Let’s not forget Suede’s competition, Blur, Oasis and Pulp to name just a few rivals in the ‘Britpop’ era of British music. However, Suede often fall an unsung hero in conversation about the champions of the 90s, despite it being them who very well started the entire ‘Britpop’ movement.

At a time when bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains were drowning others out with their grunge and heavy raw musical prowess, it was Suede who dug their heels in and offered a glamorous, romanticised alternative.

Suede’s debut album won a Mercury Prize for their 1993 self-titled debut album. Mind you this is a feat neither Pulp, Oasis or blur ever achieved.

After the release of their tenth studio album ‘Antidepressants’ , Anderson has claimed that in the present day, Suede stand at the top of the podium when it comes to vital music making. To be fair to him, it does seem the band are set to walk the walk. The Official Charts have announced they are on course for a first number one in 26 years.

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“I’m really proud of the kind of position we seem to have found ourselves in, in the musical landscape. I don’t think there’s any other band of our generation that are still making records as vital as the records we’re making.”

We currently live in a Music space where Oasis are dominating the headlines by simply belting out their bangers from the past, though this is a rather special tour, Suede have always been set on rolling with the punches and making music in the present.

“We can talk about the 90s, but I’ve not got anything interesting left to say about it,”

“It doesn’t interest me that much. The last thing I ever wanted Suede to be was a nostalgia act. I’ve always felt like we’re out on our own. I felt like we were out on our own in ‘92, when no one wanted to sing about British life, and we were the only people doing it. I think we survived and now we’re out on our own.”

The one thing Suede may not have on the three headed dog of ‘Britpop’ is longevity. Suede’s flame doesn’t seem to burn as bright as it used to, especially compared with Cocker and the Gallaghers.

Suede’s upcoming tour is definitely one for the people as they take to intimate venues across the country. The band will begin their travels in early 2026 as they take their new record on the road.

Tickets can be found here and the dates are as follows:

• January 30: Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
• January 31: Portsmouth, Portsmouth Guildhall
• February 2: Bristol, Bristol Beacon
• February 3: Guildford, G Live
• February 5: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
• February 6: Liverpool, Mountford Hall
• February 7: York, Barbican
• February 9: Lincoln, The Engine Shed
• February 10: Norwich, The LCR, UEA
• February 11: Cambridge, Corn Exchange
• February 13: Sheffield, Octagon Centre
• February 14: Newcastle, O2 City Hall
• February 16: Coventry, HMV Empire
• February 17: Bath, Bath Forum
• February 19: Nottingham, Rock City
• February 20: Southend-on-Sea, Cliffs Pavilion
• February 21: Brighton, Brighton Centre

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The tour announcement came yesterday, 24 March, with details of ticket information. Pre-sale for select venues will begin tomorrow, Wednesday 26 March, and tickets will go on general sale on Friday, 28 March. Fans will have to act quickly to secure tickets, with Newcastle’s Boiler Shop holding just 100 people. The largest venue on their tour will be Leeds’ O2 Academy, with a capacity of 2300 people. Tickets can be accessed through Ticketmaster here.  

The band will travel up and down the country, visiting venues in Scotland, the North, the Midlands and all the way down to the south coast. Their visit to Margate will be the first time the group play the town, and their stop off in Dundee will mark their return to the city after over three decades since their last appearance.

Dundee get in there pic.twitter.com/rrss462qto

— Sado Witz (@WitzSado) March 24, 2025

 There is nothing to suggest that this tour will be supporting any upcoming new music. Their last studio release was their self-titled album in 2014. They haven’t released any new material since founding member and drummer Craig Gill passed away in 2016. Despite the lack of recent activity, they have performed more than 80 shows since their return to touring in 2023.

Gill’s passing left a hole in the group, but also in the local music scene in Manchester. He co-founded the award-winning Manchester Music Tours, and co-authored the ‘Manchester Musical History Tour’ book, both of which brought the hundreds of music-related landmarks scattered around Manchester to new audiences.

Often listed as one of the influential 90s Madchester bands, alongside the likes of the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses, the band never felt like they quite fit that label, saying “we were completely different: a psychedelic throwback, with an electric organ as our main instrument”. The group had moderate mainstream success, with 11 Top 40 singles, and three Top 10 albums, including their debut, ‘Life’, which was only held from the top spot by a Carpenters compilation.

The dates leave the band’s summer free from touring, or it could also be seen as an Oasis-shaped hole. The band’s summer tour has already revealed Richard Ashcroft and Cast as supporting acts for their reunion shows, but the connection between Noel Gallagher and Inspiral Carpets cannot be overlooked. Before his days in the Britpop band, Gallagher auditioned for the Carpets as a singer before joining them as a roadie for two years. 

Whether the Inspiral Carpets are considered a vintage act or not, the venues promise intimate shows surrounded by fans. If the reviews from their recent shows are to be believed, the shows will be “a joyful ride back to the early 90s”.

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Formed in 1997, Five quickly rose to fame with their energetic blend of pop and hip-hop, achieving global sales of over 20 million records. Their debut album, ‘5ive‘ (1998), featured hits like ‘Slam Dunk (Da Funk)‘ and ‘When the Lights Go Out‘. The band’s follow-up album, ‘Invincible‘ (1999), included chart-toppers such as ‘Keep On Movin’‘ and their collaboration with Queen on ‘We Will Rock You‘, both securing the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart.

The ‘Keep On Movin’ 2025 Tour’ is set to commence on October 31, 2025, in Brighton and will cover major cities including Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Aberdeen, and Glasgow. The tour will also feature special guest performances by DJ and producer Naughty Boy. In their Instagram post, the band said: “This has been a long time coming and it really does feel right for all of us now. 25 years on and we’re so ready for it. We really can’t wait to get back on stage together and see you all in person, it’s gonna go OFF!”

Well and truly in my Five reunion era been a long time coming (*NSYNC I’m looking at you next!)
— (@nsyncnationuk) February 24, 2025

This reunion not only celebrates Five’s enduring legacy in the pop music scene but also offers long-time fans an opportunity to relive the vibrant energy and memorable hits that defined the late ’90s and early 2000s. Tickets are scheduled to go on general sale at 10 am on Friday, March 7, 2025. A presale will be available from 10 am on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, for fans who register via the band’s official website. Given the anticipated high demand, early registration is recommended to secure attendance.

We’re thrilled to announce that our new album SUPERCHARGED will be released on October 11th! We wanted this record to have pure energy – from the start to the finish! That’s why we called it SUPERCHARGED.

Pre-order/pre-save now + listen to the new single “Make It All Right” at:… pic.twitter.com/Nly1fmQa9x

— The Offspring (@offspring) June 7, 2024

Talking about the production of their upcoming album, frontman Dexter Holland said that ““the album was recorded in three different locations this time around: Maui, Vancouver, and our home studio in Huntington Beach, and together with our producer Bob Rock everything came out awesome. I feel like this is the best we have ever sounded! We’ve been rocking out and head-banging to it for months! And we can’t wait for you guys to hear it!”

The announcement of their forthcoming album came alongside the release of their new single from the record, called ‘Make It All Right’ which is a good first taster of the album. The song is what we tend to expect from Offspring tracks with their signature punk riffs throughout its 3 minute 34 second duration.

Dexter Holland said that when making the album The Offspring “wanted this record to have pure energy – from the start to the finish! That’s why we called it Supercharged. From the height of our aspirations to the depths of our struggles, we talk about it all on this record…in a way that celebrates the life that we share and where we are now.”

He added that the new single, ‘Make It All Right’ “is a great example of this because it talks about the people in our lives who make us feel strong when we are feeling low – our partners in crime who make us feel all right.”

The album also marks the first LP for the band without long time drummer Pete Parada, with Foo Fighters drummer, John Freese, performing on their latest single.

The announcement of their newest album comes just before they are due to perform at Download festival in Leicestershire. Their set will be on Saturday, 15th of June, and will be their first performance in the UK since they headlined Slam Dunk festival in 2023. They also recently performed a set where they brought out Ed Sheeran and performed the track ‘Million Miles Away’ off of their album ‘Conspiracy of One’.

The track list for “Supercharged” is:

01. Looking Out For #1
02. Light It Up
03. The Fall Guy
04. Make It All Right
05. Ok, But This Is The Last Time
06. Truth In Fiction
07. Come To Brazil
08. Get Some
09. Hanging By A Thread
10. You Can’t Get There From Here

Listen to their new track, ‘Make It All Right’, below.

Formed after the dissolution of frontman Perry Farell’s previous band, Jane’s Addiction gained attention from Warner Bros. Records in 1987 with the release of their self titled live album. Since then, the band have sporadically toured and dissolved a number of times the first being in 1991 where their farewell tour launched the first Lollapalooza – an annual four day festival held in Grant Park Chicago. Lollapalooza has since become a revered alternative rock festival evolving to include genres like hip hop and electronic dance music and even expanded outside of the US in 2010. ‘Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza’, a three part documentary on the festival, debuted at Sundance film festival in January and will premiere on May 21st on Paramount +. Give it a watch if you are curious about the member’s projects outside of the band.

The band describe themselves as a kind of farrago or ‘Hodge-Podge'; that is a mass of disorderly chaos, or a jumble. Born out of the LA underground rock scene, the band recall this space fondly as it gave them a chance to make mistakes and define who they are now. In a 2012 interview with Rhino, infamous guitarist Dave Navarro expressed that the band are just doing ‘what we want and don’t really worry about it. I mean, listen to the lyrics of “Have A Cigar.” What a direct ‘f*ck you’ to the music industry that song is.’ Unfortunately fans of the band may be disappointed as Navarro hasn’t returned to the stage due to ongoing issues with long Covid. Instead, he has been replaced by Josh Klinghoffer who, like Navarro, is best known for touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers between the years 2009 and 2019. In 2022 speaking to Alternative Press, Farell expressed that it wasn’t easy finding a replacement for Navarro noting that ‘Jane’s is a unique band, and you can’t just grab any guitar player and they’ll pick it up. That’s Dave Navarro we’re talking about — those are big shoes to fill.’

If you’re attending the Derby festival of any of the band’s gigs then according to an article written by Niall Doherty, for Louder Magazine in April ‘what you should really do is shout out (not when Perry is talking, that would be rude) for the band to play either their epic, ten-minute 1990 single Three Days or the similarly vast Then She Did…’ or at least that’s what Farell told the journalist when speaking to him in 2021. You can listen to the lengthy piece below.

The remainder of the UK leg of their tour sees them playing at the Roundhouse in London and then onto Glasgow at the Barrowland Ballroom on the 31st of May before ending in Manchester with a show at the O2 Apollo on the 2nd of June. They will then travel to across to Europe to play shows in Germany and France before returning to this side of the pond in late June for a show at Trinity College Dublin on the 28th. You can find tickets for the Bush Hall show and any other of the band’s gigs over the coming weeks here.

Throughout much of his career, Albini was hell-bent on being described as an engineer not a producer. Talking to Headliner Magazine last year, he described the uncomfortable feeling of being tethered to this label; ‘A producer has responsibility for all the artistic decisions on a record…I don’t do that,”. He stated that was happy to leave those choices to whichever band he was working with, preferring not to be pigeonholed in this way. He told the magazine ‘It’s not that I prefer not to be called a producer, it’s that it’s incorrect and misleading’. You can read the interview in which he talks producing, the future of music and Kurt Cobain here.

His punishing sound defined the late 20th century and has reverberated through the music industry since then, having recorded thousands of albums including landmark releases such the Pixies Surfa Rosa of 1988 and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me of 1993 as well as most notably Nirvana’s third and final studio album In Utero, which turned 30 in September of last year. Kurt Cobain, feeling the band needed a sound revival after the release of Nirvana’s penultimate album Nevermind, found this salvation in Albini.

Albini revealed that originally he didn’t find the band all that revolutionary, however agreed to work with them out of pity, believing they were shackled to a label who refused to let them explore a more caustic and corrosive sound. At the time the label, Geffen, were callous towards the album requesting many of the songs be remixed. Though this was very little concern to Albini who had a track record of being unapologetically unsympathetic towards labels and charged a flat fee for working with him; contesting with the notion of perpetually profiting from an artist’s work. Still, the album ended up selling 5 million copies just in the US and after its release and according to Far Out magazine, Albini noted that he even found himself “listening to it of [his] own free will, occasionally”. You can read Albini’s thoughts on the industry here in his perspicacious essay ‘The Problem with Music’.

Primarily, Albini was a musician despite his engineering efforts morphing into a central part of his career. He was the front man for bands such as Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac who he continued touring with up until his death. The band are due to release their first full album since 2014 titled To All Trains on the 17th of May and have recently announced a UK tour which will take place in June. Albini’s plethora of legacy solidifying, palpable, albums and sound will continue to shape the future of music indefinitely and his refreshing but bloodless critiques of the industry, will be missed. You can preorder To All Trains here.

Weezer announced the tour on X, stating, “Today is the greatest day we’ve ever known. UK and Ireland we’re coming back around to co-headline a handful of shows next summer with @SmashingPumpkin“.

The Smashing Pumpkins, who have just come off their US tour, announced soon after, “SP is excited to announce we will be touring UK & Ireland next year with Weezer.”

With multiple, multi-platinum records and careers spanning about 30 years, these US bands are sure to thrill UK and Irish fans. Just last year, US fans experienced this powerful rock concoction at BeachLife Festival in California where both bands headlined.

For Weezer, they are returning to the UK after their highly anticipated, Hella Mega, sold-out stadium tour with Green Day and Fallout Boy which was initially delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 saw Weezer release an innovative quartet of EP’s titled SZNZ – each album changing its sound to correspond to the feeling and emotions of the four seasons.

Since their debut studio album release in 1994 with Weezer (often referred to as the ‘Blue Album‘), this Los Angeles group have amassed billions of streams, over 10 million album sales in the US and over 35 million record sales internationally.

Chicago rock icons, The Smashing Pumpkins, have had their fair share of success since forming in 1988. Their unique and pioneering sound, which blended various music genres previously unexplored by the world, paved the way for them to achieve enduring iconic status. Their name quickly became synonymous with 90’s alternative rock.

In November 2022, The Smashing Pumpkins began to release a trilogy of rock opera albums titled, ATUM. Past albums they have released have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Siamese Dream (1993), which just celebrated its 30th year anniversary, has since gone quadruple-platinum and was placed no.18 in Pitchfork’s ‘Top 100 Albums of the 90’s’.

Tickets for their UK and Ireland co-headlining tour will go on sale Friday 20th October at 10am: get the link here.

Touring dates for The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer:

07/06/2024 – Birmingham Utilita Arena – Birmingham
08/06 – The O2 Arena – London
10/06 –  3Arena – Dublin
12/06 – Glasgow OVO Hydro – Glasgow
13/06 – Manchester Co-op Live – Manchester
14/06 – Cardiff Castle – Cardiff

In a recent interview with plus44uk, they described their musical style as “Bringing back that throwback 90’s R&B, with a modern day twist.”

Since dropping their EP on the 1^st June 2023 Is It A Crime, they have found themselves headlining their own gig in London.

It will feature tracks from the EP such as “Is It a Crime” and “Committed.” They have come a long way from the 90’s R&B cover tracks they performed in a London car park; however, the traction has built from there, where they became one of the 6^th most watched videos on TikTok, with over 1 billion views!

New Musical Express aka NME have said this about the boy band “No Guidnce have the potential to become British R&B icons.”

The four members of the band Ebubé aged 20, Zeekay and Kaci, who are both 19 and Josh who is 22, are taking to the stage in the UK for the first time to headline at the Lower Third in London. The event will show case their unique modern twist to 90’s R&B as described by the band themselves.

The London venue is the perfect host for the young boy band to showcase their talents and perform their first headline act. The venue boasts on their site “We are a community celebrating creativity in all its forms. In a musically focused way.”

This seemingly novice venue moves from a cocktail bar, down into an underground venue with a staged area that can hold up to 230 people! This will be where the band is set to play their headliner of 2023.

The band dropped their new single called” Yeah, Yeah” on August 31st. Fans took to Instagram with their opinions of the new single to say “On repeat already.” And “They keep dropping banger after banger.”

No Guidnce are yet to confirm if this new single will be included in their headline show or not, or if fans will hear new material during their gig at the Lower Third in London.

The headline performance will take place on the 18^th September 2023 .

A recent post on No Guidnce Instagram feed said “London Family!!!! You guys sold out our first ever headline show in 2 minutes, we can’t wait to see you there!!”  No Guidnce are yet to comment on whether more tickets will go on for sale for their headline debut.

Tour dates

18/09/2023 – Lower Third – London

As well as those represses, the band are releasing ‘Rupt and Flex (1994-96)’ which is described in their Bandcamp description as “An anthology of Seefeel’s 94 – 96 work made for Warp and Rephlex, including their out-of-print studio albums Succour and (Ch-Vox), two non-album EPs, Starethrough and Fracture/Tied, and 22 bonus tracks from the Seefeel archives, most of which have been previously unreleased.” The 43 track anthology will be available to purchase through download and a CD “housed in bespoke packaging conceived by The Designer’s Republic”. This 4 CD boxset includes all album artwork and an additional fold out poster.

All of the reissues will be available at Warp Records and other stocking retailers on 14^th May, with the following release on Bandcamp the same day. Other streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify are in the works as well. A surprise release has emerged today from the vault for everyone to listen to on streaming. The song is a remix of the 1994 track ‘Spangle’ by acclaimed Rochdale electronic duo and fellow Warp Records signee Autechre. The twelve minute ambient filled journey gives us a taster of the load of unreleased material to come out of these reissues. Listen to the track today.