Co-op Live has been open for six months now, and to celebrate its unique partnership with the venue and mark the occasion, the Co-op has enlisted John Cooper Clarke to create a special poem.

The Bard of Salford himself, a literal living legend and walking archive of rock ‘n’ roll history, has penned a poem titled ‘Proper Sound’.

It’s an ode to the Co-op and its namesake venue, and their special place in our city past and present.

JCC says that he ‘wanted to work in some historical perspective of the Co-op itself’ because it was an important part of his neighbourhood as a child.

And from those days of ‘outdoor bogs’, to the present day and beyond, that’s exactly what he’s done, weaving together personal nostalgia and civic pride, via pea soup and K-Pop.

Clarke has also recently announced a brand new UK tour for next year: In Celebration of World Poetry Day.

John will return to the stage for three shows, starting at The London Palladium on March 19th, before heading to Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall on March 21st and ending at Co-op Live on March 29th for a huge homecoming show.

The Salford born entertainer will become the first-ever poet to headline an arena in the UK.

Co-op Live

From classic numbers like Chickentown and Beasley Street to brand new material from the new collection ‘WHAT’, John will bring his unique perspective and incredible work to his biggest audiences yet.

He’ll also be joined by special guests on each night of the tour, with John Agard in London, Henry Normal in Nottingham and Linkton Kewesi Johnson in Manchester.

Tickets go on general sale on Friday October 18th at 10am.

Co-op members can get access to a special ticket pre-sale for the Manchester show on Wednesday October 16th at 10am, become a member HERE.

Liam Gallagher has said his son Gene and his band Villanelle will support him on his upcoming Definitely Maybe anniversary tour.

The indie-rocker took to X (formerly Twitter) to reply to a fan who said they like Gene’s band and asked what Liam thought of them.

In his response, Liam said he thinks the band are ‘good’ and announced they will be ‘first on’ for his Definitely Maybe tour.

Gene, 22, is Liam’s youngest son and is the frontman and guitarist for the recently formed band Villanelle.

The band is set to hit the UK festival scene this summer, releasing their new music along the way, and will also be first up to support LG alongside the likes of music legends including Cast and The View.

Although the newbies haven’t officially released any tracks just yet, they have recently been spotted supporting Brummie band the Overpass on tour, and performed at King Tut’s in Glasgow on March 21st.

Clips online hint that Gene will most likely take after his dad and go on to create some classic British indie-rock tunes.

Aside from the upcoming Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour, Liam has a big year and is currently touring with John Squire, formerly of the Stone Roses, to support their joint, self-titled album. The pair performed live at Manchester Apollo last month and reviews are looking pretty positive for these two rock legends.

Liam will be coming to Manchester’s brand-new Co-op Live arena on his Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour on June 15th and 16th, with a final Manchester date on June 27th.

It’s not clear which tour dates Gene will be supporting his dad on but we look forward to seeing him live.

Liam Gallagher claims he asked Noel to reunite for the Definitely Maybe 30th Anniversary tour later this year but that he ‘refused’.

The former Oasis frontman shared details of his upcoming tour – to celebrate 30 years of Oasis’ seminal 1994 album – back in October.

So, a solo Liam will play their iconic debut album in full, including tracks ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’, ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’.

The indie-rocker also teased he’ll be playing ‘naughty’ B-sides from the era.

He’ll be kicking off the 12-date tour in Sheffield on June 2nd, heading to Cardiff for a night, then onto London for four, followed by three dates in his native Manchester at the Co-op Live arena.

From there, Liam will play two dates in Glasgow and two in Dublin, before heading back to Manchester for the finale.

Speaking to MOJO recently, Liam said that his brother refused to put aside their differences and join him on the 30th anniversary tour. He said: “Noel? He ain’t f**king doing it.”

“I did call him! Well, my people called Noel’s management team,” he told the publication.

“We put an offer on the table for an Oasis thing – because we got offered it – and he said no. It was a big tour, a lot of money. He turned it down. I get it, he’s got a divorce going down. I’ll do the ‘Definitely Maybe’ thing and have a nice time without him.”

On whether next year could see the feuding pair finally make amends and reunite for the anniversary of second album ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’, Liam said: “It’s down to the universe. It’ll happen when it happens, it’s not in our hands anymore.”

Either way, it seems Liam is up for the tour with or without him as he added: “Me, I love nostalgia though. I’m doing the lot. Every album, even… what was the last one?”

It’s not the first time Liam has claimed his estranged brother has turned down his offer to get back together.

Back in October, a fan asked whether he’d give us the surprise of joining him on the DM tour, to which Liam responded: “He’s been asked and he’s refused.”

It comes after Noel told talkSport radio back in May that he was ‘open to a phone call’ from Liam but said that he wouldn’t dare and accused him of being a ‘coward’.

He continued: “He doesn’t have to speak to me. He won’t speak to me, he’s a coward. So he should get some of his people, his agent, to call my people and say, ‘Look, this is what we’re thinking.’ And then we’ll have a conversation about it. Until then, he’s being a little bit disingenuous.”

He added that Liam is guilty of getting ‘people’s hopes up’ with his post on social media.

But Liam hit back with a string of posts on social media saying it wasn’t true and that Noel just ‘hates Oasis fans’.

The band parted ways in 2009 and ever since, the bickering brothers have exchanged spats publicly while being asked about whether a reunion may be on the cards one day.

Regarding the 30th Anniversary of Definitely Maybe, Noel confirmed in April last year that an Oasis reunion would not be happening any time soon but did confirm plans of a reissue of the record to mark the occasion.

The singer-songwriter also added that there had ‘never really been a serious offer about ‘The Big O’ getting back together’.

Earlier this year, as he reflected on their split, Liam accused Noel of throwing him ‘under the f**king bus’ at the time.

Liam is now focusing his attention on his much anticipated collaborative, self-titled album with Stone Roses guitarist John Squires, which is out on March 1st. The pair will also announce details of an upcoming tour.