This month sees huge gigs from electronic titans The Prodigy, as well as pop-punk star Yungblud. Away from the arenas, Afrobeat icon Femi Kuti comes to town with his UK-based band Positive Force, and soulful party ensemble Nubiyan Twist visits to New Century Hall too. There are day parties aplenty to help you boogie your way through the Bank Holiday weekend, and not to mention, the biggest pop star of the moment comes to Co-op Live. Nature is healing, as they say.
Manchester Punk Festival
Arriving in Manchester over Easter weekend, Manchester Punk Festival is the result of sitting ‘three different promoters in a pub to discuss starting something where the bands we know and love can play to new people who would appreciate them’. There’s seven venues and countless acts from across the punk universe. There’s also talks and comedy, if you’re in need of a breather. It’ll be cathartic, it’ll be rowdy, it’ll be extremely good.
Easter Weekend party with Persona x Bar Shrimp
This Easter weekend Louie G, Ethan McNamara and Ryan Ingleby – aka the Persona crew – are on the tunes at seafood and cocktail spot Bar Shrimp. There are also fried chicken sandos and a £7 mystery punch bowl – because of course there is – until it’s gone. Yet another spot-on piece of programming from this painfully cool spot. It’s free, but you’ll need to book in advance.
Sunday Club – DJ Perception, Finn, Esqueezy & BFTT
Head to Salford’s The White Hotel to enjoy one of our favourite day parties. Sunday Club is resurrected via UKG polymath DJ Perception, who leads the charge with a holy trinity of residents – Finn, ESqueezy and BFTT. It starts at 4pm and ends at 11pm, there’s food and merch stalls, making it pretty much the optimal party for people who don’t want to ruin their week before it’s already begun.
Keep It Unreal & Echo 45 Day Party
A Bank Holiday all-dayer doesn’t get much better than this. The man, the myth, Stretford’s own Mr. Scruff links up with fellow legend Nightmares on Wax for a rare five-hour back-to-back, digging through hip hop, street soul, dancehall, electro, italo, house, disco, boogie, jazz, afro and all sorts of sideways curveballs, with MC Kwasi and LSK on hosting duties. Errol and Alex Rita open with a three-hour Touching Bass session, and there’ll be food on throughout too.
Hot Creations MCR with Sidney Charles
The Hot Creations crew arrive at Idra, the newly minted day-to-night party venue at the back of Diecast. Leading the charge will be Sidney Charles, with able support coming from Locky, Pirate Copy, Manda Moor and Mad. Again for an afternoon and evening of chuggers.
Freddie Gibbs – The Last Rabbit
Grammy-nominated Freddie Gibbs heads to Manchester with The Last Rabbit tour, pulling together a set that spans his full catalogue, from early street records and mixtape bangers to his more polished, cinematic releases with the legendary Madlib. Expect no-frills delivery, heavy crowd energy, and a set built on sharp lyricism and deep cuts as much as the big hitters. Support on the night comes from redveil and Wynne.
Leigh-Anne
Leigh-Anne skilfully blends her Bajan and Jamaican roots with contemporary R&B influences on debut record ‘Me Ego Told Me Not To’, a bold and unapologetic expression of freedom. Written by Leigh-Anne alongside notable collaborators, and rooted in her vibrant Caribbean heritage, the record sonically blends pop, R&B, dancehall, and reggae into a powerful celebration of identity. This live show at Albert Hall is going to be a celebration.
Stop Making Sense Live
10-piece band Slippery People, including Duncan from Dutch Uncles, recreate ‘Stop Making Sense’ live on-stage. On 19 October 1984, Talking Heads and Jonathan Demme released what is roundly regarded as the greatest concert movie of all time, and Slippery People will recreate it live on stage at Albert Hall, in Manchester. The band will play all of the Talking Heads songs featured in the film. From ‘Psycho Killer’ to ‘Burning Down The House’ to ‘Once In A Lifetime’ and everything in between. They have a tape they’d like to play for you. And everyone is getting involved.
Happy Mondays
As Madchester icons go, few quite measure up to Happy Mondays, the band that famously stole their own master tapes and tried to extort money from their label, Factory Records. There were thrills, there were definitely pills, and more than a few bellyaches. Back together for a full UK tour (what could possibly go wrong?), Shaun, Bez and the gang land at the O2 Victoria Warehouse for a homecoming gig to end all homecoming gigs.
The Prodigy
Iconic electronic outfit The Prodigy return to Manchester for a huge headline gig at Co-op Live. Formed in 1990 by producer, keyboardist and songwriter Liam Howlett, he’ll be joined by frontman and vocalist Maxim. Support comes from the legendary Carl Cox. Co-op members will be first in line for tickets, with the Co-op pre-sale launching on Wednesday 25 June at 9am. Become a member to grab tickets early.
Peaches
The iconic Peaches returns to Manchester, her first headline show in a fair while (though she brought the shock and awe to Homobloc last year). The No Lube So Rude tour will, as ever, extoll the ‘teaches of peaches’, spurning the faint of heart along the way. Expect X-rated antics from this truly singular artist.
Amber Mark
Amber Mark lands in Manchester with Pretty Idea, a lush, genre-hopping new record that leans into love, chaos and feel-good grooves without losing her emotional edge. Blending soul, funk and dream-pop, her live show promises big vocals, rich textures and a more playful side to one of modern R&B’s most distinctive voices.
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
Son of the legendary Fela Kuti and a leading force in modern Afrobeat, Femi Kuti returns to the UK with his band the Positive Force and Journey Through Life, a new album blending political fire with deeply personal reflection. Having forged his own path from his early years in Fela’s Egypt 80 band to founding The Positive Force in the 80s, Femi’s live shows channel the spirit of Lagos’s New Africa Shrine with blistering horns, dancers and big-band energy. Expect a charged, joyful performance from one of Africa’s most influential musical voices.
Nubiyan Twist
Nubiyan Twist are back with a new live show for 2026, bringing their uplifting blend of jazz, afrobeat, soul and club-ready rhythm to the stage with nine musicians locked in and firing. Expect big-band power, deep grooves and boundary-pushing energy, with fierce sax and drums duo O. opening the night.
Yungblud
Boundary-pushing artist Yungblud returns to Manchester for a huge show at AO Arena. The parents singer, who hails from Doncaster, has enjoyed two UK number one albums, six billion global Spotify streams and is a Sunday Times bestselling author. Yungblud fans can see him back in Manchester on Saturday 25 April 2026.
Olivia Dean
After taking Manchester by storm with an intimate show at the Albert Hall for BRITS Week, and then her performance at the awards themselves, Olivia Dean is back at Co-op Live for the main event; a headline show on her The Art of Loving tour. She might as well move in.
Daoud
Jazz provocateur Daoud brings his uncompromising live show to Manchester, blending fragility, tension and repetition into something that feels closer to a personal manifesto than a straight-ahead gig. Expect trumpet-led compositions that embrace flaws, resist polish and sit somewhere between chaos and tenderness, backed by a sharp, responsive quartet.
Odyssey
Soul and funk icons Odyssey are bringing their unmistakable sound back to Manchester, drawing on a catalogue that includes Native New Yorker and Going Back to My Roots. Fronted by original member Steven Collazo, the group’s blend of soul, funk and Latin-Caribbean rhythms promises a feel-good live show rooted in classic dancefloor history but still full of life.
Fiona-Lee
Described by DIY magazine as ‘a vulnerable yet cooly confident early statement’, Fiona-Lee is coming to Manchester to support the release of her second EP ‘Every Woman’. She’s already supported the likes of Miles Kane and CMAT, and with a powerful voice and storytelling abilities, is set to emerge as a star in her own right. If you’ve ever found yourself lamenting the fact that Florence and PJ Harvey aren’t from Yorkshire (and who hasn’t?), Fiona-Lee is a must listen.
Hamish Hawk
Join Hamish Hawk and friends in a rare, lyrical homage to Scotland’s pre-eminent poet-eccentric: Ivor Cutler. A celebration of Cutler’s dreich spoken-word masterpiece, Life in a Scotch Sitting-room, Vol.2, Hawk presents new stories and songs inspired by his own childhood home in Edinburgh, alongside unique reworkings of Cutler’s original works. Armed with Cutler’s original harmonium, this performance – a special Edinburgh Book Festival commission – promises an evening of wit, warmth, and words, sure to make fans of the uninitiated.
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