Niall Horan is the latest headliner to be announced as part of the Co-op Live’s massive opening season next year.
As Manchester‘s newest – and soon-to-be the UK’s largest – live entertainment arena nears closer and closer than ever to officially opening its doors and welcoming visitors, with a huge launch season that’s already jam-packed full of events, Co-op Live has today confirmed the next two music acts set to grace its stage.
The former member of boyband One Direction, turned chart-topping solo singer, is already playing the city’s current biggest stage, the AO Arena, on 5 March 2024 – but tickets for that absolutely flew off the shelves, and the show is now sold out.
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Luckily, the Irishman’s planned to pay our city another visit.
Following on from the release of his third studio album, The Show, back in June, Niall is heading out on a global tour in 2024 to celebrate, and he’s set to stop off at the Co-op Live on 27 August.
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The Show – Live On Tour 2024 is the 29-year-old’s biggest tour of his solo career, and his first headline run since 2018’s Flicker World Tour.
Horan is set to performing songs from all three of his solo albums.
Throughout 2024, he’ll play more than 30 shows in arenas right across mainland Europe, and North America in both the US and Canada.
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“My favourite thing in the world is being on tour,” Niall said ahead of 2024’s tour.
“Performing my songs for my fans and sharing those incredible moments together are the reason why I write music in the first place, and this is going to be my best tour yet so I cannot wait to see all you “lovers” on the road in 2024.
“There’s nothing better than watching the crowd sing back to you with all that emotion on their faces and knowing that they’re attaching the song to something meaningful in their own lives.
“To me, that’s always the greatest thing that can ever come from songwriting.”
Once again, as part of the highly-anticipated £365 million venue’s “pioneering” partnership, Co-op members will get the chance to gain early access to tickets through a designated presale on Wednesday 6 September at 10am, all before the general sale takes place.
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General sale tickets are available through Co-op Live from Friday 8 September at 10am, and you can grab them here.
It’s been nearly eight years since Jordan Stephens and Harley Sulé, otherwise known as iconic British duo Rizzle Kicks, released music together and played to audiences of adoring fans nationwide, instead favouring acting and other solo projects in the meantime – but now, the pair is drawing their indefinite hiatus to a close and heading out on a UK tour in 2025.
The duo, which has sold more than one million singles and 600,000 albums in the UK, is set to peform their first headline show in nearly a decade at London’s iconic KOKO in Camden next month, before they hit the road.
The highly sought-after London show sold out in less than a minute, so it’s expected that eager Greater Manchester fans will also quickly snap up tickets to see the duo’s first tour when they go on sale later this week.
Rizzle Kicks will be arriving in Manchester and taking to the beloved O2 Ritz stage in March 2025, as well as headlining other major cities like Birmingham and Brighton.
Rizzle Kicks – UK Tour Dates 2025
Wednesday 19 March – O2 Ritz, Manchester
Friday 21 March – O2 Institute, Birmingham
Saturday 22 March – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
Friday 16 May – Brighton Dome
The pair returned in style with comeback single ‘Javelin’ being released this past summer, and have now followed on with this continuation of their mature and evolved sound with new track ‘Gumdrops’ – which offers a nuanced discussion about masculinity and lad culture.
Both singles are taken from a forthcoming, as-yet-untitled, project that sees Rizzle Kicks return to the pop music space sober, in love, and equipped with life lessons, self awareness, and a maturity they’ve built on separately, while still retaining their sense of humour and humanity that sets them apart from other artists.
Rizzle Kicks will perform take to the O2 Ritz stage in Manchester on Wednesday 19 March 2025, and tickets will go on general sale from this Thursday (10 October) at 10am.
World-renowned Matilda The Musical is coming to Manchester on its major UK tour
Emily Sergeant
The world-renowned Matilda The Musical is set to head out on a major tour of the UK and Ireland from next year.
And, of course, it’ll be stopping off here in Manchester.
It has been announced today that the Royal Shakespeare Company’s smash-hit musical production, which is based on Roald Dahl’s beloved book of the same name, will embark on its second tour of the UK and Ireland in October 2025, and this includes a special four-week run at Manchester’s iconic Palace Theatre.
The critically-acclaimed musical has been seen by 12 million people across 100 cities around the world since it first debuted, and it continues to play to packed houses in London’s West End and on Broadway each week.
Maggots, it's time to be REVOLTING! 🦎@TheRSC's Matilda The Musical is heading back on tour across the UK and Ireland from Oct 2025, returning to a venue near you.
The beloved production about a determined heroine with a vivid imagination has won more than 100 global awards – including 24 for Best Musical.
Written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, and developed and directed by Matthew Warchus, the show will be celebrating its 15-year anniversary when it heads out on its UK tour towards the end of next year.
It’ll be opening at Leicester Curve in October, before travelling to other major cities like Bradford, Liverpool, Plymouth, Sunderland, Edinburgh, and of course, Manchester – where it’ll run through March and April 2026.
“When we first started working on the show, our aim was to make a lovely little jewel of a musical for the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon,” explained composer and lyricist, Tim Minchin. “We never imagined that all these years later it would still be running in the West End, have been made into a film, and is now about to embark on its second tour of the UK and Ireland.
“I’m deeply proud of Matilda The Musical, and every single talented person who continues to work on it with passion and enthusiasm.”
Matilda The Musical will be on stage at Manchester Palace Theatre from Thursday 26 March – Saturday 25 April 2026, and tickets go on sale next week.
Priority Booking for RSC and Theatre Members, and ATG Cardholders, will be from 10am on 22 October 2024, with general on sale for all venues, including Manchester, from 10am on 24 October 2024.