An event quickly becoming a more popular December tradition than the Manchester Christmas Markets, the legendary band will be taking over New Century Hall for their third annual residency in a row.
On Friday 11th December 2026, Graham Massey and co. will be presenting ‘Greatest Transmissions’, a specially curated set of greatest hits, career spanning big hitters, and all that bass. The gig comes in the wake of the band’s rapturously received ‘ex : el’ nationwide tour of 2025, which saw the band celebrating their seminal album with a raft of SOLD OUT shows.
With just a smattering of festival shows this Summer, plus a huge support show with Robyn at the Co-Op Live, 808 State’s December appearance at New Century is confirmed to be among the band’s only headline gigs this year. Speaking about the gig Graham Massey of 808 State says:
"808 fans are now an intergenerational community as the project enters its 38th year. Our annual hometown Christmas gig feels different to all the other audiences. It feels like a family. 808 fans know we are there to bang but also that we will be stepping into the unknown, just as we did when we first played New Century back in ’88"
Formed in 1988, 808 State were originally founded by the trio of Graham Massey, Martin Price, and Gerald Simpson.
Their early work had a prominent influence on the UK's burgeoning acid house scene, with their first album ‘Newbuild’ now regarded as a milestone in UK electronica. The successive ‘Quadrastate’ mini-album included “Pacific State” which became an end-of-night anthem at the Haçienda. The track broke out of the dance underground when it was picked up by daytime BBC Radio 1. The band pushed against dance-celebrity culture with intentionally minimalist record sleeves and a reluctance to self-promote. In 1989 Paul Morley signed the band to the ZTT label, and the first fruit of this partnership was the critically acclaimed album ‘90’, with the exceptional 1991 record ‘ex : el’ swiftly after.
Fast forward to 2026 and 808 State remain a vital and current force in alternative music, completely selling-out their home city’s New Century Hall two years on the trot with for celebratory shows honouring the 35th anniversary of the album ‘90’ in 2024, and their seminal album ‘ex : el’ the following year.
Still led by original founding member Graham Massey, 808 State continues to create boundary-pushing new material and perform to audiences across the globe and the generations.
