Last night, Kelis wowed a packed out crowd at Albert Hall with a show full of R&B noughties pop classics as she brought the party to Manchester.
Appearing ahead of her Glastonbury headline set this weekend, the 42-year-old singer clearly arrived on Peter Street in a party mood – rocking up in a bejewelled version of the millennial fail-safe: jeans and a nice top.
Appearing on stage twenty minutes late to a packed out crowd already champing at the bit, she wasted no time in giving the people what they wanted – diving straight into a set full of hits, her own and some covers.
Tracks like Milkshake, Bossy and Trick Me provided an inescapable soundtrack to my youth, and last night I got to relive it in all its joyful, problem-free glory.
Dancing shoulder to shoulder with my fellow elder millennials on a sweltering Manchester night, I was transported to a simpler time. A time when pop was big, loud, and euphoric, and skinny jeans were still the ultimate fashion staple.
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It was absolutely glorious.
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
It wasn’t long before she dropped Millionaire, her 2003 collab Andre 3000, followed by Caught Out There, memorable for its refrain – “I hate you so much right now” – both taken from album Tasty, a cult hit with fans but not so much with the critics.
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Good Stuff and her Ol’ Dirty Bastard collab Got Your Money weren’t far behind, sending us into fever-pitch excitement far earlier than expected. Bossy, an early doors champion for Gen Z’s ‘bad b*tch energy’, also made a brief appearance – with a verse woven into a medley as big hit followed big hit.
And so it kept going. Her ubiquitous smash hit Milkshake got a refresh with a Wu Tang Gravel Pit mash up, with other hits from the era – Crystal Walter’s Gypsy Woman, Soul II Soul’s Back To Life, and Alison Limerick’s feel good anthem Where Love Lives – getting a reference throughout.
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Then, just when we thought she couldn’t do any more, she dropped Trick Me, and her Sean Paul collab Fire, building things to a fever pitch – so much so that, when it came time for her encore, it did feel a little bit like there wasn’t really anything left to play.
That didn’t stop the crowd stomping and chatting until the gallery floor rattled, though, and she dutifully reappeared.
Kelis has been an R&B and pop icon here for as long as I can remember. Whilst the New York-born singer hasn’t always been appreciated in her home country, it’s no secret that here in Europe we can’t get enough of her.
Image: The Manc Group
Image: The Manc Group
But lately, she has made headlines recently for another reason. Namely, whispers of a romantic entanglement between her and Bill Murray, 72.
Rumours of the unlikely pairing began circulating after the deadpan comedian was spotted at several of her shows, with The Sun reporting that he “watched [Kelis] perform from the side of the stage in London last weekend – having also been spotted at her other recent shows.”
Then, a photograph of the pair started doing the rounds on social media – adding more fuel to the pyre.
Some Manchester music nerds will probably know, though, that the original image was actually of a trio, with media outlets simply choosing to crop out an inconveniently-placed Konny Kon.
The singer herself has since addressed the rumours, sort of, anyway, after replying to a fan comment on her Instagram that asked: “Ma’am would you care to address these Bill Murray allegations?!? Cuz damn [sic]! What he doing with all that?”
Kelis wrote in response: “Lol [sic] no babe, I wouldn’t bother at all.”
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We know you all want to know if we saw him there, and – being honest – we did have a good look from our perch in the gallery. We didn’t spot him, though. And we didn’t spot Konny, either.
Featured image – The MancGroup
Audio
Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs
Danny Jones
Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.
In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.
The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.
Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.
As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.
Same, mate. Same.
Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.
He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.
Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.
Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.
As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.
That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.
Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.
Antony Szmeirek announces second album along with biggest UK tour dates yet
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester spoken word artist Antony Szmeirek has finally revealed the name, cover art and release date for his second album, along with his biggest run of UK tour dates yet.
The Tameside teacher turned full-time artist dropped his maiden record, Service Station at the End of the Universe, back in February 2025, and now, just over a year on from its launch, he’s getting ready to deliver his highly anticipated follow-up.
Entitled Decoding Birdsong, the sophomore studio project is scheduled for this summer, with a series of live shows booked for the following autumn.
Having already dropped lead single ‘The Heron’ earlier this year, Szmeirek has just released the opener from his upcoming LP, which is simply called ‘Chalk’; he’s also unveiled the rest of the tracklist and a rather striking bit of album artwork.
The Hyde-born artist is making big moves not only within the spoken word space but across multiple genres, with his music blending everything from indie, hip-hop, electronica and more.
His latest song, for instance, is more of an acid-house-esque meets contemporary EDM outing, and has quickly gone down as a popular addition among fans.
On the album name itself, he’s never one to shy away from a weird title or two – case in point, ‘The Great Pyramid of Stockport’ from his debut and ‘Dave’s Angling Superstore’ on this new record.
The 34-year-old carries that same idiosyncrasy throughout his lyricism and creative concepts, as well.
‘Chalk’ is a perfect example of this, as the song is inspired by The Edge of Everything documentary: a film about the career of legendary British snooker player, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Here’s the music video…
As for his latest raft of live shows, these will be some of the biggest domestic gigs that the local lad has played in his career so far.
In addition to a pair of hometown shows here in Manchester, he is set to play a dozen different cities across Great Britain and Ireland.
Antony Szmierek UK/IE tour dates – October 2026
We’ve highlighted the Northern stops for you, too:
Georgina Pellant -
22nd June 2023 
