Courteeners spread the love at a huge homecoming show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park last night – check out footage and the full setlist below.
The sold-out show took place in front of 30,000 fans yesterday (August 29), one day after Courteeners released their first ‘best of’ compilation, ‘God Bless The Band’.
They were joined at the South Manchester park by The Vaccines, who performed their 2011 debut album ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’ in full, as well as The Coral, Getdown Services and Girl In The Year Above.
After walking out to Oasis’ ‘Round Are Way’, Courteeners opened with ‘Sweet Surrender’ before tearing through a career-spanning set that drew from all seven of their studio albums, as well as ‘Plus One Forever’, one of two new tracks included on ‘God Bless The Band’.
Frontman Liam Fray greeted the enormous crowd with: “Let’s fucking have you, Wythenshawe!” Later, he told them: “This is mad. Never, ever, ever in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be playing a crowd this big!” (via Manchester Evening News).
Fray also played his own solo acoustic section, including ‘Please Don’t’, which incorporated a section of The Stone Roses’ ‘Standing Here’. The encore later included ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long?’, the latter including the traditional closing snippet of James’ ‘Tomorrow’.
Check out footage from the show below.
Courteeners’ Wythenshawe Park setlist was:
‘Sweet Surrender’
‘Are You In Love With A Notion?’
‘Cavorting’
‘No You Didn’t, No You Don’t’
‘Solitude Of The Night Bus’
‘Summer’
‘Bide Your Time’
‘Acrylic’
‘Take Over The World’
‘Plus One Forever’
‘Small Bones’
‘That Kiss’
‘Modern Love’
‘The 17th’
‘Weekend Shy Of A Feeling’
‘Please Don’t’ (with The Stone Roses’ ‘Standing Here’ snippet)
‘The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home’
‘Hanging Off Your Cloud’
‘Beautiful Head’
‘Here Come The Young Men’
‘Not Nineteen Forever’
‘What Took You So Long?’ (with James’ ‘Tomorrow’ snippet)
The show was just the latest in a long line of Courteeners staging enormous hometown concerts. Their first Heaton Park headline date was in 2015, when they played to a sold-out crowd of 25,000 at what was then the biggest show of their career.
They stepped up to the 50,000-capacity Emirates Old Trafford in May 2017, five days after the Manchester Arena bombing, with the concert becoming a display of solidarity for the city, and Fray reading Ryan Williams’ poem ‘This Is The Place’ from the stage.
Courteeners then returned to Heaton Park for another 50,000-capacity homecoming in 2019, with the complete set later being released online in 2021. That same year, they sold out a second 50,000-capacity Old Trafford show in 90 minutes, before playing to another 50,000 fans at Heaton Park in 2023. The latter saw the band perform their 2008 debut ‘St. Jude’ in full for its 15th anniversary.
More recently, their sold-out November 2024 show at Manchester’s Co-op Live was captured on the 20-track concert record ‘Live In Manchester’, which arrived last December.
Courteeners will now play a six-date UK arena tour in November. The run includes their first headline show at London’s Alexandra Palace, alongside dates in Leeds, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham. Find any remaining tickets here.
Courteeners’ 2026 UK arena tour dates are:
NOVEMBER
6 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
7 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena
13 – Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
14 – London, Alexandra Palace
20 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
21 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
Speaking to NME after Courteeners marked the compilation’s launch with an intimate show at Manchester’s Night & Day Café in April, Fray reflected on the band’s survival.
“This little gig at Night & Day, it’s made my year. I fucking love that place,” he said. “Even that being part of the launch of the ‘best of’ and the story… 20 years is not to be sniffed at.
“This industry will kick the shit out of you, so to be still breathing and wanting to do it is a fucking miracle, if I’m honest.”
Fray also confirmed that Courteeners intend to make an eighth album, although he suggested it would represent “a bit of a left turn” from their recent work.
