Kicking off in London at The Lexington on April 14, Coombes will then visit intimate venues in Bath, Tunbridge Wells, Hebden Bridge and York before the tour concludes on April 23 at the Brudenell in Leeds. These solo dates will follow on from a pair of Supergrass gigs which will take place on April 4 and 5 in London and Oxford. The shows were previously rescheduled last month due to the rise in coronavirus cases in the UK.

Supergrass said in a statement at the time. “A lot has changed over the last few days with the rise in Omicron cases, It’s been an incredibly tough call to make but we feel to play these shows at this point in time would be the wrong thing to do for all concerned.”

So gutted to announce this. Looking to reschedule asap in the new year. pic.twitter.com/cOWS93LNRA

— Supergrass (@SupergrassHQ) December 16, 2021

In addition to the aforementioned dates, Supergrass will also be playing in Glasgow and Falkirk on June 6 and 7 respectively.

Whilst the Supergrass reunion has been the main focus apart from the pandemic during the past couple of years it is good news for fans that the musician hasn’t been neglecting his solo career. After the band originally split in 2010 due to musical differences, Coombes announced the next year he was set to release a solo project and performed his first solo shows in December of that year. Shortly after as promised he released his debut solo single “Hot Fruit” in March 2012 followed soon after by his debut album, Here Come the Bombs. Both releases were well received by critics and fans.

You can see Coombes’ upcoming solo tour dates below, and find tickets here when they go on sale at 10am on Friday (January 28).

Gaz Coombes Tour Dates:

04/14/22 The Lexington – London
04/15 Moles – Bath
04/16 The Forum – Tunbridge Wells
04/21 The Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
04/22 Crescent Community venue – York
04/23 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds

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In the last few weeks, many artists like Danny Goffey, La Roux, Gaz Coombes and Daniel Briskin showed support to the organisation in these difficult times. An online festival celebrating Liverpool music in support of Liverpool NHS Hospitals and Save our Venues has also been announced recently.

 

 

 

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Artists around England are concerned with the potential losses the music industry will suffer if no measures are taken. This topic was explored further by journalist Poppy Platt in an article published in ‘The Guardian’ on March 13. The singer and songwriter Ellie Rowsell stated the importance of Grassroots Music Venues in an Instagram post shared in the official MVT profile.

 

 

 

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The Mercury Prize is a British and Irish based award for best album of the calendar year. Established in 1992, it was to be an alternative to the Brit Awards; offering more diverse and experimental bands the chance to win awards rather than the more mainstream Brit Awards.

It often offers a significant boost in album sales to the winner, with 2013 winner James Blake experiencing a 2500% rise in album sales following his victory.

Previous well known winners are the likes of Elbow, Primal Scream, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and many others.

The nominees and their respective albums are as follows:

Aphex Twin – ‘Syro’
Benjamin Clementine – ‘At Least For Now’
C Duncan – ‘Architect’
Eska – ‘Eska’
Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’
Ghostpoet – ‘Shedding Skin’
Florence + The Machine – ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
Roisin Murphy – ‘Hairless Toys’
Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’
SOAK – ‘Before We Forgot How to Dream’
Wolf Alice – ‘My Love Is Cool’

It seems that the continuing trend of electronica infused indie is prevalent in the list. With Wolf Alice probably being the only musical act that could be regarded as rock based. However, the Mercury Prize continues its reputation of giving alternative and lesser known artists a chance to win an award when they would normally not be regarded. For example, SOAK, whilst experiencing a growing musical reputation has not been in the music industry for a long time; with ‘Before We Forgot How to Dream’ being her debut album.

The biggest names in the shortlist are without a doubt indie pop band Florence + The Machine; having very recently headlined Glastonbury this year. However former Supergrass lead singer Gaz Coombes does still have a large reputation in the music industry.

You will be able to listen to all the artists and their albums here if you have spotify.

The eventual winners of the Mercury Prize will be announced in a months time on November 20th, which will be broadcast on BBC for UK based viewers.