Sounds of the City 2024 is now well and truly underway and with Loyle Carner next up at Castlefield Bowl, the party is stepping up another gear.
The British rapper, who has carved out a sizeable space for himself in the overlapping jazz-fuelled and neo-soul spaces, is one of the biggest hip-hop artists in the UK and genuinely might be one of the first names that comes to mind when we think of a chilled voice we love listening to.
Loyle Carner has fast become one of our favourite solo artists in recent years but it’s also worth reminding those who might be new to his music that the London-born lyricist has been at this for well over a decade now.
Now, over a year on from his big slot at BBC Radio 6 Music Festival 2023, the 29-year-old is on his way back to Manchester as the latest act at this year’s Sounds of the City and here’s everything you need to know if you’re going along.
For those of you looking for a last-minute Loyle ticket, you’re in luck because there are still a handful of general admission spots up for grabs.
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At £45 including fees, they’re pretty reasonably priced too, especially for such a big name and what has become a super popular city centre festival of late.
You can grab yours HERE but be quick about it or you’ll be rolling the dice on a reseller.
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Who is supporting Loyle Carner at Castlefield Bowl?
Another reason you can be happy with that ticket price is who you’re getting for the support act too, as opening up for Loyle will be fellow soul and hip hop connoisseurs Children of Zeus, who have a bit of legendary local status.
The Manc duo are both equally respected MCs, producers and beat-makers in their own right, so it’s no surprise their fellow contemporary gave them the nod for the show and it’ll be great to see them taking centre stage in front of a packed-out amphitheatre.
They also epitomise the smooth and RnB-inspired soulful sound that complements Carner’s sounds so well, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a live collab.
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Stage times for Sounds of the City 2024
For those who’ve never been, this is your wonderful venue for Manchester’s Sounds of the City festival (Credit: The Manc Audio)
Another thing a lot of people like about Sounds of the City is that the gigs tend to lean a little bit towards the earlier side of gigs, as doors open from 5:30pm and headliners don’t usually take the stage until between 8-9pm, though in Carner’s case, he is currently expected to wrap things up around 9:30pm.
This means you can look at around the 6-7pm mark for the warm-ups but, of course, these things are always subject to change so take that info with a pinch of salt and keep an eye out on socials.
We will update you on timings as we have more details.
Setlist
Now, while many of his recent gigs have been festival slots, so we can’t be too sure of what exactly to expect when it comes to his running order of tracks, you can expect plenty of tracks from his latest album hugo to be in the mix.
Also, thanks to the likes of ever-trusty Setlist.fm, we can at least give you a rough average estimate of what you might be listening to:
Castlefield Bowl (M3 4JR) is on Rice Street just down Liverpool Road which cuts off the main Deansgate strip in the city centre and you can enter Manchester’s much-loved outdoor amphitheatre via Duke or Castle Street.
It’s just a short walk from Deansgate train station or the Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop, where you’ll find regular trams running all over Greater Manchester.
If you’re driving there, Great Northern Warehouse’s (M3 4EE) car park, as well as two other NCPs near Bridgewater Hall and on Quay Street in Spinningfields.
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Danny Jones -
8th July 2024 
