These are the best gigs to see this week
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With SXSW and The Great Escape officially kicking off festival season in chaotic fashion, it looks like music fans are in for a joyous summer of music.
The likes of Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Download, Latitude and BST Hyde Park have come up with stellar lineups while there’s massive tours from Harry Styles, Coldplay, Beyoncé, The Weeknd and more to look forward to.
Before that though, there’s a string of spectacular must-see shows around the UK. Diaries at the ready, here are the best gigs to see this week (May 16-23).
Post Malone
Post Malone’s long-awaited and already-celebrated ‘Twelve Carat Tour’ finally lands in the UK this week after a run around Europe.
Pulling songs from across his back catalogue but also showcasing new, pop-leaning track ‘Chemicals’, this run of shows acts as a crash course in how Postie became one of the biggest musicians in the world as well as showing where he could head next.
Post Malone plays:
MAY
16 – AO Arena, Manchester
17 – AO Arena, Manchester
Fans can buy and sell tickets for Post Malone at global marketplace, viagogo here.
Inhaler
“We’re not here to be a mid-bill festival band,” Inhaler told NME ahead of the release of brilliant second album ‘Cuts & Bruises’. The band have just finished a string of shows with Arctic Monkeys and later this year, they’ll support Harry Styles in their hometown of Ireland.
There’s still a chance to catch the boys before they sell out stadiums on their own though, as they head out on a UK headline tour later this week before returning to London in November.
Inhaler play:
MAY 2023
19 – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
20 – Electric Ballroom, London
JUNE 2023
5 – O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
6 – Leadmill, Sheffield
NOVEMBER 2023
4 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
Fans can buy and sell tickets for Inhaler at global marketplace, viagogo here.
The Chats
Chaotic Aussie punks The Chats return to the UK for their biggest ever headline run this week, in celebration of 2022’s ‘Get Fucked’. In recent months the trio have toured with The Strokes and Guns N’ Roses while their viral hit ‘Smoko’ has been reworked by Wet Leg.
“It’s weird to go from the pub circuit, doing those classic venues that everyone does when they start out, and then to go overseas and play in countries where they speak another language – and they still know all the words,” vocalist Eamon Sandwith told NME last year. “It’s all truly bizarre to us, but I think we’ve got the best of both worlds. The rockstars can give us a shoutout, and that’s cool, but we still have a really good scene to belong to here at home, where it’s mates supporting mates.”
The Chats play:
MAY
16 – 02 Academy, Dublin
17 – 02 Academy, Dublin
18 – Limelight, Belfast
19 – Academy, Manchester
20 – Barrowlands, Glasgow
21 – NX, Newcastle
22 – Tramshed, Cardiff
23 – O2 Academy, Bristol
24 – Institute, Birmingham
27 – The Roundhouse, London
Fans can buy and sell tickets for The Chats at global marketplace, viagogo here.
Nessa Barrett
Nessa Barrett is set to play her first ever London headline show this week, fresh from releasing alt-pop anthem ‘American Jesus’.
“It’s about the fantasy of someone who is your saviour, your cowboy in a crown. Everyone dreams about a love that’s heavenly, and I know everyone will be able to relate to this,” Barrett said about the track. Get ready for a night of big singalongs.
Nessa Barrett plays:
MAY
16 – Heaven, London
Songer
Songer is heading out on his ‘Skala’ tour later this week, promising new material from the recently released album of the same name alongside “favourite moments” from his journey so far and a “hard reality showcase”.
NME described Songer as a “fearless new voice from UK rap’s underground scene” earlier this year but it clearly won’t be long until he’s a household name.
Songer plays:
MAY
14 – Thekla, Bristol
16 – The Wardrobe, Leeds
18 – O2 Institute 2, Birmingham
20 – The Button Factory, Dublin
23 – La Belle Angele, Edinburgh
25 – Gorilla, Manchester
26 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
29 – Scala, London
31 – Scala, London
