We were left waiting in anticipation, the two support acts had brought charm and charisma as well as hyping up the fans ready for ‘The Streets’ grand entrance.

The first act a female DJ joined by an enthusiastic male rapper/singer with rumours to soon perform solo in Manchester over the next year.

The second support act was another DJ singer/combination, they had remixed a Jorja Smith song and were full of character and stage presence.

The crowd enjoyed them and despite the talent on stage you could tell they were growing restless for the main event. The band were late on, or was it just to add to the suspense of it all? Nobody could tell as the band members were all but a silhouette in the wings of the stage.

The backing tracks stopped abruptly, the lights dimmed and a siren rang out, everybody was silent, holding their breath, clutching their phones to pounce on the video opportunities that awaited.

They began with ‘Money Isn’t Everything’ from their new album ‘The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light.’

This was cleverly transformed into the classical ensemble at the beginning of the track ‘Turn the Page’ and people instantly began a trance like chant along to it.

Throughout the night they continued with classics such as ‘Dry Your Eyes’, ‘Fit But You Know It’, ‘Has It Come To This’ ‘Blinded By The Lights’ and many more that brought them fame. The people in the crowd were throwing tokens of goodwill at the stage, undergarments, drinks, even reaching out to touch the lead singer.

The lyrical hard hitting genius of Mike Skinner followed by soulful backing vocals, quirky guitar melodies, as well as intricate drumming by the band hadn’t seemed to age a day since the first record was released.

Attitudes may be changing however reality checks and speaking your mind hasn’t stopped gaining traction and The Streets have never been afraid to speak the truth.

An example of Skinner preaching the truth was that he had picked up on the fact that written on the famous Manchester venue read the words the ‘Liverpool Warehouse Co ltd.’

He toyed with the crowd saying how honoured he was to be playing a famous Liverpool built venue, attitudes did change in the crowd and he was being taunted by some of the locals, which made him back down from repeating it and recalled his previous statement to provoke a reaction.

His message however was clear spread Unity and Love to one another and he clearly used this statement to try and showcase this though I think he was underprepared for the Mancunians ability to reject all things Liverpool especially that close to Old Trafford.

He then had a bold show performance which went down without a hitch, he ran in to the crowd gave a man a pint which was then necked and then proceeded to crowd surf his way back to the front. This was an incredible showcase of his fame and ability to work a crowd and he won us back.

He also highlighted his solo DJ night and wanted everyone to join him for the afterparty at YES club where he was partying till the early hours.

The Streets iconic as they are have a big spot in our hearts for classic party starters and night enders, they will still seem to peak interest of a younger generation as well keeping their loyal patriots from day one. The musical ability of the band was showcased to an absolute peak and made everyone feel overwhelmed and ready to stay out all night and carry on the celebration well after the gig had ended.

After the excitement continued with the official merch store heaving and outside was chaos, with endless streams of people waiting for their taxis well in to the night.

Find out more about their tour !

Musik Magazine 2023