Following a hugely successful one-off show at Liverpool Echo Arena in 2016, two heavyweights of British music, JAMES and THE CHARLATANS, have announced a joint UK arena tour for December this year.
Also released today is the live video for HANK, taken from the forthcoming new JAMES album LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES. Released on 3 August, their 15th studio album is produced by Mercury and Brit Award winner Charlie Andrew [whose previous work includes alt-J and Wolf Alice] and rising star Beni Giles.
The video, filmed live at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax, is a perfect example of the passion and emotion that drives the band’s live performances. It sees them in fine form and typically outspoken with Tim Booth singing of: “White fascists in the White House / More beetroot in your Russian stew,” and “A jester prancing like a fool / In jest digest the monster / This president’s a dangerous tool”.
LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES follows the release of their recent BETTER THAN THAT EP, the band’s first new music since their hugely successful 2016 album GIRL AT THE END OF THE WORLD, which debuted at #2 in the UK album charts, second only to Adele and their highest debut entry in nearly twenty years.
Speaking about the tour Tim Booth says: “Playing with The Charlatans felt like a joyful fit to those of us lucky enough to be present. And besides, how often do I get to hang with another Tim who meditates? We want two simpatico bands to be even greater than the sum of their parts to create a magical evening”.
Twenty-eight years since they first bagged a Number One album with SOME FRIENDLY, THE CHARLATANS are still achieving fresh career highs, dreaming up new music that redraws their own map, increasingly assured of who they are as a band.
The Guardian described their latest Top 5 album DIFFERENT DAYS as, “Their best for twenty years”, with said album featuring contributions from an array of their musical friends; Paul Weller, Johnny Marr and New Order amongst others. For both DIFFERENT DAYS and their previous album MODERN NATURE the band have been regulars on the BBC 6 Music A list; they won a Q Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award; and for the past four years have toured the world extensively. On the home front the band recently hosted the hugely successful North by Northwich festival which saw them take over their hometown for ten days putting on gigs, an audience-with event, a Charlatans exhibition, films and much more.
Regarding the forthcoming tour, Tim Burgess adds: “We played a show together in Liverpool and we said it was a “one night only” but both bands loved it so much we couldn’t resist making it into a tour. We’re very excited to be catching up with the James family at the end of the year”.
Tickets for the December tour will go on general sale at 9:30am on FRIDAY 20 JULY and will be available at www.gigsandtours.com / www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Fans can pre-order LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES HERE for exclusive early access to tickets.
DECEMBER 2018
Wed 05 GLASGOW SSE Hydro
Fri 07 LONDON SSE Wembley Arena
Sat 08 MANCHESTER Arena
Sun 09 LEEDS First Direct Arena
WEBSITE: www.wearejames.com
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