Music
Best Live Music in Manchester This Month: July 2026
Our guide to the must-see gigs, concerts and club nights in Manchester this month
Manchester’s gig calendar isn’t slowing down as we head into May, with a packed week of live music across the city’s biggest arenas and most beloved grassroots venues. From chart-topping pop and R&B icons to rising indie stars and underground favourites, there’s something for every kind of music fan. Whether you’re after a huge night out or a more intimate show, here are the best gigs happening in Manchester this month.
Join Steel Panther’s rock ’n’ roll party
- Where: Manchester Academy, Manchester University Students Union, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PR
- When: 21 July
If you’re a rock lover, you probably already love or hate outrageous glam-metallers Steel Panther. They’re both a love letter to and parody of the highest excesses of ‘80s hard-rock, keeping the spandex and bandanas look alive into the 2020s while coming out with song titles that can’t be written here. However you feel about that, their headline gig at the Academy on Tuesday should be a night of ridiculous fun.
Get tickets to Steel Panther at Manchester Academy
See Charlie Puth again
- Where: Manchester Academy, Manchester University Students Union, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M13 9PR
- When: 22 July
Charlie Puth is one of modern pop music’s greatest hitmakers, with tracks like ‘See You Again’, ‘Marvin Gaye’ and ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’ going platinum many times over. His latest album, Whatever’s Clever!, features guest appearances from such unlikely names as Kenny G and Jeff Goldblum, and it’s been hailed as some of his best work yet. The world tour that comes with it is stopping in Manchester this week, where his setlist is sure to be full of gems old and new.
Get tickets to Charlie Puth at Manchester Academy
Get to know US indie-folker Theo Kandel
- Where: Castle Hotel, 68 Oldham St, Manchester, M4 1LE
- When: 22 July
Hailing from New York, Theo Kandel has been refining his warm, inviting indie-folk tunes for some time now, beginning with his debut EP Spin Cycle in 2021. Following his 2024 debut album Eating & Drinking & Being In Love, he’s set to release his second full-length, A Horse Named Friday, next month. He’ll be previewing that at the intimate, historic Northern Quarter venue Castle Hotel on Wednesday night.
Get tickets to Theo Kandel at Castle Hotel
Boogie with QOTSA side project GLU
- Where: YES (Pink Room), 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB
- When: 26 July
GLU is the solo project of Michael Shuman, the bassist of Queens of the Stone Age as well as the frontman of Mini Mansions. A busy guy, clearly, but he found the time to release the Boogie Man EP last month. Its groovy, moody vibes will be setting the tone at YES’s Pink Room.
Get tickets to GLU at YES (Pink Room)
Fall under the spell of Texan up-and-comer Solya
- Where: The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, Manchester, M1 7HE
- When: 2 August
19-year-old Solya Lowe, best known just as Solya, has come out of West Texas making “captivating and ethereal” music that has earned her comparisons to the likes of Julee Cruise and Lana Del Rey. She released her debut album, Queen of Texas, earlier this year; Manchester may be a long way from home for her, but the songs will be as spellbinding as ever in The Deaf Institute’s tropically wallpapered environs.
Get tickets to Solya at The Deaf Institute
Catch an intimate acoustic show from country singer Caylee Hammack
- Where: YES (Basement), 38 Charles Street, Manchester, M1 7DB
- When: 31 July
Caylee Hammack is one of Nashville’s best-kept secrets, boasting opening slots for the likes of Luke Bryan and Brad Paisley and collaborating with Chris Stapleton and Reba McEntire. She released her second album, Bed of Roses, last year, and now she’s coming to the UK for an intimate acoustic headline tour.
Get tickets to Caylee Hammack at YES
Get heavy with Aussie hard rock legends Wolfmother
- Where: O2 Ritz, Whitworth St W, Manchester, M1 5NQ
- When: 30 July
Sydney’s Wolfmother formed in 2004, and since then they’ve released six records of nostalgic, psychedelic hard-rock, indebted to the likes of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. They’ve had some lineup changes along the way, but wild-haired frontman Andrew Stockdale has remained leading the charge. Live, they turn their face-melting sound up to eleven, making for a heavy Thursday night in the city centre.
Get tickets to Wolfmother at O2 Ritz
Catch up with iconic singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton
- Where: Band On The Wall, 25 Swan St, Manchester M4 5JZ
- When: 28 July
Vanessa Carlton is best known for her 2002 hit single ‘A Thousand Miles’, but she’s boasted a storied and diverse career in the years afterwards, with her songwriting constantly evolving over seven albums. The most recent of those is Veils, which came out in April and is full of hazy, pulsing songs. It’s some great work from a legacy artist, and it’s worth getting acquainted with before her gig at Band On The Wall, one of Manchester’s most iconic venues.
Get tickets to Vanessa Carlot at Band On The Wall
Check out London-via-Paris indie upstarts Spanish Horses
- Where: The Abbey, Guildhall Cl, Manchester, M15 6SY
- When: 1 August
Indie five-piece Spanish Horses started in Paris, before relocating to London. They’ve been taking the capital’s indie scene by storm since then with a sound recalling the likes of The Velvet Underground and Television. With only a smattering of singles and one EP out so far, there’s certainly more to come from the band; their appearance at the Abbey in Hulme offers a chance to get into them before they’re massive.
Get tickets to Spanish Horses at The Abbey
Go back to black at The Amy Winehouse Experience
- Where: O2 Ritz, Whitworth St W, Manchester, M1 5NQ
- When: 24 July
The Amy Winehouse Experience pay tribute to one of the UK’s greatest modern legends in Amy Winehouse. Their ninety-minute set features all of Amy’s best-loved hits, and some deep cuts too. Coming to the Ritz on Friday night, this’ll be a great night out for all of Manchester’s Amy lovers.
Get tickets to The Amy Winehouse Experience at O2 Ritz
