When it comes to chasing away the winter blues, Manchester’s music scene is offering so much to look forward to.
Elbow will be performing in our city during 2025, including recent music from their latest album released this year.
That’s not all though, as the likes of The Wombats, Skunk Anasie, Everyone You Know, Olly Alexander and Hothouse Flowers will also be taking to the stage in the north west.
Take a read below for details of these great shows happening over the next few months, plus where to get your tickets.
The Wombats – AO Arena
March 22, 2025
Chart-topping, Platinum-selling indie heroes The Wombats have announced their sixth studio album, Oh! The Ocean, will release on February 21, 2025, as well as a six date UK arena tour starting in March 2025 – their biggest ever – with special guests Everything Everything and Red Rum Club.
Two years since scoring their debut UK #1 album with Fix Yourself Not The World, The Wombats are back and bigger than ever.
Oh! The Ocean trembles with the confessional emotional honesty that makes the Liverpool band’s music as cathartic and relatable as it is catchy and playful, to their continuously growing young fanbase.
With Murph now feeling the benefits of his fresh perspective, Oh! The Ocean represents a line in the sand from which The Wombats are sprinting onwards into a mature new phase.
Tickets are on sale here from 10am today (October 18).
Elbow – Castlefield Bowl
July 2, 2025
Following their fourth UK number one album for 2024’s ‘AUDIO VERTIGO’ and a well received return to arenas on their May tour, Elbow have announced a string of live dates across summer 2025.
The run sees the band return to Castlefield Bowl in their hometown of Manchester alongside shows in a variety of iconic venues. They include a Royal palace, a Norman castle and one of the UK’s most loved and most visited nature reserves, ending with a headline festival appearance in the north east.
The release of ‘AUDIO VERTIGO’ in March of 2024 saw the group reassert their status as one of the UK’s most important and popular bands.
The record was praised across the board, with the Arts Desk calling it a “triumph that deepens with every listen”, MOJO suggesting “their tenth album feels suitably landmark” in a four star review, and NME acclaiming it as “their best record in years”.
Tickets are on sale here from 10am today (October 18).
Skunk Anansie – O2 Apollo
April 4, 2025
British rock icons Skunk Anansie roar back into action next year with a huge UK headline tour in Spring 2025. Promising an entirely brand new production, it will usher in an exciting new era in the history of this legendary band, with new music also on the horizon.
Formed in London in 1994, Skunk Anansie instantly caught attention with their unique blend of alternative, rock, and punk influences, coupled with a dub sensibility which showcased their multi-cultural background.
Their outspoken lyrics tackling social and political issues, alongside vocalist Skin’s unapologetic queer sexuality and high-fashion aesthetic, meant that they became one of the most talked about and important bands of their generation, and quickly led to global success.
With a string of critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, Skunk Anansie have sold millions of records around the world and headlined Glastonbury Festival in 1999. After a hiatus in the early 2000s, the band triumphantly reformed in 2009 and have continued to release new music and tour the world ever since.
Tickets are on sale here from 10am today (October 18).
Everyone You Know – Academy 2
February 8, 2025
British duo Everyone You Know have announced a UK tour for 2025, with a show at Manchester Academy 2 on February 8.
The duo have just released their brand new single, befittingly titled ‘Waiting,’ tapping into the sense of anticipation that defines the beauty of weekend nights out. The track’s upbeat tempo hosts the 90’s classic sample CeCe Peniston’s ‘Finally’ and flips the warmth of nostalgia into a heady dancing daydream.
The band’s tour news also comes after their highly anticipated album announcement, aptly entitled ‘Ain’t Smiled in Ages’. The sophisticated record explores the highs and lows of weekend culture that EYK have navigated over the years, boasting tracks like ‘Proper Stuff’ and ‘Kiss The Sky’.
Since their debut EP ‘Cheer Up Charlie’, EYK have become known for their unique fusion of genres, blending elements of hip-hop, dance, and punk. Their music, which has featured in FIFA 20 and wowed audiences at festivals like Reading & Leeds and Boomtown, resonates with a generation navigating the pressures and joys of modern life.
Tickets are on sale here from 10am today (October 18).
Olly Alexander – Aviva Studios
April 4, 2025
Olly Alexander has confirmed details and the tracklisting of Polari, his much-anticipated new solo album, due for release on February 7, 2025, after revealing the brand new single ‘Cupid’s Bow’ which is out now.
The landmark project will hit the road next year across the UK and Europe with news of a special and intimate, Up Close and Polari tour.
Polari is a pop album for the ages, looking back on history as a means to learn more about yourself. Olly Alexander’s first album under his own name takes as its primary inspiration, the (almost) lost art of Polari.
Originating around Europe and the Romani community as early as the 1600s, this coded slang became in effect a secret language for homosexuals and the stigmatized during the twentieth century. It’s a concept Olly first came across when coming out, and resonated more deeply with when playing Richie in ‘It’s A Sin’, where he grappled with questions about identity, self-expression and community. The kinds of which have always populated British life, and have long been threaded through the history of pop music – you just had to know where to look.
Tickets are on sale here from 10am today (October 18).
Hothouse Flowers – O2 Ritz
June 7, 2025
Something amazing happens when Hothouse Flowers step onto the stage – there’s a sense of musical adventure, an impulse to reach new heights and depths in music, where the audience become one and the world becomes a different place for a while.
Fiachna, Liam and Peter are traditional musicians, which they believe allows for moments of ancestral connection. From a Doors-like musical workout one minute, to an earnest and timeless offering to the memory of Currachaí na Tra Báine the next.
This moment and moments like these set the Flowers apart from almost any other band of their time and trade. They are carriers of culture and all of what that entails.
Hothouse Flowers are a rock n’ roll band, a traditional band, and a soul band, plus much more.
Tickets are on sale here from 9.30am today (October 18).
