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Glasvegas |
The shock of the NME tour
PREVIEW: SHOCKWAVES NME AWARDS TOUR 2009
Various venue
HERE’S a chance to fill up your diary for the next two months. The upcoming NME shows are all a bit confusing but don’t let that put you off – essentially it means more chances to see more bands over more dates.
The tours have been responsible for bringing new music to the masses for years and the organisers claim to have outdone themselves this time around.
First there’s the NME Awards Tour – that’s Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, White Lies and Florence and the Machine. They’ll be touring the country, ending at Brixton Academy in London on February 21.
Then, there’s the NME Awards Shows – that’s any one, two or three of 16 different acts, including The Gaslight Anthem, Ida Maria, Black Lips, Iglu and Hartley, Metronomy and Frank Turner, playing at venues across London with many at Islington Academy and Koko.
This is all topped off with the NME Awards Show 2009 (February 25) where we, the great unwashed, are told who should be crowned king and queen of the indie-rock-electro-punk world for the next year.
White Lies, the 80s revivalists responsible for the romantic fatalist sentiment of the moment – “Let’s grow old together and die at the same time” – stood out from the crowd when they played the Union Chapel earlier this year. Their haunting
nu-romantic sounds resurrect the darker side of the yuppie years.
Singer Harry McVeigh has already hinted at possible on-stage partnerships on the tour, promising: “We get on well with Glasvegas and Friendly Fires. We’ve got something in mind…”
Friendly Fires made some escapist promises in “Paris”, but will they do the same in Brixton?
By now everyone’s heard of Glasvegas and Grooves has said far too much about Florence – all good – and now she’s on every list of the hottest people for 2009 so our work here is done.
Moving on to the awards show, there’s Franz Ferdinand at Heaven (January 20) and Tricky at the Shepherds Bush Empire (February 20) – not strictly new music but who can read NME’s mind?
There’s a whole list of shows coming up around London – here’s the rest of the line-up:
The Gaslight Anthem, Frank Turner, The Polar Bear Club, Shepherds Bush Empire (Feb 8), Howling Bells, (Feb 9) Ida Maria, Koko (Feb 11), Simian Mobile Disco + Chrome Hoof, Koko (Feb 12), Mystery Jets + Little Boots, Shepherds Bush Empire (Feb 13), Black Lips + Vivian Girls, Islington Academy (Feb 15), Secret Machines, Islington Academy (Feb 16), Iglu and Hartley, Islington Academy (Feb 17), Wombats, Shepherds Bush Empire (Feb 23), Metronomy, Koko (Feb 24). |
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