Albert Hall is one of the best music venues in Manchester. Arguably the most visually impressive venue, it also attracts a diverse array of talent. Read ahead to find out who’s playing at the Venue in October, November and December.
PJ Harvey (2nd and 3rd October)
Following the announcement of her new album, I Inside the Old Year Dying, via Partisan Records, we’re delighted to have iconic singer-songwriter PJ Harvey headlining our venue for two nights in October this year!
PJ Harvey says, “After many years of work I am very happy to release this collection of new songs. It was a difficult album to make and took time to find its strongest form, but it has finally become all I hoped for it to be.”
I Inside the Old Year Dying marks PJ Harvey’s first album in seven years, produced and mixed by her long-time creative collaborators John Parish and Flood.
Freya Ridings (4th October)
The multi-talented singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Freya Ridings takes to our stage on the 4th of October, following the release of her new album, Blood Orange!
Craig Charles Funk & House Party (6th October)
Get ready for the ultimate funk and soul house party with the one-and-only Craig Charles. Enter Craig’s living room as he delves into his extensive record collection to bring you straight-up groove bangers, exclusive funk and soul cuts, and much more. Turn up the volume, hit the dancefloor, and get ready for a night you’ll never forget!
The Brand New Heavies (Live)
Jocelyn Brown (Live)
Lovescene (DJ set)
Craig Charles (DJ set)
Teen Spirit: An Epic 90’s Singalong! Presented by Choir! Choir! Choir!
Choir! Choir! Choir! return to the UK and Ireland this October with “Teen Spirit”: An EPIC 90s Sing-Along!
A brand-new show celebrating everything 90s! From Britpop to Britney… From Grunge to Girl Power… You’ll be singing your way down memory lane back to a simpler time with friends, family, strangers and everyone in between.
Choir! Choir! Choir! is a singing experience where the crowd is the star! Part comedy and all interactive, this show is all about YOU! Nobu and Daveed instantly connect with audiences to create a group feeling like no other.
The best part? NO AUDITIONS!! Any level of singer is welcome. Show up and they’ll have you harmonizing to the greatest pop songs of all time in no time. You just gotta be ready to give it everything you got! It’s a night that sparks into so much more than the sum of its parts. You’ll leave on a high, wondering why you never did this before and, more importantly, when you can do it again… and again…
Since 2011, Choir! Choir! Choir! has built a dedicated and passionate community of singers (and non-singers) with a thriving international fan base on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram garnering millions of views.
Mitski (9th October)
In celebration of Mitski’s new album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (released date Sept. 15, 2023) via Dead Oceans / Secretly Group, Mitski will perform six intimate events in the UK and Europe in Edinburgh, Manchester, London, Berlin, Utrecht, and Paris. These events are titled: Amateur Mistake: A night of intimate, acoustic performance from Mitski previewing her new album ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’.
Lloyd Cole (10th October)
Returning to our stage on the 10th of October, but this time performing two sets – one solo + one with a full electric band – is the singer-songwriter, Lloyd Cole!
Says Lloyd: “I’m excited to still be finding new methods, new perspectives, new sounds. The album may be nearing commercial death, but my career has been in that state for almost 30 years and here we are, still, and I still want to make albums. I still want to be heard. I’m very much looking forward to being on stage with Neil, and Blair in October. We have no intention of producing a retro show.”
Rodrigo y Gabriela (19th October)
The Grammy Award-winning duo are hitting the road fresh after the release of their landmark new album In Between Thoughts…A New World.
The record sees their sound expanded with inventive electronic and orchestral touches. Their live shows are incredibly energetic and definitely not to be missed!
Larkin Poe (20th October)
The latest full-length from Larkin Poe, Blood Harmony is a whole-hearted invitation into a world they know intimately, a Southern landscape so precisely conjured you can feel the sticky humidity of the warm summer air. In bringing their homeland to such rich and dazzling life, Georgia-bred multi-instrumentalist sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell fortify their storytelling with a blues-heavy sound that hits right in the heart, at turns stormy and sorrowful and wildly exhilarating. Rooted in the potent musicality the Nashville-based duo has brought to such widely lauded work as 2018’s Venom & Faith (a GRAMMY® Award nominee for Best Contemporary Blues Album), Blood Harmony affirms Larkin Poe as an essential force in shaping the identity of Southern rock-and-roll, breathing new energy into the genre with both forward-thinking perspective and a decidedly feminine strength.
“We have such fond memories of our upbringing and experiencing the beauty of Southern hospitality in its truest form—it’s a very loving and inclusive energy,” says Rebecca, Larkin Poe’s lead vocalist/lyricist. “There’s an idea that we don’t walk alone, and that there’s safety in keeping your door open to anyone and everyone. What we try to share through our music is the emotional equivalent of opening your door to everyone and inviting them in for sweet tea.”
In a departure from the self-contained approach of past albums like 2020’s Self Made Man—a critically acclaimed LP praised by American Songwriter as “pumped up for arena-sized consumption without compromising any of its stripped-down command and intensity”—Larkin Poe co-produced Blood Harmony alongside Texas-bred musician Tyler Bryant (also Rebecca’s husband). “In the past we’ve taken a very intentional tact of self-reliance, but this time it felt right to open up the process while still keeping it a family affair,” says Rebecca. With Megan handling harmony vocals, lap steel, and resonator guitar and Rebecca on guitar and keys, Larkin Poe also enlisted members of their longtime live band, including drummer Kevin McGowan and bassist Tarka Layman. Mainly recorded at Rebecca and Tyler’s home studio, the result is an electrifying body of work that fully harnesses the fiery vitality they’ve shown in touring across the globe. “We spent a lot of time hashing everything out in pre-production, just the two of us, so that by the time we got to recording we’d already worked out all the details,” Megan recalls. “We didn’t want to end up stitching a bunch of takes together—we just wanted to get in there and make it as live and raw as possible.”
City and Colour (30th October)
We’re delighted to be hosting acclaimed singer, songwriter, and performer Dallas Green AKA City and Colour on the 30th of October, as part of his major headline UK tour, following the release of 7th studio album, The Love Still Held Me Near!
Old Crew Medicine Show (2nd November)
Award-winning, Americana string band, Old Crow Medicine Show are celebrating their 25th Anniversary with us this year, on the 2nd of November!
Alongside their own Silver Jubilee, they’re releasing their twelfth album, aptly titled, Jubilee, which stands as a companion piece with their last album, Paint This Town, and sees Old Crow doubling down on their commitment to creating roots music that bears an undeniable urgency.
Adekunle Gold: Tequila Eva After Tour (3rd November)
Nigeria’s Adekunle Gold hits the road in support of his new EP, Tio Tequila. This one’s going to be special.
Melding together aspects of rap and amapiano with his afrobeats mixture, Adekunle Gold supplies a trio of all-out bumpers for fans. Produced by Kel-P – one of the most influential and innovative studio gurus in West African music – it opens with the zesty Do You Mind? before plunging into Omo Eko.
Explosions in the Sky (7th November)
One of the most triumphant, powerful live acts we’ve ever hosted; Explosions In The Sky are returning to our venue on the 7th of November as part of The End Tour!
Rhys Darby (8th November)
We’re pleased to have hit comedian and one of New Zealand’s most successful exports, Rhys Darby, taking to our stage on the 8th of November, as part of his 25th Anniversary in standup comedy!
This will be a retrospective show, showcasing his favourite material for the past quarter century. When asked about it Rhys said, “you’ve seen my standup, now see it again!”
A celebrated comedian, he was famed for Flight of the Conchords, having starred in blockbusters like the Jumanji franchise, indie hits like Hunt for the Wilderpeople and is currently starring in Our Flag Means Death with long-time collaborator Taika Waititi.
Jorja Smith (9th November)
In celebration of her long-awaited second album, Falling or Flying, much-adored, R&B singer-songwriter Jorja Smith, is taking to our stage on the 9th of November!
Falling or Flying follows her 2018-released debut, Lost & Found, which saw her be the first independent artist to the BRITs Critics Choice Award, a Mercury Prize nomination, a Grammy nomination, and rave reviews across the board.
Tangerine Dream (10th November)
On the 10th of November, the pioneering electronica act, TANGERINE DREAM are taking to our stage, with their iconic back catalog as they present, From Virgin to Quantum Years!
BC Camplight (17th November)
Announced seemingly out of the blue and a pleasant surprise to many, with a new album on the way in May, BC Camplight is well and truly, back. An American singer-songwriter who’s a local resident, he has a strong connection to Manchester, so it only feels fitting that one of his biggest shows to date will be at Albert Hall, on the 17th of November!
What’s the connection to our city? Well, back in 2008, Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio was recommended a move from Philadelphia to Manchester by a friend, in order to escape his intensifying alcohol and drug addictions. The move led to his debut album for Bella Union, How To Die In The North; though just two days before it was released in 2014, he was deported. Back in the UK (with an Italian passport), he made Deportation Blues but just days before it was released in 2016, his father died, triggering a breakdown that inspired Shortly After Takeoff, the last part of what Christinzio calls his Manchester Trilogy.
Now he’s back with The Last Rotation Of Earth!
Death Cult (18th November)
Death Cult returns. The storied post-punk progenitor to The Cult will headline a one-off 12-date tour across the UK and Ireland throughout November 2023, including many venues where they made their live debut as a band. The evening, while centered around Death Cult and their eponymous EPs, will boast a setlist that spans the three phases of the band, from Southern Death Cult, to Death Cult, and The Cult’s first two albums: Dreamtime (1984) and Love (1985).
Southern Death Cult formed in 1981, releasing their sole, self-titled album posthumously in 1983. That same year, Death Cult formed, with Astbury joining forces with Duffy for a musical partnership that has endured for 40-plus years. The band released two 12-inches that same year, one being the Death Cult EP, which were subsequently combined and released as a CD. Death Cult is a vital transmission from the generation of Shamanic post-punk gothic futurists.
Death Cult became The Cult in 1984. Releasing Dreamtime that same year and going on to experience a career that has seen the release of 11 full-length albums, as well as numerous international and U.S. gold and platinum certifications.
Gregory Alan Isakov (23rd November)
GRAMMY-nominated singer, songwriter + musician Gregory Alan Isakov who combines indie + folk, featuring instruments such as the guitar + banjo, takes to our stage on the 23rd of November!
Black Grape (24th November)
Expect deep grooves, catchy pop hooks + freewheeling lyrics from Britain’s best wordsmiths as Shaun Ryder, ‘Kermit’ Leveridge + their group Black grape take to our stage on the 24th of November!
Bakar (29th and 30th November)
Following the release of his second album, Halo, in September, Bakar is taking to our stage in Manchester, on the 30th of November!
Resisting categorisation during his steady growth into the spotlight, Bakar (aka Abubakar Baker Shariff-Farr), offers all the lyrical power of a rapper, the virtuosic poise of a producer, and the pop craft of a singer-songwriter. Halo, is the work of a grown man who’s no longer a Badkid.
The Levellers (8th December)
Long-standing outfit, The Levellers take to our stage on the 8th of December, with their mix of punk, Celtic folk, and staunch politics which have seen them going for over two decades!
The Dualers (9th December)
The Dualers are a 9-piece Jamaican Rhythm & Blues band from SouthEast London. They first hit the headlines when the single ‘Kiss on the Lips’ entered the UK charts at number 21 despite no industry or professional backing, the follow-up single Truly Madly featured in full on the Hollywood blockbuster Fools Gold, and the success continued with a number of album releases, several top 40 chart singles and an ever-increasing large worldwide fan base behind them.
2019 saw the release of the hotly anticipated album, Palm Trees & 80 Degrees which stormed into the UK album chart at number 11, reached number 2 in the independent chart, and number 1 in the reggae chart. Heralded as Britain’s finest Ska & Reggae band The Dualers continue to play to sell-out crowds all over the UK, Europe & Asia, they have also announced their first Arena tour for 2022 which will see the band headline Wembley Arena on 14th May. The band’s new album Voices From The Sun will be released later this year.
Festive Happening with Manchester Camerata and AMC Gospel Choir (10th December)
To close out the year, we have what has become very much a Christmas tradition, our annual Christmas celebration with AMC Gospel Choir. Start your festivities with this incredibly popular and moving concert for the whole family.
Programme:
A feast of festive gospel favourites
Performed by
AMC Gospel Choir
Audrey Mattis Choir Director
Manchester Camerata
Arrangements by Tim Crooks
The Unthanks in Winter (20th December)
PRESENTED BY: Albert Hall, Hey! Manchester + Manchester Folk Festival
Known for their genre-blurring creativity, The Unthanks present their dream-like seasonal fantasia, The Unthanks In Winter at our venue on the 20th of December!
Embracing both the dark and the light in the most ritualistic of seasons – moving in and out of focus – like a memory – this is “a hymnal to our shared winter experience” that echoes of winter tunes known throughout the world, mixed with the traditional and the newly written, all passed with great care and love through The Unthanks filter.
So, there you have it – there’s something for everyone!
JADAR 