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Strictly Come Dancing Live at Manchester’s AO Arena — tickets, dancers, stage times and more

The stage is set — are you?

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 3rd February 2024

Strictly Come Dancing Live is coming back to Manchester for a double-header this weekend and we can’t wait to be back in the AO Arena.

There are very few things that make us as happy as getting in the mood for a full day of ballroom dancing, pageantry, more than a few glasses of fizz and all-around good vibes.

For anyone who hasn’t soaked up every last detail of the programme or might be tagging along to one of the two dates last minute, we thought we’d put together a quick event guide for you so you know what’s going on and when.

With Strictly Live‘s first Manchester date of 2024 taking place this Saturday, 3 February and then again on Sunday, here’s everything you need to know.

Are there tickets left for Strictly Come Dancing Live?

You’re in luck: there absolutely is! You can still grab a fair few tickets in the back sections of the AO Arena from £42.50 as well as a handful in the lower tier of seats for around £65 on Saturday, but don’t worry if you’re busy that day, there are plenty of seats still going for Sunday’s showings.

You can even spring for the VIP suites in Electric Lounge if you fancy feeling a bit bougie and having been lucky enough to try it out a couple of times ourselves, we have to admit it’s well worth treating yourself for a special occasion.

You can grab yours HERE.

What’s the show’s format?

Directed again by Craig Revel Horwood and co., the 2024 Strictly Live Tour showcases all the choreography, live music and sparkle of the much-loved TV series, hosting both an afternoon and evening show on each day.

Seven celebrity contestants and their professional dance partners will twirl and shimmy their way across the AO Arena ballroom floor, ready for the tour judges to provide their wisdom and scores. Just as with last year’s tour, there will also be sign language interpreters for each show.

But it’s the audience who ultimately call the shots, voting for their favourites via text from within the arena, with a champion crowned at the end of every show. Just like the real thing only more compact.

Who’s dancing this year?

Whilst Strictly legends Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Craig Revel Horwood are returning to their judging seats once, with It Takes Two’s Janette Manrara also back as tour host, the lineup for Live performances changes each and every year and, just like show itself, that’s all part of the fun.

Taking the stage this year, the celebrity dancers include actor and model Bobby Brazier, dancing with Dianne Buswell; tennis champion and presenter Annabel Croft with tour partner Graziano Di Prima, journalist and broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy dancing with tour partner Jowita Przystal, as well as fellow presenter Angela Scanlon dancing with Carlos Gu.

Rounding out the 2024 Strictly Live Tour lineup are Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington, along with Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin.

strictly come dancing live contestants manchester ao arena
Credit: Strictly Come Dancing Live (via Instagram)

What are the stage times for Strictly Live Manchester?

As for when you’ll get to see all of the glitz and glamour, AO Arena will be opening its doors from 1pm and 6pm for the morning and evening shows, respectively, on Saturday and around 12 noon and then again at 5pm for the Sunday show.

That should give you plenty of time to make your way around the concourse, grab any food and drink you want for the show, as well as some stylish Strictly merch we hope, before finding your seat.

Saturday’s matinee show is due to start around 2:30pm and then reset for the evening show at 7:30pm, with Sunday’s programming kicking off from 1:30pm and then again at 6:30pm.

Parking and public transport for AO Arena

If you’re driving in for the show, there’s a large multi-storey car park based right next to the AO Arena, with access through the car park to the main entrance of the venue.

Trinity Way will be closed southbound between Great Ducie Street and Cheetham Hill Road for up to an hour as guests leave, but if you’re parking at the Arena itself you’ll still be allowed to exit during this time — just turn right and follow the diversions.

As for getting there via public transport, your nearest stop is Manchester Victoria, with trains and trams going directly into the station where you can then walk directly up the steps and straight into the attached Arena entrance, with plenty of bus stops and taxi bays right outside too.

Read more:

And that should just about do you, the only thing left for you to do is get all dolled up and sparkly, sit back and enjoy Strictly Come Dancing Live in Manchester.

The AO Arena absolutely smashed when it came to keeping Mancs entertained last year and you can find out more about all the other big events happening at Manchester’s AO Arena in the first half of 2024 right here on The Manc.

Keeeep dancing!

All the biggest and best events coming up at Manchester’s AO Arena in the first half of 2024

Featured Images — Marc Brenner/Strictly Come Dancing (via Instagram)

What's On

What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff

Danny Jones Danny Jones All the info we know about Oasis Live '25 reunion night 1 Cardiff

Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.

There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.

Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.

So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.

The timings (roughly)

For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.

Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.

However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?

Credit: Oasis (via Instagram)/Dianne Bourne (screenshot via X)

The Live ’25 setlist – or at least on night one

Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.

Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.

Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was not the old intro, ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many suspected, but ‘Hello’, rather fittingly.

As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.

They’ll still be reactive

That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.

As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.

That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.

Gallagher brothers pay touching tribute to Diogo Jota on first night of Oasis reunion tour
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.

A bigger focus on production than ever

The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.

In fairness, so too has the music indusry as a whole – you’d be hard-pressed to found a tech team that could pull of the pre-gig light-show they put on in the days leading up to night one at the Principality – but it was still cool to see the greatest rock band in the world be given a proper big budget backdrop.

For instance, you can see what flashed on the gigantic screens behind them as they walked out in front of more than 70,000 in Cardiff down below.

What a way to make an entrance…

Blues, through and through

Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.

Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.

Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.

The bitterness had turned to banter

It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.

Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.

We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.

They actually seem to like each other again

As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.

Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.

But that was just one small moment.

The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:

They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so

All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…

They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.

From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.

Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Oasis (via X)/Finnlay K (via Instagram)

What's On

Grassroots music venue The Yard announces new outdoor festival – and it’s got a great name

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

City centre grassroots music venue The Yard has just announced its new outdoor festival, where you can expect lots of impressive local live music.

Independent and grassroots music venue, The Yard, is known for hosting some of the best gigs, creative events and live music in the city, and this festival is no different.

Titled ‘Stranger Ways’ – if you don’t get that reference, then we don’t know what to tell you – anyone attending can expect to hear music that champions Manchester’s indie spirit, with a lot of local talent represented in the lineup.

There’s an appearance from Alex Spencer, who has previously featured in our Manc artists of the month back in May.

Alex Spencer is set to headline day one of Stranger Ways Festival.
Alex Spencer is set to headline day one of Stranger Ways Festival.
The Yard is a brilliant venue known for hosting a variety of live music events.
The Yard is a brilliant venue known for hosting a variety of live music events.
Credit: Supplied

This talent has seen praise from the likes of Lady Gaga and The Coral, even getting his track ‘Nightmares’ featured in EA Sports FC25 (FIFA).

Wigan lads The Lilacs are also fronting the bill, known for their high energy sets and indie tune ‘Vicarage Road’ which they performed live at The Yard for music TV show, Spill The Sound.

They’ve seen massive success this year playing at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this summer and supporting ‘Every Breath You Take’ penman Sting in Cardiff.

Another of our picks for Manc artists of the month for June, Arkayla. Named after “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991, the band will be stopping by to sing a couple of their hits, too.

The band are already making waves, quite literally, receiving plays from one of the biggest rock radio stations in the UK, Radio X.

Wigan band The Lilacs are set to headline day two of Stranger Ways Festival.
Wigan band The Lilacs are set to headline day two of Stranger Ways Festival.
Arkayla are one of the headliners for The Yard's new outdoor festival.
Arkayla are one of the headliners for The Yard’s new outdoor festival.
Credit: Supplied

And of course this festival falls during Oasis’ massive reunion tour, so it would be rude not to have a tribute act, or two, performing at this outdoor festival – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Carpets and The Oasis Experience.

Now, as far as tribute bands go, that’s up there with one of the best and quietly clever names we’ve heard since we came across, well… Stranger Ways.

Speaking of Oasis, every ticket purchased for The Yard’s outdoor festival, Stranger Ways, gets entered into a prize draw to win tickets for one of the Burnage boys’ Wembley gigs with an overnight stay.

Erm. Yes. Please.

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Stranger Ways Festival is taking place at The Yard across 19 and 20 July – To access the full lineup and grab your tickets, you can find everything you need to know HERE.

Anyone who has managed to bag themselves those precious Oasis tickets is in luck too, as if you can show proof on arrival to The Yard, you can guarantee yourself free entry.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – Publicity Pictures (via Supplied)

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