Co-op Live, Manchester, March 07, 2026
Red, white and blue. It’s everywhere you look.
Manchester’s Co-Op Live crowd is a sea of DIY red leather jackets, bedazzled white tees and rugged Levi lightwash jeans. While the trio of colours are often tied with Stateside patriotism, tonight they’re an ode to mgk’s very own ‘lost americana’.
Spurred on by the call of the wide open road, the purr of a Harley-Davidson, and the scent of a burning Marlboro, the musical renegade’s 2025 release further cemented his transition from rap mogul to modern-day pop-rock superstar. And with over 20,000 punters gathering to lose themselves in the hues of the era, he’s doing a pretty bloody good job of embodying the role.
Though, before all that, the marvellous Julia Wolf kicks the evening off. Plonked out on the end of the stage’s runway, she delivers her unique twist on emotive alt-pop as if it’s an intimate gig rather than the UK’s biggest arena. From opener ‘Loser’ to the heavier bite of ‘Pearl’, she confidently deals out a slew of pulsing, electro-infused indie pop cuts.
As she bids farewell, with the rather fitting ‘Jennifer’s Body’ still ringing around the arena, attention is drawn towards the wider stage set-up. And while it’s currently cloaked behind a massive curtain, a hint of what is to come is peeking out of one side. Is that, um, a massive, disembodied hand holding a cigarette?
When the curtain finally drops, the technicolour pop rock of ‘outlaw overture’ blasting over the crowd, that question is answered. No, it’s not a disembodied hand – it’s attached to the Statue of Liberty. Because, of course. And as mgk emerges from her open mouth, his guitar descending from the ceiling right into his hands, and ‘starman’ kicks in, the madness only amps up a notch. Two-stepping in time to the track, joined by a pair of backup dancers, if anyone thought mgk took himself seriously, he’s setting the record straight early on. And even though there will be songs that touch on addiction, loss and regret, he isn’t here to wallow in any misery. Instead, he’s living out his most bombastic rockstar dreams and cackling with glee.
Despite performing in the UK’s biggest arena, Colson hasn’t opted for the ultra-rehearsed scripting you’d expect from an arena act. At every turn, he happily yaps on like he’s in the company of his best friends. At one point, he’s asking his band to play a “Charcuterie eating-type song” as he snacks on a piece of salami, and at another, he’s describing the time he got hit by a double-decker bus while trying to buy weed. He has cultivated the ultimate combo: a stand-up gig and a brilliant pop-rock gig, a showcase of both sides of his infectious personality in unison.
Of course, the rapper’s first love rears its head from time to time, such as on a run-through of The Kid Laroi’s ‘FUCK YOU, GOODBYE’, but the primary focus is on rambunctious rock bangers. And mgk is more than happy to admit just how much his palette has shifted and even play into people’s perception of it, even playing footage of someone saying they hate the “emo pop punk crap” all before a four-track run-through of ‘Tickets To My Downfall’, the stage now washed in the album’s signature neon-pink. One such offering is ‘bloody valentine’, which sees fans invited onstage whilst Colson is tied up with rope, giving them free rein to dance around as they please. There’s even a girl doing the worm, which has the singer grinning like an excitable child and begging her to do it again.
Though the sillier antics, the night does also offer up some more serious moments; from an acoustic ode to Manchester in the form of a cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ to the emotional dedication to his daughter via a beautiful ‘play this when i’m gone’. Then, with a closing home run of ‘cliché’, ‘sweet coraline’ and ‘vampire diaries’, all already feeling like classics, the arena is in a frenzy. It’s a testament not just to how fun this current era is, but also to how much fun mgk is having as an artist right now.
Nicely done.
