Sampha at Aviva Studios

Johnny James, Managing Editor

Book now

Sampha

Aviva Studios, Manchester
15-16 February 2024
Date
Time
Session Features
15 Feb 2024
7:00 pm-11:00 pm
16 Feb 2024
7:00 pm-11:00 pm

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Side angle of artist Sampha on a light blue background
Trinity Ellis
Book now

Headlining Manchester for the first time in nearly seven years, the Mercury Prize-winning artist Sampha performs in-the-round at Aviva Studios, in celebration of his second album, LAHAI.

From UK breakout star to global icon, Sampha’s influence is felt throughout contemporary culture. Across a studied career, the south London songwriter and producer has been at the heart of many era-defining records, his inimitable voice called upon by everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Stormzy, Drake to Solange, Frank Ocean to Kanye West. But it was his first solo album, Process, that Sampha’s own story was told to the world. And the world listened closely.

Navigating self-discovery while engulfed in the shadows of grief and loss, Process won the 2017 Mercury Prize, its cerebral take on R&B and soul finding a meeting place between the harrowing and the beautiful. From the thread-bare ballad ‘(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano’ to the heavy, club-leaning ‘Blood On Me’, it did what all great albums do – it built an individualistic world to get lost in.

Process set a hell of a high bar, but 2023’s follow-up easily meets it. Rather than a soundtrack to self-discovery, LAHAI is the sound of acceptance, finding joy in the human condition. A communal affair featuring contributions from some of Sampha’s closest friends, peers and collaborators, the new record sees the artist explore the many ways in which we as humans connect to each other, and to something bigger than ourselves.

Full of unexpected turns and stylistic switches, the album spans jazz, soul, rap, dance, jungle and west African music. Its first single, ‘Spirit 2.0’, feels like a segue out of Process, gently anguished but pushing towards the feeling of transcendence that characterises LAHAI. Its follow-up ‘Only’ finds Sampha back at the piano, newly energised as he spits melodically over a fragmented, hip hop hued beat co-produced by El Guincho.

Another album highlight comes with the luscious, vocally layered ‘Suspended’. There’s alchemy going on between its kinetic piano line, skittering drum’n’bass beat and breathy, bruised falsetto, tied together with incredibly intricate production. The Steve Reich-esque piano on ‘Dancing Circles’ is something new, and again the production shines, building tension to match lyrics about a long-awaited reunion.

And a long-awaited reunion is exactly what Sampha’s two shows in Manchester represent. It was way back in 2017 that he last headlined a show in the city (at Albert Hall for MIF17). But beyond the time that’s elapsed since his last performance, these shows promise to be special standalone events, staged in-the-round in Aviva Studios’ Warehouse space to enhance the audience’s connection with this highly personal music.

One of only two UK stops on Sampha’s 2024 tour, these shows are sure to sell out, so get on tickets fast if you want to guarantee a spot.

What's on at Aviva Studios

FLIGHT at Aviva Studios
TheatreCity Centre
FLIGHT at Aviva Studios

Happening in absolute darkness inside a 40ft shipping container, FLIGHT invites you to board a commercial airliner – and take two possible journeys.

From £10.00
Summer at Aviva Studios
Until
ActivityManchester
Summer at Aviva Studios

From global dance and live music to storytelling, skateboarding and football, get ready for a dream summer on the banks of the River Irwell.

Free entry

Where to go near Sampha at Aviva Studios

Castlefield
Event venue
Old Granada Studios

Manchester’s old Granada Studios is an iconic piece of the city’s history and home to Sidney Bernstein’s television empire.

Manchester Opera House by Phil Tragen
City Centre
Theatre
Manchester Opera House

A commercial touring theatre, the Manchester Opera House is reopening in August 2021, all set to host the city’s finest mainstream theatrical productions, music gigs, opera and ballet.

City Centre
Music venue
Low Four Studio

Old Granada Studios has announced Low Four: a new studio and music project that will stream and archive live music performance as part of a new generation of music TV programming. The inclusion of a viewing balcony also means that these recordings, along with special events and concerts, will be made open to a few […]

Manchester
Restaurant
20 Stories

High-end restaurant and cocktail bar, with stunning views of the Manchester skyline.

Manchester
Gallery
Smolensky Gallery

This appointment-only gallery is a hidden gem in Manchester. Art lovers and collectors can browse many high quality pieces.

What's on: Music

MusicManchester
Manchester Psych Fest 2025

Manchester Psych Fest, the UK’s trailblazing psychedelic music and arts festival has announced a massive bill for its 2025 edition.

From £44.80
Summer at Aviva Studios
Until
ActivityManchester
Summer at Aviva Studios

From global dance and live music to storytelling, skateboarding and football, get ready for a dream summer on the banks of the River Irwell.

Free entry
the band
MusicLeeds
DIIV at Project House

Emerging from a four-year crucible of creative tension and personal reckoning, Brooklyn shoegazers DIIV return to Leeds.

From £22.50
Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
MusicManchester
Blondshell at New Century

With sardonic wit, towering hooks and distortion dialled high, Blondshell lands at New Century this September, armed with album number two.

From £24.00
Lyra Pramuk by Leonardo Scotti
MusicManchester
Lyra Pramuk at The White Hotel

Part prayer, part protest, part dancefloor séance – Lyra Pramuk brings her otherworldly live show to The White Hotel.

From £19.60
Sans Froid
MusicLeeds
Sans Froid at Wharf Chambers

Smart, eccentric, and gleefully out of step with trends – Bristol quartet Sans Froid bring their tangled, piano-led art-rock to Leeds.

From £8.00

Culture Guides

Cinema in the North

This month we recommend a season of Film noir, cult Australian movies and a huge celebration of DIY community cinema.

Author portrait
Literature Events in the North

Our latest round-up features plenty of one-off live literature events to wrap your ears about, so get those diaries ticking over...

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

This season’s theatre is gloriously eclectic: from radical cabaret and reinvented classics to new musicals and boundary-pushing performance.

Sprints
Music in the North

10 fresh shows across Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, threading together noise, ritual, euphoria and release in all their messy, beautiful forms.

Detail of an abstract sculpture, with burned materials and rusty chicken wire at the centre, with rusted metal bars bent around it.
Exhibitions in the North

Chocolate fountains, beautiful batiks and medieval marginalia - this month's supersized Exhibitions Guide has it all.