed it at Princess Diana’s funeral.
He was also the subject of the award-winning 2019 film Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton.
The tour has had to be rescheduled a couple of times but it is finally here. Here’s everything you need to know if you’re seeing Elton John in Manchester.
Elton is in town for three nights this week (it’s a really big week for live music – Coldplay are just up the road and Arctic Monkeys are on their way too).
He’ll be performing on Wednesday 31 May, Friday 2 June, and Saturday 3 June.
Tickets for Elton John at AO Arena, Manchester
Unbelievably, there are still a few tickets left for Elton John – and all three dates too.
It’s mostly down to single seats around the arena, which are priced between £136.35 and £807.35 (ouch).
There are also some restricted view tickets on sale, with discounted prices to make up for it – they’re up at £74.45.
No one. He’s doing this one solo – to be fair, he’s got enough hits to fill a few hours…
Stage times
Despite the lack of support act, ticket-holders for Elton John are in for a long old night of live music.
The iconic singer is going to fill almost three hours with his hits.
Here are the expected stage times.
Doors open – 6pm
Show starts – 7.30pm
Show finishes – 10.15pm
Elton John’s expected setlist and songs
Elton John performing in 1972. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Based on his most recent show in Belgium, here are the songs you can expect to hear.
Bennie and the Jets Philadelphia Freedom I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues Border Song Tiny Dancer Have Mercy on the Criminal Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time) Take Me to the Pilot Someone Saved My Life Tonight Levon Candle in the Wind Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Burn Down the Mission Sad Songs (Say So Much) Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me The Bitch Is Back I’m Still Standing Crocodile Rock Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting Encore: Cold Heart Your Song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
How to get to the AO Arena
Credit: AO Arena
The AO Arena is right in the heart of the city centre, so it’s fairly easy to get to.
On foot: The AO Arena is located within the Manchester Victoria Station complex in the city centre, on the corner of Trinity Way, Hunts Bank and Great Ducie Street. You can enter through the station (up the stairs), through the Trinity Way Tunnel, or from Hunts Bank.
By tram: Also super straight-forward – hop off the tram at Manchester Victoria and you’re right by the stairs to the venue. It’s also a short walk from Exchange Square and Shudehill. Trams run directly to Victoria Station from Rochdale, Bury, Altrincham, East Didsbury and the Airport.
By train: While Piccadilly is the city’s largest train station, plenty of trains do pass through Manchester Victoria. You can plan your journey through the National Rail website.
Parking: The postcode if you’re driving to the AO Arena is M3 1AR. There’s an on-site CitiPark car park with 958 spaces, which can be pre-booked here. Bear in mind that Trinity Way is closed after concerts to allow gig-goers to leave safely, though cars are allowed out of the car park with direction from staff.
About the AO Arena
The AO Arena has a few strict policies to keep gig-goers safe, so make sure to check entry requirements carefully before you travel.
For example, only one small bag per person is allowed, and bags like backpacks, travel cases and laptop bags are not permitted inside the arena.
All bags are scanned on entry to check for prohibited items like laser pens, flares, projectiles, weapons, drugs and alcohol, and even selfie sticks.
Featured image: Publicity picture
Audio
Oasis are clearly doing something very deliberate for the as-yet-unconfirmed Live ’25 reunion album
Danny Jones
We’ve still not emotionally recovered from Oasis’ five homecoming nights in Manchester, and after seeing that the band just released a live recording of ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ from Heaton Park, it’s taken us right back to Friday, 11 July, and we can’t stop thinking about a Live ’25 album.
In fact, while the live record of the reunion world hasn’t been confirmed just yet, we’re becoming increasingly convinced that this is exactly what fans are going to get – and following the second Live ’25 concert capture dropping this week, we’re almost certain we know what they’re doing.
And if so, you can consider the vinyl of the ‘Oasis Live ’25‘ LP already in the basket.
Many of you might have already thought the same thing, but for anyone it hasn’t yet clicked for, let us explain; we got the live taping of ‘Slide Away’ from the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to start with, i.e. the first stop on the world tour. Here’s a snippet of how it sounds:
Have we listened to it pretty much non-stop ever since? Yes, but concentrate, that’s not the point we’re getting at; we think Oasis are doing something very specific for their almost inevitable Live ’25 album.
Up next was the aforementioned ‘Cigs and Alcohol’, performed and recorded on home turf right here in 0161, and released in honour of their magnificent Manc comeback.
More accurately, the live version of the song is plucked from their unforgettable opening evening at Heaton Park, as opposed to any of the other five dates.
Can you see where we’re going with this yet?…
With their place of birth having waited more than a decade and a half to hear the first few iconic chords that signal the start of the timeless Oasis classic and a pure rock and roll blowout, you can literally hear the energy from the crowd in your ears.
If you haven’t heard it dozens of times already, take a listen for yourselves and feel free to Poznań wherever you happen to be reading this:
That first Poznań for #OasisManchester hit like a chuffing freight train. 🔥
Upon checking the date of the Cardiff recording of ‘Slide Away’ was taken from, we noticed that they had also chosen the inaugural night of the entire Live ’25 tour, i.e. their very first live show in 16 years.
While we’re aware an official Oasis reunion tour album is technically still TBC, if you see a third live track released after their five shows in the capital get underway this Friday (25 July), you can pretty much bank on the special live release being all but nailed on.
So, not only are we getting an Oasis Live ’25 reunion documentary from the man behind Peaky Blinders, but it looks like they’ll be providing fans with a virtual tour and a chance to experience/relive the gigs aurally, with each of the 23 tracks on the setlist being pulled from a different city on the world tour.
Now, while this isn’t an entirely unheard of idea in the world of live albums, that’s not all.
Better still, if our suspicions are correct and the next drop is taken from night one of Oasis Live ’25 in London (bonus points if you can guess which tune they go for), then the entire thing will capture the sonics and atmosphere at its best: propped up by the utter euphoria of a dream finally being realised.
We’re sure they could pull the audio at any part of the set, from any old date, and it would sound great, but nothing is like the palpable ecstasy you could quite literally hear on the opening nights in Cardiff, Manchester and, no doubt, Wembley. Having said that, the final farewell was pretty biblical too.
Put simply, isolate any night of the world tour and there’ll be something unique in the master.
Die-hards have been waiting what feels like a lifetime to finally see their favourite band in the flesh again; actually, like many of us here in Greater Manchester and indeed all over the world, some were simply too young to experience the Britpop craze and ‘Oasis Mania’ the first time around.
They obviously have a huge following not just in the UK and Ireland, but all over: the US, Japan, across South East Asia and throughout most of South America – you only have to watch clips or even hear Noel Gallagher talk about Buenos Aires to not how ‘mad fer it’ they are over there.
For a lot of fans, this IS their 1990s moment, and even those who sadly didn’t manage to get tickets have a chance to almost feel like they were there.
One thing’s for sure: if/when the Oasis Live ’25 album arrives, that Manchester buzz will take some beating in the unofficial contest to see who loves the legendary British rock band the most.
Biffy Clyro announce massive Manchester comeback on upcoming European tour
Danny Jones
British rock giants Biffy Clyro have just announced a massive Manchester gig as part of a huge tour across the UK and Europe.
The Scottish stars haven’t been to our city since 2018, if you can believe that, having seen their intended 2020 AO Arena date cancelled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
But good things come to those who wait, as they say, and now the thrashing three-piece are heading back in our direction on their 27-stop tour across the continent, including nine domestic dates in the UK and Ireland.
Announcing their return on Thursday, 24 July, the multi-award-winning outfit will be making their debut at Manchester’s newest and biggest arena.
That’s right, set to play the space for the first time, the Biffy boys will be performing at Co-op Live early next year, and you can expect fans to be clamouring for Clyro tickets the very second they go on sale.
With a capacity of 23,500, we’d say you have a decent chance of getting your hands on some, but then again, they haven’t been here in seven years – well, it’ll be close to eight by the time they get here.
More importantly, this also means they haven’t had a proper big, bouncing up and down arena gig since 2016, which means it’ll have been almost a DECADE since a full-on Manc headline show.
All that being said, we’re sure you’ll agree it’s been far too long already, and having announced their highly anticipated 10th studio album, Futique – which is set to release on 26 September – fans will have a whole bunch of new songs to hear live.
The Kilmarnock trio formed way back in 1995 and last released a record back in 2021, just months on from their previous outing, but it’s fair to say that plenty of excitement has been built in the ‘fallow years’ since that prolific period.
As if this all wasn’t exciting enough as it is, they’ll be joined by two brilliant support acts in the form of Soft Play (formerly known as Slaves) and American hardcore and punk collective, Armed.
This is going to be a real rager, isn’t it?…
Early access for Co-op members and those who pre-order the album goes live at 10am on Tuesday, 29 July, and general admission tickets will be available from the same time the following Thursday (31.9.25).
You can get ready to grab your tickets for Biffy Clyro at Co-op Live, with Manchester being their only Northern show in all of England, HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
30th May 2023 
