I love the Foo Fighters but Taylor Swift should be bringing the 'Eras Tour' to Manchester not Liverpool

On Thursday night there’s two huge gigs in the North West. Here in Manchester we’ve got Dave Grohl’s band of merry rockers the Foo Fighters, while in Liverpool Taylor Swift mania begins. 

The Foos will play two nights at Emirates Old Trafford, returning on Saturday, while Swifties will be treated to three straight evenings from the US pop icon at Anfield. 

Now, as someone who has watched the Foos from Manchester to Milton Keynes and a few other places in between, and who also grew up watching cricket, Thursday night’s festivities in the city are a bit of a sweet spot for me. 

From ‘All My Life’ to ‘Everlong’ I know a likely epic set will send me home happy - even if the weather forecast is terrible. And given the choice I wouldn’t hesitate to pick Grohl over Swift when it comes to handing over my hard-earned cash. 

But given my job, there is something niggling me about the next few days of mayhem in these two northern powerhouses. Simply put, the biggest pop star in the world should be playing in Manchester. 

If you’re reading this Dave, no offence, but when Taylor Swift announces a world and UK tour - the pandemonium about her Eras shows being unlike anything we’ve really seen before - she should be in Manchester. 

The ‘Cruel Summer’ singer has been here before on more than once occasion and played the Etihad Stadium in 2018. That of course would seem the most likely venue to contain Swift-mania but it is 35 miles away at Anfield that she will play instead. City may have won the title again, but Liverpool got Taylor Swift. I’ll let you decide who got the best deal. 

In a year where Manchester’s music and gig-going scene saw the biggest development in years with the opening of Co-op Live, the city not having Swift seems like a big miss to say the least. And haven’t the Manchester branch of the Swifties made their feelings known. And, quite frankly, who can blame them?

As it is, the city’s Taylor Swift contingent will all be piling on the last trains out of Liverpool Lime Street and back to Manchester while other music fans in the city might well be at Emirates Old Trafford, like me, getting wet in what looks like a tasty evening downpour while we scream along with rock god Grohl. 

There’s room for both in town though, admittedly not on the same night, and here’s hoping this doesn’t become a regular occurrence, especially in a city where music is such a huge part of our identity.