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Nao at New Century, Manchester – A room full of 1,000 ‘Happy People’

She was out of this world, just like her album titles.

Thomas Melia - 8th March 2025

Attending a Nao gig is worth waiting ‘Another Lifetime’ for… especially when she performs directly from the venue’s bar.

As someone who has followed this artist for quite a few years, finally getting to see her do what she does best on stage and not through a screen is immense.

Last time she stopped off in Manchester she graced Albert Hall, this time she’s opted for another historic venue, New Century. Nao clearly knows how to choose her venues wisely.

Recently, the Nottingham star released her album Jupiter. So recent in fact, that it only reached our ears two weeks ago. The Manchester crowd certainly did their homework, knowing every lyric off by heart.

The first taste of this LP skyrocketed into our ears in October when the singer-songwriter dropped ‘Wildflowers’, so it’s only fitting this marks the opening of this setlist.

This single’s accompanying music video saw her swarmed in a field of red-hue wild grass and it’s made its way to our vibrant city, decorating the Manchester stage.

To follow this, she plays two tracks both taken from her other planetary project Saturn. ‘If You Ever’ is a great fire-starter ahead of a cracking night of live music.

It’s almost like someone flips a switch as the audience immediately understands the assignment, feeling every rhythm in their body, rapping The Lumineers name-dropping ‘Make It Out Alive’ verbatim.

Four songs in and ‘Happy People’ gets a turn at exciting the crowd. This uplifting and guitar-plucking number is one you can’t help but move to and New Century proves just that.

Nao’s personality flutters over the wild grass adorning the stage and radiates into the flurry of fans. One of these fans has travelled all the way from Portugal and ‘Tommy’, the Manchester legend, who’s attended every city centre tour date, both of which Nao pointed out.

When the 37-year-old star sings her two Mura Masa produced bangers, that bouncy floor at New Century isn’t ready for what’s about to unfold.

Initiating the two-track ensemble the “Woa woa woa woa woa” filled, ‘Complicated’, excites and emits an electric energy, definitely helped by Nao’s necessary yet unexpected dance break.

With the second anthemic instalment of the night ‘Firefly’, Nao sings, “Just say you’ll be my firefly” and with vocals this hypnotic, the crowd would do anything she asked of them.

An encore usually means giving a three minute rendition of your biggest hit. Well for Nao this isn’t enough. Instead she takes things one step further, climbing onto the venue’s bar for a stripped back version of ‘Another Lifetime’ and after those vocals my legs were liquid jelly.

Ending the night on even more of a high, Nao sings ‘Drive and Disconnect’ a standout in her discography and a much-loved track, proved by the fact she brings fans on stage to close the night with her.

Don’t meet your idols, they say, but when your idol is even better live than on her studio recordings, it’s hard to stay away. Thank you Nao for blessing Manchester once again and me for the very first time.

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Featured Image: The Manc Group