The show at St George’s Hall formed part of the group’s ‘Embers of Europe’ tour, which kicked off at the o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on December 1 and will conclude at the Altice Arena in Lisbon tomorrow evening (December 16). The tour also saw Paradise Lost perform in four other European cities, including Istanbul, Sofia, Thessaloniki and Athens.

Thank you to everyone who came to see our Embers Of Europe show, celebrating 30 years of Icon, at St George’s Hall, Bradford last night pic.twitter.com/84rGljwn1X

— Paradise Lost (@OfficialPL) December 15, 2023

Lead vocalist Nick Holmes returned to St George’s Hall after telling the BBC about his prior experiences there, including seeing legendary metal band Metallica at the iconic Bradford venue. He stated, ‘I went to see Metallica playing there as a kid in 1986. There was a mosh pit going and I remember being a bit scared, I’d never experienced anything like that before. The more extreme end of music completely spoke to me on so many levels, I just fell in love with it.”

Watch the music video for “Say Just Words“, from the band’s sixth studio LP One Second, below:

Paradise Lost were formed in Halifax in 1988, with a line-up consisting of vocalist Nick Holmes, guitarists Greg Mackintosh and Aaron Aedy, bassist Steve Edmonson and drummer Matthew Archer. Each member bar the drummer has remained a constant in the group, with Guido Montanarini, the sixth drummer in the band’s history, taking up the role presently.

The band have amassed a strong cult following in the past three decades, particularly in Northern and Eastern Europe, areas where heavy metal has traditionally flourished as a genre. Paradise Lost are also considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre, and are regarded as the main influence for the rise in popularity of gothic metal. They have released a total of sixteen studio albums, with their first LP, Lost Paradise, coming in 1990 and their most recent original release, Obsidian, arriving in 2020.

Watch the music video for “Embers Fire“, from Icon, below:

The group also re-recorded their fourth studio album, Icon, re-releasing it as Icon 30 on December 1 2023, in a bid to gain full ownership of the original recording.

Founded by musician Sam Matlock and model Milkie Way, the duo quickly gained attention for their energetic and boundary-pushing sound. With a total of 11 solo singles under their belt, Wargasm has proven their ability to create music that resonates with listeners. One of their standout tracks, “Spit,” has become a sensation, accumulating an impressive 5 million streams on Spotify and amassing over 400 thousand views on YouTube.

The duo behind “Modern Love” skillfully combines raw distortion and polished synthesisers to create a harmonious fusion of profound musicality and captivating melodies. Milkie Way, known for her successful modelling career, brings an exceptional and remarkable presence to their live shows and music videos. With visually stunning aesthetics and a commanding sound, they offer an immersive and unique experience that sets them apart from their peers in the industry.

This single follows the release of their recent anthem “Bang Ya Head” featuring Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. In addition to amassing 296K Spotify streams and 108K YouTube views for its music video, it has garnered widespread praise.

After touring with Enter Shikari and Limp Bizkit at the end of last year (and into the beginning of this year), Wargasm has recently supported Corey Taylor on his US tour. They have also graced the stages of this year’s Louder Than Life Festival and Aftershock Festival. All of these accomplishments have been achieved in time for their return to the UK, where they will be performing their largest headline shows to date.

On discussing their latest album arrival, Milkie had this to say, “I do not respond well to being rushed. In life generally, but also in the creative process,” laughs Milkie. “It’s been a long time coming for this and I don’t think any of these songs were written in one day.” Sam added to Milkies comments and said, “Everything came together super organically, and I think you can hear that. When you rush people, you can take away the authenticity.”

Pre order the latest album Venom here.

Wargasm UK Tour dates below and tickets can be purchased here

08/11/23 – The1865 – Southampton
09/11 – Rock City – Notthingham
10/11 – Ulster Sports Club – Belfast
10/12 – The Mill – Birmingham
12/12 – SWG3 – Glasgow
13/12 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
14/12 – SWX- Bristol
15/12 – O2 Shepards Bush Empire – London

Fans will see Manchester’s finest, Kermit, and Happy Mondays frontman, Shaun Ryder, return to the music scene as a duo as they hit the road in a few months.  

Ryder, who formed the band Mantra of the Cosmos this year, is seemingly buzzing to perform alongside his pal.  

In a statement, Ryder said: “It’s going to be a wild ride of pure energy, infectious beats, and a whole lot of fun. See you in the front row!” 

Tickets for their tour are available now, but fans need to be quick as the duo will only perform five shows in the UK.  

Other artists and bands are set to make appearances at certain shows. The indie band Marquis Drive will perform at the London venue, whilst hit Inspiral singer Tom Hingley and his band The Kar-Pets will also support the anticipated tour.  

Orange Head, which will be released on 2 November, marks the group’s first album in over six years since their 2017 release Pop Voodoo.  

The album, which will feature a promising mix of sounds such as hip-hop and psychedelic pop, will see the duo go back to their edgy and experimental roots.  

Fans can pre-order the album now, which also will include their hit single, “Milk”.  

“Milk”, which was released in July this year, has over 27,000 streams on Spotify, whilst other single “Pimp Wars” has more than 20,000 on the platform.  

In anticipation for the album, fans can also purchase limited edition vinyl’s and signed albums from the band.

Formed in Manchester in 1993, Black Grape has become a staple in the British music scene. Their 1995 album, It’s Great When Your Straight… Yeah, peaked at number one on the UK charts and has since been certified Platinum for selling over 300,000 units. Hits from that record include “Reverend Black Grape”, “In the Name of the Father”, and “Kelly’s Heroes”, which all peaked in the top 20 of the charts.  

Meanwhile, their 2017 album, Pop Voodoo, peaked at number 15 on the charts. The album was also well received by critics, ranking at number 23 on Louder Than War’s Top 100 Albums of 2017.  

Tour dates  
23/11/23 – The Mill – Birmingham  
24/11 – Albert Hall – Manchester  
30/11 – Tramshed – Cardiff  
01/12 – Electric Ballroom – London  
02/12 – Engine Rooms – Southampton  

The Scottish singer announced in July that she would be releasing some solo music and heading out on tour, however, there was no indication of when we could expect to hear any new music.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lauren Mayberry (@laurenevemayberry)

The pop band’s lead singer didn’t keep fans waiting for long, as on August 11th , she revealed that her first single “Are You Awake?” would be with us in September.

Over the weekend, Mayberry dropped the highly anticipated single, as well as a music video for the song.

“Are You Awake?” was written by Mayberry and Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr, who has collaborated on songwriting with other UK artists such as Adele and Niall Horan.

The piano-led ballad is a slight leap from the energetic synth-pop we have come to expect from CHVRCHES, and in a recent press release, Lauren shared that “I was thinking a lot about loneliness and homesickness, and as soon as Tobias started playing the chords, the lyrics and melody came to me really quickly. I finished the song with my friend Matthew Koma, who really understood what I was trying to say.”

“For a long time, I couldn’t imagine doing anything outside of CHVRCHES but I think some things that I needed to write had to be done from purely my own point of view. I never really thought I’d write a piano ballad, or a solo album full stop, so life really is full of surprises. I am really looking forward to this chapter and can’t wait for people to hear more of the music.”

Though Lauren is venturing out on her own, her career with CHVRCHES is far from over. The trio announced last month that in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of their debut album, The Bones Of What You Believe, they would be releasing a re-issue of their 2013 LP on October 13th. The re-issue of the album will include 4 previously unheard tracks, as well as 5 live recordings. The band has given fans a taste of what’s to come by releasing “Manhattan”, one of the unheard songs that didn’t make it onto the album’s original release.

You can listen to “Manhattan” below.

For tickets to Lauren Mayberry’s upcoming tour, click here.

Tour dates:

05/10/2023 – SWG3 TV Studio – Glasgow, UK

06/10 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK

08/10 – Academy 2 – Manchester, UK

09/10 – Koko – London, UK

11/10 – Melkweg Oz – Amsterdam, Netherlands

12/10 – Lido – Berlin, Germany

13/10 – Strom – Munich, Germany

15/10 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, France

16/10 – Luxor – Cologne, Germany

17/10 – Rock Cafe – Prague, Czech Republic

19/10 – Flex – Vienna, Austria

21/10 – Bogen F – Zurich, Switzerland

22/10 – Magnolia – Milan, Italy

24/10 – La Nau – Barcelona, Spain

25/10 – Sala Copernico – Madrid, Spain

⚡NEW SHOWS ADDED ⚡
Due to the phenomenal demand that resulted in us selling out our UK tour in a day! We’ve added some new dates to the Permission to Land 20th Anniversary tour. Tickets on sale 9am this Friday 14th. Don’t miss out this time, get them here:… pic.twitter.com/95Xt0Php6t

— The Darkness (@thedarkness) July 11, 2023

The winter tour, set to begin in Belfast on December 2nd, will now see shows in four new locations, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds and Brighton, while the Roundhouse in London and Rock City in Nottingham will now play hosts to two dates. The addition of these new shows now means that the tour will stretch until December 22nd, a fact that will surely impress fans of the much-loved glam rock outfit.

The tour will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of The Darkness’ debut, and much loved, seminal album Permission To Land. An expanded Permission To Land deluxe album is also set to be released later this year via Warner Music especially for the anniversary, with details to be released by the band soon.

The Darkness formed in 2000 in Lowestoft with an initial line-up of Justin Hawkins (lead vocals, lead guitar) , his brother Dan Hawkins (guitar), Frankie Poullain (bass) and Ed Graham (drums). The group released their debut album, Permission To Land, in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim, with the album topping the UK Albums Chart and achieving quadruple platinum status after 1.3 million copies were sold. This album also contained the hit single “I Believe in a Thing Called Love“, by far the band’s most popular track.

Watch the music video for “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” below:

The group have gone on to release a further six albums, despite a five year hiatus, with their latest album, Motorheart, being released in 2021. Since their hiatus they have released five albums, and have even released a special Christmas beer in collaboration with brewery Signature Brew.

Watch the music video for “Motorheart” below:

See below for the updated series of tour dates:

02/12/2023 – The Telegraph Building – Belfast
03/12 – 3Olympia – Dublin
05/12 – O2 Academy – Edinburgh (new show)
07/12 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle (new show)
08/12 – UEA – Norwich
09/12 – Roundhouse – London
11/12 – Barrowland – Glasgow
12/12 – New Century Hall – Manchester
14/12 – Beacon – Bristol
15/12 – Rock City – Nottingham
16/12 – The Wulfrum At The Halls – Wolverhampton
18/12 – O2 Academy – Leeds (new show)
19/12 – Rock city – Nottingham (new show)
20/12 – Dome – Brighton (new show)
22/12 – Roundhouse – London (new show)

Tour tickets for the new shows go on sale from 9am on Friday 14th July and can be purchased here.

The six date American tour will follow a packed summer schedule for the space rock outfit which will see them play at a number of European venues along with a fair few festivals, and will see them return to a couple of venues they visited on their previous visit to North America in September of last year (namely, White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, NJ and Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA).

The announcement came yesterday via the group’s twitter page and will no doubt excite their East coast American fans who will get to see the band again in such a short space of time.

Spiritualized® Live™ US
Local pre-sales from (10AM local time) 05.10.2023 – (10PM local time) 05.11.2023
General on-sale (12PM local time) 05.12.2023 https://t.co/xqiUt3Pqv4 pic.twitter.com/M5rwtBQOXf

— Spiritualized® (@officialSpzd) May 9, 2023

Spiritualized were formed in 1990 by frontman Jason Pierce (J Spaceman) following the disbanding of his previous group, Spacemen 3, after a series of fall outs with former co-frontman Peter Kember (Sonic Boom). Pierce subsequently brought with him to Spiritualized fellow Spacemen 3 members Will Carruthers, Mark Refoy and Jonny Mattock to form the new space rock outfit.

The band released its debut album, Lazer Guided Melodies, in 1992, incorporating more of a shoegaze element along with the distinctive spacey, psychedelic sound of Spacemen 3, and with their next album, Pure Phase (1995) came a slight delve into britpop, all the while maintaining a keen appetite for space rock. Their third album, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, released in 1997, became their most successful and most well-known release, peaking at number four in the UK Albums Chart and being named NME’s Album of the Year.

Listen to “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” below:

Spiritualized have since become space rock pioneers and have amassed a huge cult following, and have released a total of nine studio albums, the latest of which, Everything Was Beautiful, was released in April 2022 on Fat Possum Records. The group’s current lineup consists of Jason Pierce (vocals, guitar), John Coxon (guitar, keyboard), Doggen Foster (guitar), James Stelfox (bass), Kevin Bales (drums) and Tom Edwards (keyboards).

See below for the US tour dates:

06/11/2023 – White Eagle Hall – New Jersey, NJ
07/11 – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY
08/11 – Basilica Hudson – Hudson, NY
09/11 – Mr Smalls Theatre – Millvale, PA
11/11 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
12/11 – Webster Hall – New York, NY

You can purchase tour tickets from May 12th here.

The Britpop icon band, Blur, have decided to greet us once again. The band have announced a collection of four small gig dates for the run up to their official world tour, set to kick off in June.

Come as they may, the group’s fans will be delighted to get in touch with them again. This tour will mark their first headlining gigs since their most recent release of The Magic Whip back in 2015. There has been no trace of fresh sound since then, with only a live album release Live At The BBC in 2019 and the “Blur (25th Anniversary Sampler)” in 2022.

As a warm up for the big journey, they will be playing four shows in May around the UK. The first show will take place at Colchester Art Centre – a 300 head venue capacity – on the Friday, 19th of May. Blur’s frontman, Damon Albarn, is from Colchester, where he met guitarist Graham Coxon when studying at Stanway School.

The following gig is to take place on the 21st May at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne, a slightly larger venue than the first intimate one. On the 26th of May they will be stopping at Wolverhampton to play at The Halls to then finish in Newcastle on the 28th of May where they will be performing at the O2 City Hall.

After the offering of this string of intimacy, the band finally loom into reality. On the 1st of June they land their first big show in Barcelona at the renowned Primavera Sound Festival. As from here they will be hopping around the world until the end of August. Visiting countries such as Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland and, to finish off, Japan.

In Japan they will play in Tokyo at Summer Sonic 2023 on the 19th of August and will be finally tying up their horses in Osaka at the Maishima Sonic Park on the 20th of August.

The tour will featured by special guests on stage. The first show is to be accompanied by the UK rapper Slowthai, the British musician known as Self Esteem and the indie duo from London, Jockstrap. The following day they are to be joined on stage at Wembley by rock star Paul Weller as well as the ska revival duo from Coventry, The Selector.

Tickets for the UK shows in May will be available to buy this Friday, 28th of April. Click here for access.

UK Tour Dates:

19/05/2023 – Colchester Art Centre – Colchester
21/05 – Winter Gardens – Eastbourne
26/05 – The Halls – Wolverhampton
28/05 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle
08/07/ – Wembley – London
09/07 – Wembley – London

The announcement comes in a recent Twitter post that also contains a teaser about some possible new material being on the way, with the post claiming, “We’ll be out of the studio and back on the road at the end of 2023 with some new tricks up our sleeves…“.

We’ll be out of the studio and back on the road at the end of 2023 with some new tricks up our sleeves…
The “C’est La Vie” tour is coming to a stage near you.
Register for early access to tickets at https://t.co/2Ml0E0cCdv pic.twitter.com/LOvUz6kCh1

— Madness (@MadnessNews) April 21, 2023

This teasing message will be sure to make fans of the London based ska icons salivate at the possibility of new studio recordings, with their last studio album being released eight years ago (Can’t Touch Us Now in 2015), and their latest single produced in 2019 (“Bullingdon Boys (Don’t Get Bullied by the Bully boys“)).

The band was formed in 1976 in Camden Town, London, as The North London Invaders, changing their name several times before finally landing on Madness in 1979, a homage to Jamaican ska and rocksteady musician Prince Buster and a single he produced with the same name.

Their first single, “The Prince“, released in 1979 on 2 Tone Records, was also inspired by their ska predecessor, and achieved fair success, reaching number 16 in the UK Single Charts and, more importantly, paving the way for the band to become one of the most prominent groups of the two-tone ska revival in Britain, alongside the likes of the Selecter and the Specials.

Watch the music video for “One Step Beyond” below:

The single was followed by the release of their debut album, One Step Beyond, to widespread critical acclaim, reaching number two in the UK Album Charts, and contained a cover of a song of the same name by Prince Buster. The following year the group released their second album, Absolutely, which also reached number two in the UK Album Charts and contained one the band’s biggest hits, “Baggy Trousers“.

The release of the band’s third studio album, 7, in 1981 marked a change of direction in where the band was heading musically, opting to stray away from their fast-paced ska and rocksteady roots and adopting a more mainstream pop sound. Later that year Madness released “It Must Be Love“, a Labi Siffre cover, and in 1982 released their sole number one single, “House of Fun“.

Watch the music video for “House of Fun” below:

The band broke up in 1986 and re-united in 1992, releasing Divine Madness, a compilation album that reached number one in the UK Album Charts. Madness have released twelve studio albums to date and will embark on their tour with six of the original seven members of the line-up, including Graham “Suggs” McPherson, Mike Barson, Lee Thompson, Chris Foreman, Dan Woodgate and Mark Bedford.

You can register for early access to tour tickets here.

See below for the tour dates:

30/11/2023 – P&J Live – Aberdeen
01/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
2/12 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
4/14 – International Arena – Cardiff
5/12 – Motorpoint Area – Nottingham
7/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
8/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
9/12 – AO Arena – Manchester
11/12 – Centre – Brighton
12/12 – International Arena – Bournemouth
14/12 – Utilita Arena – Sheffield
15/12 – The O2 – London
16/12 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham

In this project we see Gallagher going back to his past. He touches base with the life he had, back in the day when he was broke, a daydreamer and wondering what life could be like. It is a way of going back to the beginning for him. The songs that have been already released from the album are “Pretty Boy”, “Easy Now”, “Dead To The World” and, now, we are presented with “Council Skies”. Which is believed to be the last release before the final drop.

We can confirm it is an album close to his heart and has transmitted a different level to his sound. The rockstar himself admits that “Dead To The World” is the best song he has ever written.

Throughout the album expect to hear the likes of collaborators such as Paul “Strangeboy” Lacey, who’ve worked together for a long time running during their musical careers. The Smith’s co-songwriter, Johnny Marr, makes an appearance in three tracks including the already released “Pretty Boy”.  And last but not least ,The Cure frontman Robert Smith has also input towards remixes on a couple of the songs as well as live recordings.

Noel Gallagher explains “It’s going back to the beginning. Daydreaming, looking up at the sky and wondering about what life could be … that’s as true to me now as it was in the early ‘90s. When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that” on the making of Council Skies.

The name claimed itself when he was sat at his coffee table and saw a book by Pete McKee titled that same way; Council Skies. He rather liked the ring of it and thought it fit only too well into the significance of his album. It is said that the musician got in contact with McKee to request permission for using the same title on his release. A success, clearly.

The album release will be followed up by an arena UK tour. Starting on the 21st of July in Buckinghamshire he will make his way around the country until finishing in Liverpool on the 21st December.

Tickets are available here.

UK Tour dates:

21/07/23 – Pennfest – Buckinghamshire
23/07 – Wollaton Park – Nottingham
28/07 – Crystal Palace Bowl – London
30/07 – Brighton Beach – Brighton
05/08 – Audley End – Essex
19/08 – Caldicot Castle – Monmouthshire
20/08 – Hardwick Festival – Sedgefield
24/08 – Vivary Park – Taunton
26/08 – Wythenshawe Park – Manchester
27/08 – Royal Hospital – Dublin
30/08 – Bonus Arena – Hull
01/09 – Don Valley Bowl – Sheffield
14/12 – OVO Arena Wembley – London
15/12 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
17/12 – International Arena – Cardiff
18/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
20/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
21/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool

The UK dates, which start after the European tour, begin with a massive show at The O2 in London, which will be the bands only show in England. The band’s announcement stated that it “will be their first show in the capital since a sold out performance in 2021 which was live streamed across the world.”

Speaking about their other UK dates, they also said “2023 will see the band hit 3Arena on October 1st for the first time. Speaking of firsts, the band return to Glasgow for the first time in 8 years for a performance at OVO Hydro on October 5th.”

New Order announced the set of shows on Instagram, as seen below, also confirming support from special guests Confidence Man, an Australian indie electro pop band. Confidence Man released their second album last year, Tilt, which NME called “over-the-top pop of the highest order” and gave it a gleaming four star review. It reached number 7 in the Offical UK charts. The band are playing on the New Order tour after their own set of UK dates starting in May.

In other news, the band have had a busy year. They were announced as headliners of the Primavera Sound festival in Madrid and Barcelona, and garnered attention after backing the #LetTheMusicMove campaign. This was after the US Department of Homeland Security announced they would raise touring visa fees by 250 percent for foreign acts, greatly impacting how and even if smaller bands can tour the US. They were one of over 200 artists that came together for the touring campaign. See below:

The band formed in Manchester in 1980, after the disbandment of Joy Division following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The remaining members, Bernard Summer, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris, formed New Order. They brought in keyboardist Gillan Gilbert the following year to complete the line up. In 2023, New Order and Joy Division were jointly nominated to be accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their hit song, “Blue Monday“, came out forty years ago in March- a milestone the band celebrated by releasing limited edition merchandise. It became the best-selling independent 12″ single of all time in the UK, despite not being on any album. The song was rereleased in 2008, on the collector’s edition of their second album Power, Corruption & Lies. They posted on Instagram to unveil the collection. See below:

Tickets for all dates go on sale April 14th, at 9.30am. They are available via Ticketmaster here.

Here are the UK tour dates:

29/09/2023 – The O2 – London

05/10 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow

07/10 – First Direct Arena – Leeds