The Streets and Sounds of the City

Mike Skinner is the British voice behind The Streets, known for landmark albums like Original Pirate Material and the UK Number 1 record A Grand Don’t Come For Free. Merging hip-hop, garage, and house, he achieved hits such as Has It Come To This and Dry Your Eyes before retiring the project in 2011.

Sounds of the City is an annual series of high-profile outdoor concerts held at Castlefield Bowl in Manchester. The series has been running for over 15 years, organized by Manchester-based promoters SJM Concerts. Castlefield Bowl is part of an urban heritage site—the world's first industrial heritage park. To accommodate larger crowds, designers once famously built a 22-meter "floating" stage over a spur of the Bridgewater Canal to maximize space and sightlines.