With the Christmas and New Year celebrations long since forgotten and 2012 well and truly underway, it’s time to look ahead to the next month’s worth of live music-based festivities. OK, so maybe February has a few less gigs to offer than the other 11 eleven months, but guess what… it’s a leap year, of course! That’s right – a whole 24 hours more than the last three years. Let’s see what 2012 has in store for us on this extra-long February…
The Black Keys
Ohio’s finest blues-rock duo The Black Keys will be heading out on their biggest UK shows to date this month in support of their seventh album ‘El Camino’, which was released at the tail-end of last year. The follow-up to their multi Grammy-winning effort ‘Brothers’ and their third with producer Danger Mouse has already begun to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps by earning the band yet more of the high praise they’ve come to expect. At this month’s UK dates, the duo will be joined by British garage rockers Band of Skulls, who are currently preparing for this month’s release of their second album ‘Sweet Sour’.
HMV Next Big Thing
This month, HMV’s urban music festival Next Big Thing will be taking to the venues of London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester for eleven nights of live entertainment. Across the capital’s six HMV venues (Barfly, The Borderline, The Garage, Upstairs at The Garage, Heaven and the Jazz Café) and three outside London, the best new and upcoming acts will be hitting the stage for a series of reasonably-priced gigs. The 200+ artists on offer include AWOLNATION, Beth Jeans Houghton, Cloud Control, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, Deadbeat Darling, Dog Is Dead, Emeli Sande, Field Music, Frightened Rabbit, Hadouken!, King Charles, Sonic Boom Six, Sound of Guns, Spector, We Are Augustines, Young Guns and much, much, much more.
Kerrang! Tour
They may have lost Sum 41 at the 11th hour, but this year’s Kerrang! Tour still looks set to be one of the rock tours of the month. Not only have they managed to rope Merthyr Tydfil’s The Blackout in as an impressive last-minute replacement, but let’s not forget that they still have pop-punk heroes New Found Glory topping the bill. Following the recent release of their well-received seventh album ‘Radiosurgery’, the Floridian five-piece are kicking-off their 15-year anniversary celebrations with some headlining performances on 2012’s Kerrang! Tour. Joining both bands are LA’s Letlive, who are back in the UK for yet another visit to follow last year’s chaotic appearances at Download Festival and Reading & Leeds. Sheffield-based newcomers While She Sleeps will have the difficult but rewarding job of opening for this outstanding line-up.
Mastodon
Following the release of their critically-applauded fifth album ‘The Hunter’, prog-metallers Mastodon will be returning to the UK this month for a week of dates, including a show at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. The follow-up to 2009’s ‘Crack the Skye’ has earned the band a Grammy nomination, universal acclaim from within the music press and a rare appearance by a metal act on Jools Holland’s ‘Later…’. As an added bonus, Mastodon are to be joined on tour by fellow experimental rockers Dillinger Escape Plan. So, if you like your music loud, this is definitely not a tour to be missed. Watch the new video to ‘Dry Bone Valley’ below.
Michael Kiwanuka
The latter part of 2011 represented an important few months for acoustic soul artist Michael Kiwanuka, who is currently preparing for the release of his debut album ‘Home Again’. Since unveiling his first few EPs and supporting Adele on her massive UK tour, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter’s career has gone from strength to strength in a shockingly short space of time. Since beating press favourites such as Azealia Banks and Skrillex to the top of the BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll, it’s clear that this year is his for the taking. Kiwanuka will be kick-starting his big year this month with a UK tour of some moderately-sized venues, so get out there and catch him now before the album comes out and he starts headlining arenas.
NME Awards Shows
Following this week’s nomination announcements, the NME are preparing to launch their annual Awards Shows, which will take us through the entire month to the big ceremony on Wednesday 29th February. Acts on offer among the 20+ gigs are Justice, Band of Skulls, tUnE-yArDs, The Big Pink, Little Dragon, SCUM, Marina and the Diamonds, The Drums and ex-Gallows frontman Frank Carter’s new band Pure Love. Finally, on the eve of the big night, Wakefield’s finest The Cribs will be taking to the stage at London’s ULU ahead of the release of their forthcoming fifth album.
NME Awards Tour
Additional to this month’s NME Awards Shows, of course, is their annual tour – and, as usual, it boasts a line-up to die for. Topping the bill are current indie favourites Two Door Cinema Club and Metronomy, both still reeling from the release of their Top 20 albums, ‘Tourist History’ and ‘The English Riviera’ respectively. Joining them on the road are Camden-based rockers Tribes, who just recently landed an impressive chart position of their own with their debut album ‘Baby’. Completing the line-up is rapper Azealia Banks – likely to be a highlight of the tour for the weekly paper’s readers, who recently voted her to the top of the yearly NME Cool List.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Speaking of NME Award nominations, the recipient of this year’s Godlike Genius Award has just been put forward for four more prizes including Best Solo Artist, Best Album and Hero Of The Year. Just days prior to the big night, Noel Gallagher will be heading out on his biggest solo tour to date, which includes a show at London’s O2 Arena. After three months since its release, Noel’s ‘High Flying Birds’ album has just returned to the Top 10 of the Albums Chart having gone multi-Platinum in the UK alone.
Rammstein
Those who prefer their music heavier and a bit more flammable will be pleased to hear that German industrial metallers Rammstein will be returning to the UK this month for another huge arena tour. Following the recent release of their first Greatest Hits album ‘Made in Germany 1995-2011’, the fiery rockers will be bringing their spectacular pyrotechnics extravaganza back for another treat to their British fans. It may not be for everyone, but the Rammstein live show has to be seen to be believed. Anyone planning on heading along to one of the dates should expect a set filled with Greatest Hits, not to mention eyebrow-singeing madness.
Skrillex
After offering Korn a helping hand in their recent search for current appeal, Grammy-nominated dubstep producer and the former frontman with post-hardcore band From First To Last Sonny Moore - aka Skrillex – will be heading over to the UK this month for his biggest transatlantic tour to date. While his ever-growing fanbase wait eagerly for the first full-length Skrillex album, they can at least find solace for now by checking out one of these highly-anticipated shows.
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The Black Keys
