Source: theregoesthefear.com

Brighton rockers Blood Red Shoes have announced a new tour for October, playing their biggest shows yet.

Tickets for some dates are on sale now, priced around the £8 / £9 mark.

Monday 13th October - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Wednesday 15th October - Leeds Cockpit
Thursday 16th October - Manchester Academy
Saturday 18th October - Aberdeen Drummonds
Sunday 19th October - Glasgow King Tut’s
Monday 20th October - Newcastle Academy
Tuesday 21st October - Norwich Waterfront
Thursday 23rd October - Birmingham Academy
Friday 24th October - London Astoria

Source: theregoesthefear.com

Those nice folks over at Somerset house have announced details of their Summer Series 2008 events. This summer sees the likes of Fratellis, We Are Scientists and Justice all grace the old courtyard over the course of 10 days in July.

Tickets are available here on presale from Ticketmaster, and go on sale on Wednesday (14th May) at 10am.

Thursday 10th July - The Fratellis
Friday 11th July - Justice
Saturday 12th July - Unkle
Sunday 13th July - The Blue Nile
Monday 14th July - Lupe Fiasco
Tuesday 15th July - We Are Scientists
Wednesday 16th July - The Zutons
Thursday 17th July - The Feeling
Friday 18th July - Duffy
Saturday 19th July - Adele

Source: theregoesthefear.com

A half –full Zodiac at the Oxford Academy played host to up-and-comers Royworld last night as they embark on their debut full UK tour ahead of their album release next month.

Support came in the form of Oxford based band Cand Electric who were obviously nervous, having clearly just landed the biggest gig of their lives. Perfectly competent, they just lacked any oomph – they could play, but no personality or songs that grab you by the neck and say “LISTEN TO ME”. Quickly followed up by The Rushes who were much more capable of the supporting roll, dispatching hecklers with one-line put downs, and having tunes that with a bit of tweaking may get a couple of plays on late night XFM.

However, 9:15 and the main event soon rolled around, and Royworld unassumingly took to the stage. Opening up with recent single Elasticity they hammered their way through 45 minutes of material from their upcoming debut album. Usually, throwing in their new single and their old single in the first three songs would be a recipe for people walking out, having heard what they wanted. However, not tonight. Oh no. As the four of them get into their stride a bit more, it became clear that their singles are just the beginning of the road for these lads..

Smoke machines and extensive strobe lights gave the night a feel of a (slightly dodgy) 80’s pop video, however this more than complimented their rather unique brand of music – a sense of yearning for times gone by is immediately made clear, listening to their lyrics.

“Man in the Machine” was the last of the trio of songs that most of the audience had wanted to hear, before they closed with the duo of songs of “Tinman” and “Brakes”, showing off that Royworld are no one-trick ponies.

After the jump: Photos

Above: Cand Electric

Above: Cand Electric

Above: Royworld Live @ Oxford Carling Academy Zodiac

Above: Royworld Live @ Oxford Carling Academy Zodiac

Above: Royworld Live @ Oxford Carling Academy Zodiac

Source: theregoesthefear.com

“These shows are always far too short” moaned Tom McRae as he brought down the curtains on almost 3 hours of non-stop music that, frankly, would put most lesser artists to shame. In those 3 hours, we’d seen beard shaving, mass-singalongs, surprise special guests and more off-the-cuff jokes than most comedians manage in a year. All for a mere £15 too.

This was the second time that the Essex-based singer/songwriter had bought over his motley crew of artists from the US to play the Hotel Cafe tour, named after the famous venue in LA which plays host to a range of a wide range of artists for a cabaret-like performance where anything can happen. As they showed, anything really can happen when they decided to shave the beard of lead organiser Jason, live on stage towards the end.

Each playing one or two songs, Tom introduced each one with amusing tales, and before 9:30 had even swung round we’d already hurtled through three Tom McRae songs as well as songs from Catherine Feeny, Brian Wright, Jim Bianco, Cary Brothers, and Greg Laswell. Poor Greg hobbled around after spraining his ankle in Brighton whilst drunkenly chasing a fox, much to the amusement of the audience.

Part of the tradition of the Hotel Cafe shows are special guests - two years ago we got Aqualung, this time round Turin Brakes played previous single “Dark on Fire” and old favourite “Pain Killer”.

Tom then came back, joined by the rest of the performers for a rousing version of “Dose me Up”, which was quite amazing to hear everyone looping round the haunting chorus of “So dose me up / Once is not enough / I can still see the ground / And from this high rise view looking down on you / Im not the one wasting my time”. Personally, that was my highlight, but with time getting on the performers got back into the swing of things with renewed passion - Jim Bianco’s “striptease” routine provided a moment of amusement as his “smoky backroom” voice fitted the setting perfectly. Greg told us stories of his family, with tales of his Mum and Dad’s worries about him, and Catherine just played amazing songs whilst adding a sexy element to the male-dominated proceedings. Brian, well, what more can I say. The man can play. And has facial hair that would make lesser men weap, it’s so thick. Cary Brothers was the musical genius that needs more credit - amazing songs, he should be able to tour the UK more.

All too soon 11:30 had rolled around, and with one more sing along to “Silent Boulevard”, they were gone - too quickly for my liking, but still - £15 for 3 hours of brilliant entertainment - amazing.

Pictures will be added shortly.

Source: theregoesthefear.com

NME favourites Glasvegas have announced a brand new tour for June as they gear up to go festival crazy.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, Thursday 1st May at 9am. Catch them at:

Wednesday 4th June - Guildford Boiler Roooms
Thursday 5th June - Oxford Academy
Friday 6th June - Hertford Marquee
Sunday 8th June - Bedford Esquires
Monday 9th June - Northampton Roadmenders
Tuesday 10th June - Leicester Charlotte
Wednesday 11th June - Derby The Royal
Thursday 12th June - Sheffield Plug
Friday 13th June - Leeds Cockpit
Saturday 14th June - Manchester Ruby Lounge
Tuesday 17th June - Inverness Raigmore
Wednesday 18th June - Stirling Fubar
Thursday 19th June - Glasgow ABC 2
Saturday 21st June - Kirkcaldy Ocean Nightclub

Source: theregoesthefear.com

The Hoosiers have announced a brand new tour for October, playing their biggest dates ever.

Tickets go on sale this Friday, 2nd May, at 9am, and will probably go quite quickly, so get there soon!

Saturday 11th October - Grimsby Auditorium
Sunday 12th October - Sheffield Academy
Monday 13th October - Newcastle Academy
Wednesday 15th October - Glasgow Academy
Friday 17th October - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Sunday 19th October - Manchester Apollo
Tuesday 21st October - Wolverhampton Civic
Wednesday 22nd October - Cardiff Arena
Friday 24th October - Plymouth Pavilions
Saturday 25th October - Brighton Centre
Monday 27th October - London Brixton Academy

Source: theregoesthefear.com

Personally not my favourite sort of band, Enter Shikari have announced a massive month and a bit tour around the UK and Ireland.

Tickets apparently go on sale next Thursday (8th May), of all days, at 9am. Though I’d check with the ticket companies, as I may be wrong!

Tuesday 30th September - London Camden Underworld
Thursday 2nd October - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Friday 3rd October - Hull University
Saturday 4th October - Nottingham Rock City
Sunday 5th October - Keele University
Tuesday 7th October - Oxford Academy
Wednesday 8th October - St Albans Arena
Thursday 9th October - Norwich UEA
Friday 10th October - Peterborough Cresset
Saturday 11th October - Hastings White Rock Theatre
Monday 13th October - Middlesborough Town Hall
Tuesday 14th October - Liverpool Academy
Wednesday 15th October - Dublin Ambassador
Thursday 16th October - Cork Savoy theatre
Friday 17th October - Belfast Mandela Hall
Sunday 19th October - Inverness Ironworks
Monday 20th October - Dundee Fat Sams
Tuesday 21st October - Edinburgh University (Potterow)
Thursday 23rd October - Newport Centre
Friday 24th October - Bath Pavilion
Sunday 26th October - Llandudno Arena
Monday 27th October - Bournemouth Solent Hall
Wednesday 29th October - Exeter Great hall
Thursday 30th October - Southampton Guildhall
Friday 31st October - Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
Sunday 2nd, Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th November - London Mean Fiddler

Source: theregoesthefear.com

As far as tours go, One Night Only’s October and November jaunt around the UK is pretty extensive.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (2nd May) at 9am, or on presale from their website from 9am Wednesday.

Thursday 2nd October - Cardiff Solus
Friday 3rd October - Swansea Sin City
Sunday 5th October - Plymouth University
Monday 6th October - Falmouth Princess Pavilion
Tuesday 7th October - Portsmouth Pyramid
Wednesday 8th October - Bristol Anson Rooms
Thursday 9th October - Liverpool Academy
Sunday 12th October - Keele University
Monday 13th October - Preston 53 Degrees
Wednesday 15th October - Nottingham Rock City
Thursday 16th October - Leeds Met University
Friday 17th October - Hull University
Saturday 18th October - Lincoln Engine Shed
Monday 20th October - Inverness Ironworks
Tuesday 21st October - Glasgow ABC
Wednesday 22nd October - Dundee Fat Sams
Thursday 23rd October - Newcastle University
Friday 24th October - Manchester Academy
Sunday 26th October - Middlesborough Empire
Monday 27th October - Birmingham Academy
Tuesday 28th October - London Astoria
Wednesday 29th October - London Astoria
Friday 31st October - Northampton Roadmender
Saturday 1st November - Sheffield Octagon
Sunday 2nd November - Cambridge Junction
Monday 3rd November - Norwich UEA
Tuesday 4th November - Oxford Academy
Thursday 6th November - Dublin Academy
Friday 7th November - Belfast Mandela Hall

Source: theregoesthefear.com

This review originally appeared on Hit40UK.

“Now, that’s why we played Swindon!” smirked Luke Pritchard of The Kooks as the band finished their smash-hit single “Naïve” midway through their set. He was having fun, and not afraid to show it as the Brighton four piece played the second night of their UK Tour.

Rewind two hours and Brighton co-residents The Rivers opened up the evening as the hoards of people piled into the gym of Swindon’s Oasis Leisure Centre for what felt like a special after-school treat. Quickly followed by the marvellous Kid Harpoon who bought their British-Decemberists sound to the masses, managing to turn a few sceptics into fans (though that may just be because of the lead singer, who looks distinctly like Mackenzie Crook from a distance!)

Whilst the support acts were good, there was no hiding who we were there for: the Kooks. Lights go down, the backdrop falls to the ground, and we have an empty stage, as a huge sign above the stage glows neon blue announcing “KOOKS”. Then, just as we though the screaming couldn’t get any louder, on swaggers Luke and co, plunging straight into their single “Always Where I Need To Be”. 3,000 people chanting the chorus of “Do do do dododo” is quite a sight to see, and came to be something we saw quite a lot of through the evening.

The first part of the set was mostly their new material, which whilst it received a good reception it was really the stuff from their first album we wanted to hear, and it showed. “We’re feeling a bit fragile, so be gentle!” commented Luke before they hurtled into “Eddies Gun”, though to be fair we’d never have guessed – their post-gig hangovers clearly not that bad on the second night of their tour. “Naïve” saw the first moment of everyone being word perfect, which showed the lads that their old material is still their best loved. All too soon it was time for them to go, soon to be replaced with a footie-style chant of “Kooks! Kooks! Kooks!”

Coming back on his own, Luke did two of the highlights of the night: acoustic versions of “Seaside” and “Jackie Big Tits”, which had us all wishing for savoured moments on Brighton Pier in the summer, and that special someone respectively. Finally, they closed with new song “Do You Wanna?” which saw things get a bit “hot ‘n’ cosy” as crowd surfers galore went over, Luke joined the crowd down the front and general last-song excitement.

Leaving the stage, we knew that Swindon had made its mark on the Kooks, and that they’ll be coming back for more.

Source: theregoesthefear.com

Nothing quite like a bit of last minute tour action. Envy Corps have announced a string of dates starting on Saturday around the UK for two weeks - be sure to catch them, as frankly they deserve to be massive by the end of the year. Their new album, Dwell is out on Monday - read my review here.

Tickets are on sale now, priced around £5 - £6.

Saturday 26th April - London Astoria (with the Courteeners)
Sunday 27th April - Birmingham Bar Academy
Wednesday 30th April - London 229
Thursday 1st May - London 229
Friday 2nd May - Bath, Moles
Sunday 4th May - Brighton Freebut
Tuesday 6th May - Oxford Jericho Tavern
Wednesday 7th May - Bristol Fleece
Thursday 8th May - Cambridge Barfly
Friday 9th May - Peterbrough Met Lounge
Saturday 10th May - Tunbridge Wells, Forum