Gig: Songhoy Blues – Manchester date on forthcoming tour
Posted on: Friday, Jul 24, 2015
Following on from their ecstatically received shows at this year’s SxSW Festival in Austin, Texas and their first US tour in support of Alabama Shakes, SONGHOY BLUES will return to the UK this Autumn for a UK headline tour in October.
The critically acclaimed Malian desert blues punk outfit will then return to London to play what will be their biggest London show to date at the KOKO on 4th November after the band delivered to sensational sold out show at Oslo in Hackney and the Village Underground earlier this year.
The full list of UK dates is as follows:
AUGUST
16th – Winchester – Boomtown Fair Festival
22nd – Brecon Beacons – Greenman Festival
OCTOBER
22nd – Glasgow – SWG3 Warehouse Studio
23rd – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
24th – Brighton – Concorde 2
25th – Manchester – Gorilla
26th – Birmingham – Hare & Hounds
27th – Bristol – The Fleece
NOVEMBER
4th – London – KOKO
Tickets for the KOKO show are available via www.seetickets.com and for the UK tour in October via www.gigsandtours.com. Along with appearances slated for Green Man and Boomtown Fair, the in-demand band will be announcing further festival appearances in due course.
Hailing from the town of Gao in north-eastern Mali, they came together in Bamako naming themselves in celebration of their displaced Songhoy people and culture. Their break came in September 2013 when French music manager Marc-Antoine Moreau was in the city to scout for musical talent on behalf of Africa Express and subsequently the band were invited to record a song with Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs – the track, Soubour, ended up as a stand-out track on the Africa Express album, Maison des Jeunes.
They Will have To Kill Us First, a film featuring Songhoy Blues which documents the current struggle faced by musicians in Mali, also received its premiere at this year’s SxSW Festival. Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/
The band also recently performed ‘Soubour’ on Later…with Jools Holland, on the opening show of the current series. You can watch the video featuring Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Nick Zinner, here: https://www.youtube.com/
Songhoy Blues’ debut album, Music In Exile, was produced by Zinner and released to widespread acclaim in February of this year.
Praise for Music In Exile:
They have all the makings of African-rock crossover heroes – 5/5 The Guardian
Thrilling and vital young African band – 4/5 Mail on Sunday
Persuasively propulsive as anything so far released this year – 4/5 Independent
Set to take London by storm – 4/5 Eve Standard
If you thought guitar music was dead, think again – 4/5 Daily Mirror
A triumph – Observer
A masterpiece, blending American guitar licks with Malian groove – 8/10 NME
Incredibly rousing and intense – 4/5 Mojo
Grit, urgency and delicacy in abundance – 4/5 Q
MORE INFORMATION
(Top picture: Andy Morgan)
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