Sam Fender launches Newcastle editions of new album with QR codes across city ahead of homecoming gigs

Later this week, Castlefield Bowl will welcome thousands of music fans for the 2023 edition of Sounds of the City. Every year, the open-air music series brings together some of the biggest names in rock, indie and pop - and this year is no exception.

Glastonbury organisers have confirmed the dates for next year’s festival. Check out all of the latest info for Glastonbury 2024 below.Keeping with tradition, next year’s festival will be taking place on the final weekend of June from Wednesday June 26 through to Sunday June 30, 2024 at Worthy Farm in Pilton,The Somerset-based festival is renowned not just for being one of the biggest festivals in the world but also one of the hardest to get tickets for.

Drake has announced a new album following the release of his debut poetry collection. The book – Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream of Consciousness by Kenza Samir and Aubrey Graham – is now available for purchase, a day after being formally announced.To promote the book, Drake took out full-page advertisements in publications such as the New York Post and Houston Chronicle, which featured a QR code leading to this website.

Todd Gilchrist editor While it’s been around for decades, the New Orleans-spawned genre of bounce music is bigger than ever, thanks to Big Freedia: the self-appointed Queen Diva’s appearances on Beyonce’s singles “Formation” and “Break My Soul” have given her, her music and her community a visibility previously unimaginable outside their shared New Orleans hometown. But A-list collaborations — which also include Drake, Lizzo and Kesha — are simply a reflection of her increasing profile, not the reason for it; since releasing her first album in 2003, she’s not only worked steadily as a recording and touring musician, but starred in two TV shows (“Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce” and “Big Freedia Means Business,” both on Fuse), produced a documentary about gun violence (“Freedia Got a Gun”) and made dozens of appearances as a spokesperson and advocate for LGBTQ+ issues.

Christina Aguilera is in New York City and ready to celebrate Pride all weekend long!

Baroness have announced ‘Stone’, their first new album in four years, shared its first single ‘Lost Word’ and announced a string of US tour dates for this year – find all the details below.The band’s sixth studio LP will arrive on September 15, 2023, followed by a US tour kicking off in October – you can pre-order the record in a variety of physical formats or pre-save here.The ‘Sweet Oblivion Tour’ will start in Baltimore on October 13, with dates in Tampa, Austin, Los Angeles, Portland, Denver, Chicago, Montreal, New York and many more, before wrapping up on December 1 in Philadelphia.Pre-sale for select dates is live now, while general sale starts this Friday (June 23) at 10am local time – you can buy your tickets here.The tour will also feature a huge roster of support acts from Jesus Piece, Portrayal of Guilt, Primitive Man, KEN Mode, Wayfarer, Chat Pile, Vile Creature, Soul Glo, Sheer Mag, Escuela Grind, Midwife, Hoaxed, Empire State Bastard, Cloud Rat, Imperial Triumphant, Uniform and Agriculture, with more set to be announced.‘Lost Word’, the first single from the forthcoming LP, is available to listen to now. Listen below.“An important through line in Baroness is we don’t like to repeat ourselves,” Baizley said in a press statement.“It’s all about the willingness to take risks.

Corinne Bailey Rae will release her first album since 2016 later this year. Several years in the making, ‘Black Rainbows’ is inspired by items collected by visual artist Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.“I knew when I walked through those doors that my life had changed forever”, says Bailey Rae.

Slowdive are back with a new single, and an upcoming album.Today (June 20), the band have released a new single, ‘Kisses’. The track – which was first announced last week – is taken off their upcoming album, ‘Everything Is Alive’.

Easy Life and Mahalia have been announced as headliners for a new event titled Corona Sunsets Festival, set to take place in Hertfordshire.Taking place in Hatfield Park on Saturday, September 2, the one-day event will see Franc Moody, Newton Faulkner, Frankie Stew & Harvey Gunn and Elder Island along with the headliners. A line-up of DJs are set to be announced in the coming weeks.The festival will also feature live art installations and culinary experiences all inspired but the sunset which are designed to connect attendees with nature during golden hour.Tickets for the event will go on sale on June 14 at 10am.

Bombay Bicycle Club have announced their sixth studio album ‘My Big Day’ and released its title track.Produced by the band’s vocalist/guitarist Jack Steadman, ‘My Big Day’ features collaborations with Damon Albarn, Jay Som, Nilüfer Yanya and Holly Humberstone, with a fifth special guest set to release a song with the band later this summer.Bombay Bicycle Club also shared the album’s title track alongside an accompanying music video. Directed by Jon Higgs from Everything Everything and Kit Monteith (percussionist for Foals), the video showcases a local newscast covering some heavy-hitting news.The LP has additional production from Paul Epworth on the track ‘Heaven’ and Ben Allen who co-produced ‘Turn The World On’. The band previously worked with Allen on their hit single ‘Shuffle’ back in 2011.‘My Big Day’ was mixed by Dave Fridmann who is known for his work with The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT and HAIM.

Sam Fender’s recent headline shows in Newcastle are said to have brought in £15million to the local economy.The slots took place at St James’ Park Stadium last weekend (June 9 and June 10), and were the biggest headline slots to date in the singer-songwriter’s career.Both sold-out dates saw more than 100,000 fans flock to the Newcastle Stadium on Friday and Saturday, for what would become an iconic moment for the city, and a new milestone for the musician.Supported by Hector Gannet, Holly Humberstone and Inhaler at the first night of the two-day residency, a highlight of the show included the North Shields singer performing a Bruce Springsteen cover at the opening show. An even more monumental surprise occurred on the second night, when Fender was joined on stage by rock icon and AC/DC legend, Brian Johnson.

Featuring thirteen exclusive prints of Macca’s world-famous fries, burgers, and iconic McDonaldland characters like the Hamburglar, Grimace, and of course Ronald McDonald, this range is every bit as cosy as it is stylish. 

Ash have announced their newest album as well as a joint UK and European tour with British rock band, The Subways.Titled ‘Race The Night’, the band’s latest LP marks the first album they have released together in more than five years. Ash have also released the LP’s title track.

Bring Me The Horizon followed their headline set at Download Festival on Friday night with an announcement of a new album and tour dates in 2024.The band will release their seventh album ‘Human: Next Gen’ on 12 Jan, by which time they will already have kicked off a run of UK and Ireland tour dates.

The cast of the musical Shucked gave an awesome performance at the 2023 Tony Awards!

Sam Fender welcome AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson on stage at his second hometown gig at Newcastle’s St James’ Park tonight (July 10) – watch them perform ‘Back In Black’ and ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ below.The gigs kicked off on Friday (June 9) at a first show which saw the North Shields singer-songwriter perform a host of tracks from his recent album ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and hits from his back catalogue.

Sam Fender kicked off the first of his two homecoming shows at Newcastle’s St James’ Park stadium last night (June 9).The show, which saw the North Shields singer-songwriter perform a host of tracks from his recent album ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and hits from his backcatalogue, also saw him perform a cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s ‘I’m On Fire’. Support acts for the show included Hector Gannet, Holly Humberstone and Inhaler.Fender, who recently supported Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band, brought his brother Liam Fender on to perform the 1985 single.

Arctic Monkeys have opened their Sheffield homecoming gig with ‘A Certain Romance’ from their 2006 album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.’It’s the song’s first outing on their current tour, and the first time the band have played the song together in full since 2018.The gig is the first of two homecoming events for the Arctic Monkeys at Hillsborough Park; the band last played their hometown five years ago.Elsewhere in the show, the band did a cover of John Cooper Clarke’s ‘I Wanna Be Yours’.You can see images, footage and reaction from the gig, along with the full setlist, below:Arctic Monkeys playing ‘A Certain Romance’ tonight in Sheffield

Rumours about Leonardo DiCaprio and Gigi Hadid’s romance haven’t died down just yet.

Sam Heughan has shared a snap of himself alongside his TV wife as the small-screen favourites celebrated the premiere of Outlander's seventh season in New York.