‘Let’s f*****g have you, Wythenshawe!’: Courteeners put on wild performance in heart of Manchester

Liam Fray and co brought the chaos, nostalgia and huge singalongs to Wythenshawe Park for a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ homecoming to remember

There are gigs when you simply watch the band. Then there are gigs where it feels like the entire crowd is part of the performance.

Courteeners at Wythenshawe Park was very much a case of the latter.

From the moment Liam Fray and co took to the stage, thousands of fans were singing every word. People were being lifted onto shoulders as the smell of smoke bombs filled the air.

Click here for the latest on Manchester’s food & drink scene, gigs and more in our CityLife newsletter

It was loud, chaotic and at times completely unhinged. A classic Courteeners gig.

For a band that has spent almost two decades soundtracking nights out, young romance, break ups and everything in between for fans across Greater Manchester, seeing them play such a huge show on home turf was always going to special.

Their Wythenshawe Park performance delivered from the very start. The atmosphere built long before Liam and his pals arrived, with fans packed onto the fields early for what promised to be one of the biggest nights of the summer.

By the time the opening notes of Sweet Surrender rang out, the crowd was already bouncing. Notion and Cavorting followed, with the sea of lucky fans at the front screaming every word.

It was impossible not to get swept up in it.

Everywhere you looked there were people dancing, jumping, hugging and singing. Some fans found their way onto the shoulders of their mates as they clambered to get a better view. Clouds from colourful smoke bombs filled the air.

Among the chaos was one of the night’s most wholesome sights – a young boy breakdancing with his dad towards the back of the park, both clearly having the time of their lives.

The little boy was wearing an Oasis bucket hat as he danced away, seemingly without a care in the world.

It was a small moment, but one that summed up the atmosphere perfectly. This wasn’t just a crowd standing and watching a band – people had come to have the absolute time of their lives.

The set itself was packed with the songs fans had come to hear, moving through Now You Didn’t, Now You Don’t, Solitude of the Night Bus, Summer, Bide Your Time and Acrylic.

Then came Take Over The World – and the volume went up another notch.

It’s one of those Courteeners songs that barely needs Liam to sing it. The crowd seemed to know every single word, turning Wythenshawe Park into one giant chorus.

There were plenty of moments throughout the night where Liam seemed genuinely taken aback by the size and noise of the crowd.

At one point, he turned his attention to the Wythenshawe faithful and roared: “Let’s f*****g have you, Wythenshawe!”

The response was deafening. Later in the night, Liam appeared to take in the sheer scale of the crowd before admitting: “This is mad. Never, ever, ever in our wildest dreams did we think we’d be playing a crowd this big!”

And it’s difficult to think of a better way of summing up the significance of the night.

Courteeners have gone from playing smaller venues around Manchester to standing on a huge stage in Wythenshawe Park with tens of thousands of people singing their songs back at them.

For a band so closely tied to the city, it felt like a particularly special full-circle moment.

The middle of the set brought more fan favourites including Small Bones, That Kiss, Modern Love and The 17th, before We Can Try The Feeling and Please Don’t kept the singalong going.

There was also time for some of the band’s newer material, sitting alongside songs that fans have been singing for years.

But ultimately, this was a night built around nostalgia just as much as it was about the present.

For many in the crowd, these songs have been part of their lives for years.

You could see it in the way people reacted to the opening notes of certain songs, instantly recognising them before Liam had even started singing.

The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home, Hanging Off Your Cloud and Beautiful Head all received huge reactions, before Here Come The Young Ones and Not 19 Forever took things up another level.

By this point, the distinction between stage and crowd had pretty much disappeared.

Everyone was singing. Everyone was dancing.

And, judging by the number of people still perched on shoulders, everyone was determined to make the most of it.

The band eventually closed out the night with What Took You So Long, bringing a huge homecoming show to a suitably euphoric end.

There were flares, there was plenty of swearing and there was more than enough nostalgia – but most importantly, there was a feeling that everyone in Wythenshawe Park knew they were witnessing something special.

Courteeners at Wythenshawe Park was loud, sweaty, chaotic and ridiculously good fun.

It felt like a celebration of the band, their music and the city that has been behind them from the very beginning.

And while Liam might have admitted that playing to a crowd this size was something they could never have imagined, judging by the noise coming back from the crowd, Manchester had been waiting for exactly this.

Courteeners Wythenshawe Park setlist

1. Sweet Surrender
2. Notion
3. Cavorting
4. Now You Didn’t, Now You Don’t
5. Solitude of the Night Bus
6. Summer
7. Bide Your Time
8. Acrylic
9. Take Over The World
10. Plus One Forever
11. Small Bones
12. That Kiss
13. Modern Love
14. The 17th
15. We Can Try The Feeling
16. Please Don’t
17. The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home
18. Hanging Off Your Cloud
19. Beautiful Head
20. Here Come The Young Ones
21. Not 19 Forever
22. What Took You So Long