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Bring Me The Horizon announce huge Manchester gig for Count Your Blessings anniversary
Bring Me The Horizon have sent British rock fans into bedlam by booking a special anniversary gig celebrating 20 years since their debut album, Count Your Blessings, and we’re lucky enough that it’s coming to Manchester.
And that’s not the only massive announcement they’ve dropped along with it.
It seems hard to believe it’s been two whole decades since the Northern favourites first burst onto the scene with their first LP, and the Yorkshire heavyweights have come a long way since, both sonically and career-wise in general.
Teaming up with Outbreak ahead of their 2026 festival, they teased the show with a series of posters dotted around Manchester city centre last week.
Yes, the band are set to perform their maiden studio outing, along with a few bonus tracks, in its entirety for the first time EVER.
It remains unclear whether they’ll be playing it in the original order, nor do we know how many big hits from other albums they’ll be throwing into the set.
All we know is that it’s going to be absolute chaos in those pits.
Presented by Outbreak, the landmark show will be held at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, a.k.a. the BEC Arena, where the hardcore, punk and all things alternative festival is hosted every year.
Even the poster alone is making us feel nostalgic for our ‘mosher’ phase (as if it ever ended); get your fringes, skinny jeans and checkerboard Vans at the ready.
One of the biggest names to have ever come out of Sheffield – an impressive feat in itself given its rich musical heritage – they’ve done wonders for heavier genres domestically.
Whether you dub them emo, metal, deathcore/anything and everything in between, you can’t deny they’re one of the biggest UK exports this scene has ever, well, seen.
Better still, the all-day event will also feature performances by Static Dress, Rolo Tomassi, Dying Wish, Heriot, Car Underwater and Still In Love.
Last but not least, in arguably even more exciting news, the band have also revealed that they are releasing a full re-recorded version of Count Your Blessings to mark the milestone, dubbing it the ‘Repented‘ version. Not to exaggerate, but we’re absolutely screaming over here…
Fans get their hands on early access by pre-ordering the remastered album from a special old-school, very Myspace-esque landing page; as for general admission, tickets go on sale at 10am this Friday, 17 April – you can get ready to grab yours HERE.
Read more: Courteeners to play huge Leeds gig as part of upcoming UK tour
Featured Images — Publicity picture (supplied)/Audio North
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Loyle Carner at Kirkstall Abbey – the perfect match of artist and venue
Clementine Hall
One of Britain's best performed to a pack-out crowd at Leeds' historic Kirkstall Abbey.
If there was ever a venue designed to make you feel like you've accidentally wandered into the coolest history lesson of your life, it's Kirkstall Abbey.
Ancient ruins, blazing sunshine, pints in plastic cups and thousands of people flocking for the one and only Loyle Carner? Not a bad way to spend a Saturday we think.
And it wasn't just Loyle who we were treated to either, the entire day as part of Above All Else Festival saw a bill of groove-fuelled acts take to the stage.
Bricknasty, Kofi Stone, Kokoroko and Jordan Rakei delivered fabulous sets and warmed us up very nicely indeed for the man himself.
Fresh from the release of Hopefully!, Carner arrived to deafening cheers, wasting little time before settling into the laid-back confidence that has become his trademark.
And he didn't waste time getting into his catalogue of hits either as he seamlessly transitioned from one banger to the next.
It really felt like a celebration of his work, and he himself welled up at the sea of people singing his songs back to him over and over again.
Of course, highlights included Loose Ends and Ottolenghi but dedicating Hate to Nigel Farage was nothing short of iconic.
This is a rapper that has executed the delivery between syncopation and rhythm perfectly, but it's his lyrics that keep you going back for more.
Of course Kirkstall Abbey itself deserves plenty of credit, as the sun went down the abbey was lit up and created probably the most cinematic backdrop for a gig you can imagine.
What stood out most, though, was the atmosphere. There was a proper sense of community throughout the evening, with strangers dancing together and friends rapping every word arm in arm.
Loyle Carner has long been regarded as one of Britain's most thoughtful voices in hip-hop, but nights like this show why his appeal stretches far beyond the genre.
What's next for Loyle Carner? We're not sure, but we feel very lucky to have shared this moment with him, and you could tell he did too.
Read more: The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey – musical reunion of the decade?
Featured image - The Hoot Leeds
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The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey – musical reunion of the decade?
Daisy Jackson
When bands reunite, it's usually pretty easy to guess what the motive is. A looming tax bill, an incoming divorce, a tanking solo career, for example.
But with The Maccabees, those scenarios feel a long way removed.
This is a band that called it a day at the top of their game - and then have returned even stronger, and seemingly because they just missed being on stage together.
Addressing the near-decade apart while on stage at Kirkstall Abbey, The Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks sums it up simply: "For a long time we were a band, and then we weren't a band for a bit, and now we're a band again."
He's as softly-spoken a frontman as they come, but then The Maccabees never have leaned entirely on their frontman for their live energy - not when he's flanked by the White brothers.
Felix White spends half the gig sporting an ear-splitting grin, and the other half screaming words of encouragement at the audience like a crazed Top of the Pops presenter. The organised-fun patter might grate if he weren't so phenomenal the moment the music starts again.
Then brother Hugo is a brooding, powerful figure, usually standing with his legs so wide apart I'm surprised he doesn't split his trousers. His stage presence is so cool, so confident, it's hard to take your eyes off him.
Orlando's otherworldly voice is really allowed to shine through with songs like Spit It Out, when the stage reduces to a single spotlight and the other band members actually squat down to minimise the distractions.
The tempo shifts of Marks to Prove It, the urgency of X-Ray and the layered beauty of Wall of Arms all underline just how tightly the band play together.
There will be new music on the way, eventually, and they give us a glimpse into that with The Ballad of So Long, a swooping epic that suggests they still have somewhere new to go.
It's hard to complain that they don't have much more to show us yet - not when the alternative is a greatest hits, belt-every-word live show.
By the end of the night, as The Maccabees wrap up their show at Kirkstall Abbey, there's a quiet confidence about them. They know this comeback works, and we'll be lapping it up for as long as they'll stick around.
Judging by the reaction inside Kirkstall Abbey, everyone else does too.
Read more: Loyle Carner at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds – tickets, times, setlist and more
Featured image: The Hoot Leeds
Danny Jones -
13th April 2026 
