Manchester band Courteeners play to 30,000 at Wythenshawe Park, their biggest crowd

Courteeners headlined Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on August 29 in front of 30,000 people, a sold-out homecoming staged a day after the band released their first best-of compilation, God Bless The Band. Frontman Liam Fray opened by shouting for Wythenshawe and later told the crowd that never in the band's wildest dreams did they think they would play to one this big.

The support bill was heavy. The Vaccines performed their 2011 debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? in full, with The Coral, Getdown Services and Girl In The Year Above also on the South Manchester park bill through the day.

Courteeners walked on to Oasis' Round Are Way and opened with Sweet Surrender, then worked through all seven of their studio albums plus Plus One Forever, one of two new songs added to the compilation. Fray played a solo acoustic section that included Please Don't, folding in a piece of The Stone Roses' Standing Here, and the encore closed on Not Nineteen Forever and What Took You So Long?, the latter carrying its traditional snippet of James' Tomorrow.

Before that last song Fray asked the crowd to put an arm around whoever was next to them and say hello to the person behind, which is roughly the register these Manchester shows have always run in. Take Over The World, Not Nineteen Forever, Bide Your Time and The 17th all landed in a set built for the size of the field.

The band have been staging shows on this scale for a decade. Their first Heaton Park headline drew a sold-out 25,000 in 2015. They moved up to the 50,000-capacity Emirates Old Trafford in May 2017, five days after the Manchester Arena bombing, a night that turned into a display of solidarity and where Fray read Ryan Williams' poem This Is The Place from the stage. Heaton Park took another 50,000 in 2019 and again in 2023, when they played their 2008 debut St. Jude in full for its 15th anniversary, and a second Old Trafford date in 2021 sold out in 90 minutes.

A six-date UK arena run follows in November: Leeds First Direct Arena on the 6th, Cardiff Utilita Arena on the 7th, Liverpool M&S Bank Arena on the 13th, London's Alexandra Palace on the 14th, which is their first headline show there, Glasgow OVO Hydro on the 20th and Birmingham Utilita Arena on the 21st. Those dates and the rest of the autumn's indie touring are listed in the tour guide.

Speaking to NME in April, after an intimate launch show for the compilation at Manchester's Night & Day Cafe, Fray said 20 years is not to be sniffed at and that still wanting to do this after what the industry puts a band through is a miracle. He also confirmed an eighth album is intended, and suggested it would be a left turn from recent work. They are also booked to lead the 2027 Neighbourhood Weekender bill next May.