Watch Eric Cantona make his live debut in Manchester

30 October, 2023

Eric Cantona has made his live debut in Manchester, performing tracks from his new EP ‘I’ll Make My Own Heaven’. Find footage of the set below.

The first of the Manchester United icon’s run of live shows kicked off in the city last week, with two back-to-back shows at the Stoller Hall venue (October 26 and 27). It follows his recently released debut EP, which arrived earlier this month via Decca.

Taking to the stage for the gig, Cantona performed wearing a fedora, a black trench coat and a white shirt, paired with some garish red tracksuit bottoms and red boots.

From there, he performed tracks from his newly shared EP –’ I’ll Make My Own Heaven’ and the French-sung ‘Je Veux’.

He also performed the lead single from the release, ‘The Friends We Lost’, as well as a host of new material. The former saw the football icon pay tribute to those no longer around, and put a more melancholy spin on the track live, as he dropped the guitar and string arrangement seen in the original recording, and performed it with just a pianist to his right and a cellist to his left.

Find the full setlist for his live shows below, as well as some footage from the Manchester gigs.

Eric Cantona’s setlist was:

1. ‘Russian Roulette’
2. ‘I’ll make my own heaven’
3. ‘Let’s hope’
4. ‘I’m just an unknown lover’
5. ‘We drive’
6. ‘Of the sun’
7. ‘We’ll believe in ourselves’
8. ‘Que je travestis’
9. ‘The friends we lost’
10. ‘Mi Amor’
11. ‘J’avance et je rêve’
12. ‘Perfect imperfection’
13. ‘Nowhere (Bang Bang)’
14. ‘Je Veux’
15. ‘Where love is hanging out’
16. ‘On se love’
17. ‘I want to see you’
18. ‘You’ll never see me again’
19. ‘I love you so much’

Cantona first announced news of his new singing career earlier this year, when he took to social media to tease fans with the news of a new single. Shared on May 25, the former Manchester United icon dropped a preview of the music video – showing him in a Shakespearean pose, holding a model of his own head while singing, “Watch yourself in the mirror – someone you hate, someone you love“.

“I’m going to release my first single,” he simply wrote in the caption, directing his followers to visit his website for more information.

From there, he dropped the aforementioned track ‘The Friends We Lost’, and confirmed in an interview that he turned his hand to a career in music as it felt like the “closest thing” to come to his time on the football pitch.

The French athlete-turned-singer previously told the Irish Times that his music was inspired by artists including “Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Daniel Johnston”, as well as the classic rock icons he listened to when he was a child.

Following his two back-to-back nights in Manchester, Cantona also played two shows at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre over the weekend (October 28 – 29). He has one more stop left on his tour – a show at Dublin’s Liberty Hall set for tomorrow (October 31) – and you can find any remaining tickets here.

Eric Cantona performs in 2023
Eric Cantona performs on his solo tour in 2023. CREDIT: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

In other Eric Cantona news, the former football star recently suggested that The Rolling Stones should support him at his live shows.

The moment took place during an interview with BBC News, when Cantona was asked which artists he would consider opening for as a support act, with the outlet noting that he is “just starting out”.

“I do not understand what you mean,” he responded, later going on to say: “No. I am a headliner. It’s why I cannot understand you. Maybe The [Rolling] Stones can support me.”

Although the new live dates mark the first time Cantona has embarked on a tour, he has been involved in the music world previously. Back in 2020, he took the starring role in the music video for Liam Gallagher‘s single ‘Once’. Prior to then, he’d also joined The Libertines and Patti Smith on stage at a benefit concert for Palestine.

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