Girls Aloud will be performing in Manchester for the first time in more than a decade this week.
The iconic pop group are about to take on a three-night residency at the huge AO Arena, a tour that will honour founding bandmate and Mancunian Sarah Harding who sadly passed away in 2021.
Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine, Nicola and Sarah won over the nation on Popstars: The Rivals, and have legions of loyal fans excited to see hits like Sound of the Underground, Love Machine, and The Promise live.
Girls Aloud will be marking their 20 year anniversary with the tour, which kicked off in Dublin and is almost ready to head across to Manchester.
If you’re going along to the AO Arena to see Girls Aloud, here’s everything you need to know.
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Tickets for Girls Aloud in Manchester
There are still a handful of tickets available for Girls Aloud’s three shows in Manchester, though a lot of those are resale tickets.
You can also book hospitality packages and platinum seats still.
Stage times are always subject to change, but based on Girls Aloud’s tour dates so far, this is when you should be able to expect them to hit the stage.
Doors – 6pm
Support – 7.30pm
Girls Aloud – 8.45pm
Support act
Warming up the crowds so far has been DJ Mr Theo, who’s been filling arenas with back-to-back pop bangers.
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It should set the tone for a pop-tastic evening in Manchester.
Act I Untouchable The Show Something New Love Machine Can’t Speak French Biology Whole Lotta History Act II Wake Me Up Sound of the Underground Girl Overboard No Good Advice Graffiti My Soul Long Hot Summer I’ll Stand by Youn(Pretenders cover) ACT III Sexy! No No No… On the Metro Jump (For My Love) Call the Shots Something Kinda Ooooh Encore: The Promise
The Mezz at the AO Arena
The Mezz restaurant at the AO ArenaThe Mezz bar at the AO Arena
The Mezz is the AO Arena’s newly-opened, ultra-luxury members’ bar and restaurant, where gig-goers can kick back in relax in beautiful surroundings before, during and after the show.
There are a range of packages, including themed bottomless offers (for Girls Aloud, that means prosecco and small plates), plus a restaurant with a menu created by Simon Rogan.
Then you can head through your own dedicated entrance into the plush seats reserved for The Mezz guests.
Gig tickets, signed merch and more up for grabs in important Headstock charity fundraiser
Daisy Jackson
Some huge music-related prizes have been announced as part of a major charity fundraising campaign for the music industry.
Headstock, a Manchester-based music and mental health social enterprise, is running a Crowdfunder campaign with prizes including tickets to huge arena shows, signed merch, and loads more.
Headstock has announced the campaign to raise funds for the support of MUSIC 85258, a 24/7 confidential text support service launched last year to support those working in the music industry.
The text support service is run in partnership with Music Minds Matter and delivered by Shout.
Headstock’s mission since its inception has been to deliver music-led solutions to tackle the growing mental health crisis, both within the music industry and beyond.
The dedicated mental health text support service has already drummed up loads of support, including being signposted back-of-house in key venues like the AO Arena, Co-op Live, and Warehouse Project.
Now, Headstock is running a fundraiser campaign to keep this vital service thriving, pulling together some major prizes across multiple prize draws.
These prizes have been donated by local Manchester bands and venues, and include VIP Parklife tickets, VIP to shows at the AO Arena and Co-op Live, season passes for WHP, and signed merch from the likes of Elbow, Courteeners and New Order.
To enter each prize draw, make a donation to the Crowdfunder – the bigger your donation, the more entries you will receive.
You can see all the prizes up for grabs and make a donation below – or you can just donate to Headstock HERE.
All the prizes in the Headstock fundraiser
Aitch – A pair of tickets to see Aitch’s headline show at Mayfield Depot + 4x signed albums – HERE
Parklife – 2x pairs of VIP tickets to Parklife 2026 – HERE
All money raised will be donated to mental health charity, Shout, who deliver MUSIC 85258 – a free, confidential and 24/7 text support service for anyone working within the music industry.
MUSIC 85258 is a de-escalation service for anyone working in the music industry who is struggling with their mental health. It is a partnership between Headstock, Music Minds Matter and Shout, with Mental Health Innovations providing the underlying service through Shout’s network of trained volunteers. To use the service, anyone that is struggling simply needs to text the word “MUSIC” to 85258 to connect with a volunteer for in-the-moment support.
Richard Ashcroft announces all-North West lineup of support acts for Alexandra Palace headliner
Danny Jones
Wigan’s finest, Richard Ashcroft, has announced an all-North-Western lineup for his upcoming headline show at ‘Ally Pally’.
The former Verve frontman is not only riding a fresh wave of popularity thanks to supporting Oasis on their incredible Live ’25 world tour, but also recently released his long-awaited new album, Lovin’ You.
Not just a Manc music icon but one of the biggest names to have come out of his borough, specifically, the legendary lyricist is finally getting more like the kind of recognition he deserves, and is making sure to pay that exposure forward in the best way possible.
He could have picked from all manner of big British acts as supports at Alexandra Palace, but Richard Ashcroft has chosen to keep flying the regional flag by picking a group he’s spent the last few months with, as well as a fellow Greater Manchester act.
That’s right: as well as signing up Liverpool’s very own Oasis Live ’25 openers, Cast, as one of the warm-up acts, the 54-year-old has also chosen another native Wigan artist in the form of The Lathums to join him for the momentous headline show.
Much-loved not only in their hometown but across Manchester and beyond, the indie favourites – who also released their latest studio LP, Matter Does Not Define, back in February – the young band are only getting better and becoming more established as time goes on.
Having already played the likes of the AO Arena here in Manchester and booked numerous big festival slots of the past few years, we reckon you can pretty much bank on them headlining this historic and bucket list venue for themselves in the future.
In terms of Cast, the scousers continue one of the busiest years for touring in their career by supporting ‘King Richard’, having followed up supporting ‘LG’ in 2024 to both Gallagher brothers over the summer.
As for Ashcroft himself, we’re glad to see him back releasing new music, and can confirm his seventh record is a great listen.
By no means our favourite, but just a taste of his latest sound.
Now, if you were wondering why we’re talking about this show over any of the other gigs (namely the Northern ones) on his upcoming UK run, it’s because most of the tour has now sold out.
His Co-op Live date was obviously the first to go, with Cardiff’s Principality Stadium going shortly after, and extra dates being added in the likes of London, Liverpool and over in Leeds.
If you do happen to be in the capital already or are willing to make a trip to London for the show, there are still some tickets left for Richard Ashcroft at Ally Pally in July 2026.
Cannot wait to hear how this sounds in that storied room:
Daisy Jackson -
21st May 2024 
