Category: News

Pink Dot Announce Favourite Days Festival

Taking over an array of iconic music haunts in the heart of Liverpool, this unique multi-venue festival will be
inviting some of the best and brightest acts from the UK and beyond to the city between 6th-10th November.

Promising five days of unmissable curated gigs, Favourite Days will be hosting a total of 12 individual shows
with over 35+ acts due to star across its choice line-ups. And today, the festival is delighted to announce the first
bands who will be joining the bill.

All profits from the Favourite Days Festival will be reinvested into the community to fund opportunities for local
bands and support the independent venues that are the lifeblood of the local music scene. This initiative helps
smaller or riskier shows succeed, contributing to a vibrant and sustainable music culture.

Additionally, the festival will also focus on creative programming, providing local bands with access to the festival fund to organise showcase events, and further enhancing their visibility and growth.

Popping-up in renowned venues such as the Olympia and Camp and Furnace, the full list of venues
participating in Favourite Days will also include… Jacaranda Baltic, EBGBs, The Dome, The Jacaranda,
Kazimier Stockroom, Leaf, and Rough Trade Liverpool.

The first wave of artists and shows are:

6 November 2024 | The Dome at Grand Central | Sprints + Chloe Slater + BARSTAFF
7 November 2024 | Liverpool Olympia | Yard Act + Freakslug + Floodlights
7 November 2024 | Rough Trade | STRFKR + Strange Collective
8 November 2024 | LEAF | Somebody’s Child + Bright Town + Felix
8 November 2024 | EBGBs | Saloon Dion + The Drivers Club
8 November 2024 | Kaz Stockroom | YOBS
9 November 2024 | Rough Trade | The Rolling People + Pacificaze
9 November 2024 | The Jacaranda | Rivia
9 November 2024 | The Dome at Grand Central | Antony Szmierek
10 November 2024 | Furnace | CASISDEAD + EMZ + No Fakin X W/Love X Conduit Sound
10 November 2024 | Jacaranda Baltic | Keyside
10 November 2024 | Rough Trade | Hooton Tennis Club

For more information, please get in touch or go to www.favouritedays.co.uk

Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival headliner announcement

The Ghostwriter produced Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival is delighted to confirm that The Mission are confirmed to headline the Friday night of this year’s Halloween Gathering in Whitby. They join the previously announced Saturday headliners The 69 Eyes and special guests Theatre of Hate, The March Violets, Salvation, Auger and Westenra. The festival runs from Friday October 27th to Sunday October 30th. We will announce further day time activity in the coming weeks and months alongside the alternative and gothic market which runs for three days.

www.tomorrowsghostsfestival.co.uk

HACIENDA CLASSICAL bring their widely acclaimed live orchestral clubbing series to Doncaster Racecourse!

We are delighted to announce that HACIENDA CLASSICAL, the widely acclaimed live orchestral clubbing series featuring DJ Graeme Park, Manchester Camerata Orchestra and special guests comes to Doncaster Racecourse for Live After Racing on Saturday 19th August 2023.

With a live DJ soundtrack from Graeme Park allied to the full orchestra, additional musicians, vocalists and special guests in a fully live experience, Hacienda Classical brings arrangements of much loved, defining records within its wide repertoire of tracks.

Hacienda Classical sees musical director Tim Crooks lead the collective of artists and musicians on stage in performing well known favourites and new versions of club classics all mixed continuously into one non-stop set.

Some eight years now since the show first debuted, the collaboration has proved remarkably enduring.

Hacienda Classical has well outperformed any expectations since the outset and has seen tremendous reactions from audiences and critics many of who have awarded the show top marks. Even at the very first Bridgewater Hall show, The Times gave it the full five stars declaring that “the atmosphere was incredible.”

Similar rave reviews followed from the Royal Albert Hall as NME called it “probably the best rave since 1997” whilst Mixmag termed the event. “a near two hour blend of house music’s greatest players with an audience dancing and singing from the off.

Hacienda Classical has continued to receive 5-star reviews from the like of The Independent – “It doesn’t get much better than this. A powerful, poignant performance.” – and its hometown paper, Manchester Evening News.

“The Hacienda made Manchester the centre of the clubbing universe in its 80’s and 90’s heyday and surely what this night proves is that much of that success was down to the people inside it”.

Hacienda Classical’s biggest single audience to date came as it opened Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage and other festival appearances including Isle Of Wight, Kendal Calling The Big Feastival, Kew The Music, Lytham Festival as well as individual concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall and its annual homecoming at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl with its seventh concert there due in July 2023.

Hacienda Classical promises a superb night of entertainment performing the very best club classics from the legendary Manchester club that defined dance music culture in the UK and across the world.

Tickets will be available to purchase via pre-sale (O2 priority) from Wednesday 22nd February @ 10.00am.

General tickets on sale from Friday 24th February @ 10.00am.

Website – https://www.fac51-thehacienda.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Fac51TheHacienda
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Fac51hacienda
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/fac51thehaciendaofficial/

Clean Bandit to perform Live After Racing at Doncaster Racecourse

We are thrilled to announce CLEAN BANDIT are to perform at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday 1st July 2023 as part of LIVE AFTER RACING!

Clean Bandit have consistently pushed the boundaries of modern pop with their diverse blend of electronic, dancehall, classical, R&B and pop.

Their breakthrough success came in 2014 with the single ‘Rather Be’, feat. Jess Glynne, a Grammy award-winning worldwide hit that has now surpassed 10 million global sales.

In 2016, they released their 10 million-selling single ‘Rockabye’ feat. Sean Paul and Anne Marie. Shooting to #1 in over 40 countries and having spent nine weeks at the top of the charts in the UK, the track became the longest-running UK #1 in 22 years surpassing Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love Is All Around’.

They recently received two Brit Award nominations for their 2018 smash ‘Solo’ feat. Demi Lovato, which became their fourth UK number 1. The band have now notched up 9 UK top five singles, more than Bruno Mars or Adele.

Clean Bandit promise a superb night of entertainment performing all the hits. Don’t miss your chance to see them perform live after racing on Saturday 1st July.

Tickets will be available to purchase via pre-sale (O2 Priority) from Wednesday 15th February at 10.00am.
General tickets on sale from Friday 17th February at 10.00am.

For further information on CLEAN BANDIT, check out the following websites / social media links:

Website – https://www.cleanbandit.co.uk/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/cleanbandit
Twitter – https://twitter.com/cleanbandit
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cleanbandit/
YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/cleanbandit

Tom Grennan to perform Live After Racing at Newcastle Racecourse

We are delighted to announce singer-songwriter TOM GRENNAN is to perform at Newcastle Racecourse on Saturday 1st July 2023!

Tom Grennan is stepping into an exhilarating new creative chapter with planet-sized ambitions. Looking ahead to his forthcoming new studio album, ‘What Ifs & Maybes’, and his first headline UK arena tour, beginning in March 2023.

Speaking about the new album, Tom says: “I’ve called my new album What Ifs & Maybes. It’s about going with your gut, not your head, because you never know what’s going to happen. I’m not afraid to jump into the unknown – because it’s exciting! It’s about rolling the dice and living your best life with nothing to lose. I’m in a new creative space, and I know I’m finally the artist I want to be. I’m so buzzing for these shows, my biggest gigs to date. I can’t wait to get out and play these new songs to everyone. Let’s go!”

2022 has been a defining year for Tom Grennan. The chart-topping BRIT and Ivor Novello-nominated star has already seen four UK Top 10 singles. Two of his platinum-selling anthems ‘Little Bit Of Love’ and ‘By Your Side’ scored in the Top Three most played songs of the year – both taken from Tom’s breakthrough UK #1 album ‘Evering Road’. Where August saw Grennan take another Top Ten smash in the UK singles chart, writing and collaborating with KSI for ‘Not Over Yet’, the blockbuster breakout British artist has now stepped up to festival headliner status. Performing to a 30,000-capacity crowd at Godiva Festival earlier this month, it capped off a summer live season of global proportions. From a sold-out headline tour of North America and two of Australia, Isle Of Wight Festival mainstage, a homecoming headline show to 15,000 fans at Bedford Park, the Radio 1 Big Weekend, Margate’s Dreamland, TRNSMT, Kendall Calling, Boardmasters and more. Not to mention fulfilling boyhood dreams joining the England squad for Soccer Aid 2022, where Tom was awarded Player of the Match for his sensational performance.

Get ready for the ride as Tom continues to scale stratospheric new heights.

Tom Grennan promises a superb night of entertainment performing all the hits. Don’t miss your chance to see him perform LIVE AFTER RACING on Saturday 1st July.

Tickets will be available to purchase via pre-sale (O2 Priority) from Wednesday 1st February at 10.00am.

General tickets will be on sale from Friday 3rd February at 10.00am.

For further information on TOM GRENNAN, check out the following websites / social media links:

Website – https://www.tomgrennanmusic.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TomGrennanMusic
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Tom_Grennan
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tom.grennan/
Videos links – https://www.tomgrennanmusic.com/videos/

Ronan Keating to headline Ladies Day at Newcastle Racecourse

We are thrilled to announce that Irish singer RONAN KEATING is to perform at Newcastle Racecourse on Saturday 29th July 2023!

When Ronan Keating answered a newspaper advert to audition for a brand new Irish boyband in 1993, he would have been hard pressed to believe that nearly 30 years later he would still be going strong. Singer, songwriter, broadcaster, TV presenter, actor, charity campaigner, loving husband and dedicated father… Ronan has never felt more inspired by life and his multifaceted career.

Ronan’s music career of course, started with Boyzone back in the early nineties. 2008 saw their first reunion after nearly a decade apart, for what was a spectacular comeback. After a sell-out 29-date tour, a Top 5 comeback single and a Number 1 Greatest Hits album, Boyzone re-affirmed their place in the pop charts and cemented this with another huge arena tour of the UK & Ireland.

The boys were enjoying touring, being back together as a band and looking forward to recording their 4th studio album but on 10th October 2009 things changed forever with Stephen’s tragic and untimely death. For a while it seemed that maybe Boyzone could be no more but then Ronan, Keith, Shane and Mikey decided that Stephen would want them to carry on and indeed the album and subsequent tour they dedicated to their ‘Brother’. Released in March 2010 the ‘Brother’ album went straight to Number 1 in the UK and in Ireland and garnered the hit singles ‘Gave It All Away’ and ‘Love Is A Hurricane’. After much discussion and debate the remaining members of Boyzone toured the Brother album to sell out arenas in March 2011. In 2013 came a new record company and the ‘BZ20’ album and tour, with the anthemic hit single ‘Love will Save The Day’. In 2014 the Boyz were back with album ‘From Dublin to Detroit’, in which they revisited the great Motown catalogue, their first ever single in 1994 was the Spinners classic “Working My Way Back to You’ which was a hit on the Motown label in 1979. 2018 was the bands 25th anniversary and to mark the event the band released 7th, and final, studio album the Top 6 hit ‘Thank You & Goodnight’. The Boyzone story was then brought to a fitting end with the triumphant ‘Final Five’ sell-out shows at the iconic London Palladium in October 2019.

But from the end of Boyzone to the start; Ronan Keating was born in Dublin in 1977 the youngest of 5 children, he was only 17 when he won a place in a band being put together by Louis Walsh.

Ronan’s first taste of musical success came in November 1994 when he hit the top three for the very first time with Boyzone’s first hit ‘Love Me For A Reason’. Since then he’s not looked back. In those initial five years as part of one the biggest pop bands ever, he enjoyed success with an incredible 16 top five singles, six of which hit the number one spot. In August of 1999 he had his first ever solo number one with ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ from the hit movie ‘Notting Hill’.

In August of 2000 Ronan released his debut, self-titled, album. It shot straight to number one in the UK Album Charts. It contained the two number one singles ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ (August 1999) and ‘Life Is A Rollercoaster’ (July 2000). It went on to sell a very impressive 4.4 million copies around the world and firmly established Ronan as an artist in his own right.

Solo album number two, ‘Destination’ (which includes the number one single ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’), was released on the 20th of May 2002 and went straight to number one. To coincide with the release of ‘Destination’ Ronan kicked off a yearlong world tour starting with a sell-out Arena tour in the UK. Between May 2002 and May 2003 Ronan toured the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the Gulf, India and South East Asia.

In May 2003 the ‘Destination’ world tour came to an end and Ronan began writing and recording for his third studio album ‘Turn It On’ (released September 2003). In the same year Ronan was awarded with a prestigious BMI European song-writing award for his song ‘The Long Goodbye’, which enjoyed success in the US as a number one single in the Billboard country chart where it was covered by US country duo Brookes and Dunn.

2004 began for Ronan with ‘She Believes In Me’ charting at number two in the single charts and ‘Last thing On My Mind’ (a duet with US star Leann Rimes), hitting the top five. However, 2004 wasn’t just about music, in June that year Ronan made a visit that was to change his life – he visited Ghana on his first trip as a Fair-Trade ambassador for Christian Aid. Ronan spent a week visiting farmers and families across central Ghana to see first-hand how unfair trade laws are destroying livelihoods.

In August 2004 Polydor Records announced that they would release ‘Ronan Keating – 10 Years Of Hits’ to celebrate Ronan’s first decade in the music industry. The album went straight to number one and to date has sold nearly 2.5 million copies worldwide. This hits album saw Ronan get together with Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) to record a version of ‘Father and Son’, which charted at number two on Christmas Day 2004 (losing out on the number one spot to Band Aid 20). The track has always been important to Ronan who had originally enjoyed success with it in 1995 when Boyzone released it as a single and it was the song, he sang at his Boyzone audition too.

In June 2006 came ‘Bring You Home’ which spawned the hit singles ‘All Over Again’ and ‘Iris’.

March 2009 had seen Ronan take a short break from his busy schedule with the reunited Boyzone, for the release of his special album to celebrate Mother’s Day, ‘Songs For My Mother’. A project especially close to Ronan’s heart, the album was a collection of songs that Ronan remembered his mother listening to when he was growing up; Mother’s Day being an especially poignant day for Ronan since the death of his mother Marie, in 1998. The album was a huge success both critically and commercially, giving Ronan his eighth Number 1 album in the UK, topping the charts for two consecutive weeks. The album also reached the top spot in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Ronan followed this up later that year with his 7th studio album, the critically acclaimed, ‘Winter Songs’. Released in November 2009, it again saw him teaming up with Steve Lipson to record 11 songs that evoke Christmas and Winter for Ronan.

In December 2010 Ronan received a call at home .. ‘Hello this is Burt’, that call was the start of what was to become his 8th studio album ‘When Ronan Met Burt’, which reached No 3 in the UK album chart. Recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios in early 2011 with a full 40 piece orchestra, with only 90 minutes to record each song, using Frank Sinatra’s old microphone and with Burt Bacharach himself producing. Ronan and Burt had together worked through Burt’s amazing catalogue of songs and finally decided on 10 beautiful tracks that Ronan was able to make his own.

February 2016 saw Ronan with a new label, Decca, and with a new album, his 10th studio album ‘Time Of My Life’ which saw Ronan taking on more writing than ever before. Inspired by his time on stage in ‘Once’, where playing the guitar daily re-kindled his love of song writing, Ronan worked closely with musician Dan Healy (whom he met during the Once run) and others to write most of the songs on the album.

Outside of music Ronan has always kept himself busy with other projects. Acting has started to feature more and more for Ronan, he debuted in Australian film ‘Goddess’, where he had his first lead role and then went on to prove his acting chops in a critically acclaimed run in the West End in ‘Once’ and 2017 saw Ronan in ‘Another Mothers Son’ a gripping true story set in the second world war in which Ronan was performing alongside Jenny Seagrove, John Hannah and Amanda Abbington.

2015 saw Ronan tie the knot with partner Storm in a beautiful ceremony overlooking the sea in Scotland with his children, friends and family in attendance and Ed Sheeran performing for their first dance. Then in 2017 they added to the family with the arrival of their son, Cooper.

In September 2017 Ronan joined Magic Radio to re-launch the Magic Breakfast show alongside co-host Harriet Scott. The show broadcasts across the UK to over 1.5 million people and as Ronan enters his fifth year his love for radio has never been stronger.

During the challenging lockdowns, 2020 saw the release of the studio album, ‘Twenty Twenty’, with Ronan celebrating his 20th year as a solo artist. Whilst his 9th UK Top 10 solo album would usually be the highlight of any year, that accolade was wonderfully overshadowed by the arrival of Ronan’s fifth child Coco Knox Keating.

After a year that deprived everyone from seeing nearest & dearest and others from returning to their homeland, Ronan inspired by the reality of the situation recorded ‘Songs From Home’, an album of songs from his Irish heritage. He tenderly takes on the U2 anthem ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, duets beautifully with his wife Storm on ‘The Blower’s Daughter’ and reminds us of Paul Brady’s political folk song ‘The Island’ on a record that truly captures the spirit of the Emerald Isle.

As the shadow of the pandemic followed us into 2021, Ronan called on his extensive TV presenting talents as he joined the BBC’s prime time
entertainment show ‘The One Show’, as co-host and also took a familiar seat in a revolving red leather chair as he joined the judging panel on ITV’s ‘The Voice Kids’.

Charity work has always featured largely in his schedule. Ronan has run the London Marathon twice and climbed Kilimanjaro in aid of Comic Relief. In September 2011 Ronan and a team took part in The Swim, they swam 56 miles across the Irish Sea in relay in an amazing 35 hours and 18 minutes, raising money for Cancer Research UK. Following the death of his mother in 1998, Ronan and his family set up the Marie Keating Foundation which now, in partnership with Cancer Research UK, raises huge amounts of money every year towards cancer education and research, in his mother’s memory. The charity funds mobile units that travel across Ireland and the UK promoting awareness of cancer and health issues, the units have received over 500,000 visitors. Fundraising for the charity has seen Ronan walk across Ireland twice and every year he hosts his Emeralds and Ivy Ball. Since it’s inception the Ball and Ronan have raised over a staggering £11 million pounds in the UK and 2019 saw the evening gala raise over one million pounds for the charity, making the Ball the biggest one-night fundraiser in all of Cancer Research UK’s calendar.

2023 will see Ronan continue waking up the nation for breakfast each weekday morning and joining them on the TV sofa in the evening’s but he’ll also be back on the road doing what he loves best… singing live!

Executive Director of Newcastle Racecourse, Paul Elliot, commented, “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Ronan Keating to Newcastle on Saturday 29th July. He is a global icon and one of the country’s most popular artists. We’re sure that he’ll blow our customers away with a live performance that matches his worldwide reputation. We are anticipating a sell-out crowd, so would encourage our customers to book sooner, rather than later.”

Ronan Keating promises a superb night of entertainment performing all the hits. Don’t miss your chance to see him perform live after racing on Saturday 29th July. Secure your ticket early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets will be available to purchase via pre-sale (O2 Priority) from Wednesday 18th January 2023 at 9.00am.

General tickets will be on sale from Friday 20 January 2023.

Scouting For Girls to perform at Uttoxeter Racecourse

We are thrilled to announce that English pop rock band SCOUTING FOR GIRLS play Uttoxeter Racecourse on Saturday 20th May 2023!

Throughout Scouting For Girls’ immensely successful career they’ve sold over two million albums, two million singles, had four Brit Award nominations, an Ivor Novello nomination, had four top ten singles, sold-out Wembley Arena, The Royal Albert Hall and most recently sold-out two nights at The London Palladium and had a series of hit singles all of which were inescapable radio smashes. Scouting For Girls continue to prove they are unstoppable.

The group are the hardest working band in the UK, playing 70 festivals in 2022, and selling out venues across the country in December on their sold-out headline tour.

Roy commented; “Touring is our very favourite aspect of being in this band. We can’t wait to give people the most fun night out of 2023”.

During the lockdowns, Roy had time to extend the bands repertoire, reimagining of some of the biggest songs from the 80s. ‘Easy Cover’, their latest album release, is a joyous celebration of that golden era of music with Scouting For Girls revisiting their favourite childhood musical moments, from Tears For Fears, The Waterboys, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins and much more.

Scouting For Girls promise a superb night of entertainment performing all the hits. Don’t miss your chance to see them perform live after racing on Saturday 20th May. Secure your ticket early to avoid disappointment.

Executive Director of Uttoxeter Racecourse, Brian Barrass, commented, “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Scouting For Girls to Uttoxeter on Saturday 20th May. They are the band of the moment and one of the country’s most popular artists. We’re sure that they’ll blow our customers away with a live performance. We are anticipating a sell-out crowd, so would encourage our customers to book sooner, rather than later.”

Tickets will be available to purchase via pre-sale (O2 Priority) from Wednesday 18th January 2023 at 9.00am.

General sale tickets will be on sale from Friday 20 January 2023.

Peter Hook & The Light ‘Joy Division : A Celebration’

Plotting their first UK dates of 2023 – PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT – will be bringing ‘Joy Division : A Celebration’ to venues in Sheffield, Cardiff and Cambridge next year (dates + details below).

A founding member of the seminal Manchester act, Hooky will be revisiting Joy Division’s trailblazing debut ‘Unknown Pleasures’, plus its equally iconic follow-up ‘Closer’, live and in their entirety, with the accompaniment of his band The Light.

Promising a retrospective evening that will also shine a light on highlights from across Hooky’s career, fans in attendance can expect an opening set of New Order classics as an appetiser.

Joy Division’s allure and music remain strong in popular culture, holding a sincere reverence. ‘Unknown Pleasures’ features “Disorder”, “Insight”, “New Dawn Fades”, and “She’s Lost Control”; while ‘Closer’, considered “a start to finish masterpiece” by Pitchfork Media counts “Atrocity Exhibition”, “Heart And Soul” and “Twenty Four Hours” amongst its many highlights.

Respecting the inspiration and impact of the landmark debut album “Unknown Pleasures” and the immaculately produced second “Closer”, fans attending these Peter Hook & The Light performances can expect both albums to be played sequentially in track order.

With The Light having toured for a dozen years, they have now played 11 albums in full from Hooky’s bands and performed a repertoire of over 130 songs making their live sets diverse as they take in many celebrated album tracks and fan favourites across the concerts.

Having recently returned from their biggest ever North American tour and European dates, Peter Hook & The Light also announced a special hometown residency of shows at Manchester’s Albert Hall next year, where they will be playing Joy Division’s two albums, New Order’s first two and both band’s Substances in full. Fans further afield will then have the opportunity to catch Hooky and the band performing around the country, with additional UK dates in Sheffield, Cardiff, and Cambridge confirmed for the tour diary shortly after.

Tickets for these three new dates go on sale Friday 11th November 2022 @ 10AM. Pre-sale tickets will also be available from this Wednesday @ 10AM. Dates and details are as follows:

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT
JOY DIVISION : A CELEBRATION
PERFORMING THE ALBUMS UNKNOWN PLEASURES & CLOSER
Plus an opening set of New Order material

Saturday 15th April 2023 – Sheffield, FoundryGeneral sale
Thursday 20th April 2023 – Cambridge, JunctionGeneral sale
Saturday 22nd April 2023 – Cardiff, TramshedGeneral sale

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TICKETS & DETAILS
Tickets for the shows are priced at £32.50 + BF
General on-sale available from Friday 11th November. Pre-sale is available from Wednesday 9th November.
Age Restrictions – 14+ under 16s accompanied by adult

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
w/ peterhookandthelight.live
f/ www.facebook.com/peterhookandthelight
t/ www.twitter.com/peterhook
i/ www.instagram.com/peterhook_thelight/
For videos and concert footage from The Light check – www.youtube.com/peterhookandthelight

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PRAISE FOR PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT – LIVE

‘A masterclass in euphoria and heartache in equal measure…. The chronology of the set played perfectly as high spirits continued to grow right up until the end of the show.”
Gigwise

“A 29 song setlist is an impressive undertaking and it was incredible to see one of the great guitarists of the last 50 years. Hooky is certainly doing a fantastic job of continuing Ian Curtis’ legacy and keeping Joy Division’s music relevant to the modern day.”
The Mic Magazine

“Peter Hook and The Light never disappoint; you can see they’re giving it their all and enjoying it at the same time. Just a brilliant live band.”
Music Fiends

“A real treat.”
LA Record

“In the two-and-a-half hours Peter Hook & The Light were on stage, it was hard to fathom how many hits New Order and Joy Division had. Just within the first hour, there were enough songs that some artists today wish they could both write and have in their arsenal. That is what great chemistry in a band does.”
Huffington Post

“This reviewer could easily write about every song played – the show went for almost three hours – as they’re all classics. To hear back to back greatest hits live of two of your favourite bands just never happens. Many went home tonight with a big grin on their faces.”
The Music

“By focusing solely on the music and allowing the songs inherent structure to do the heavy lifting instead of blowing them up into pseudo-stadium cuts, their inherent virtues were that much more apparent. Frankly, these songs rock……This is Peter Hook and his band taking a chance, dusting off wrongly ignored tunes, and kicking ass.”
Punk News

Free training for teachers from Sophie Lancaster Foundation as part of Whitby’s Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation are offering free training to North Yorkshire teachers, as part of their partnership with Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival. Online sessions will be delivered to school staff in the region as part of the Foundation’s mission to stamp out prejudice, hatred and intolerance everywhere.

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up in 2007 by Sylvia Lancaster, following the brutal murder of her daughter in an unprovoked gang attack. Sophie was a goth and was attacked simply for the way she looked; the judge at her murder trial recognised the vicious and violent assault for what it was – a hate crime. The Foundation was established to educate people that difference is something to be celebrated, not feared, and challenge the inaccurate stereotyping and demonisation of alternative sub-cultures.

Adam Lancaster, spokesperson for the Foundation and Sophie’s brother, commented:

“Whitby is such a special place for us to visit and the Goth community have always held the Foundation close to their hearts. TOMORROW’S GHOSTS FESTIVAL is a wonderful celebration of the music, fashion and culture that makes the subgenre so unique and beautiful. As part of our commitment to attending the festival, we wanted an opportunity to share the work we do in Sophie’s name to celebrate difference and raise awareness about hate crime. How people react to difference is often the root of bullying and it can be difficult to know how to start meaningful conversations on these issues in a school setting. Our educational resources have been developed to increase empathy and help students think again about their attitudes to people who are different from them. We will be delighted to be able to share our story with teachers in the region and outline our experience of delivering these resources in school.”

Teachers can join a free presentation online, and schools interested in joining a session should email: [email protected] for more information and to register.

Richard Maides, Creative Director for Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival added:

“Our relationship with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation is very important to us. We stressed from day one of our partnership that we did not simply want this to a relationship based just on a branding exercise. Our collective aim is to promote the positive aims of the Foundation and ultimately educate society raising awareness around issues of hate crime and tolerance. We hope that as many teachers and school staff will be able to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity offered by the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and consequently improve people’s lives. “

Ghostwriter announces new appointment to bolster its expanding venue and events portfolio

Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events are delighted to announce the appointment of a General Venue Business Manager to support the company’s growth of its venue partnerships, events and consultancy business.

Ade Dovey has been appointed as General Venue Business Manager with direct responsibility for Marble Factory (1,350) in Bristol and to support the company’s venue estate and wider projects.

ABOUT ADE DOVEY

Director of Events Richard Maides said, “We are delighted to announce that Ade Dovey will be joining us at Ghostwriter. He brings considerable experience from his previous key operational and programming roles in the industry. Being a respected promoter and a first-class creative venue manager Ade is a welcome addition to our team. His success evolving unique venue spaces such as The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and The Albert Hall in Manchester demonstrated to us that he was the perfect fit for our aims in Bristol.

Dovey will lead on the Marble Factory whilst also contributing to the wider business.

The Marble Factory has enjoyed significant success since the inception of our partnership with the venue owners in 2020, quickly establishing itself as a regular stop off on the UK touring circuit. Moving forward our focus is to diversify the venue’s programme with exciting new events and client partnerships, whilst continuing to improve our support for promoters and artists who choose to utilise the venue.

Following significant investment in the venue with enhanced production and backstage facilities we will now adopt a flexible approach in terms of rentals and use of space. We believe that the appointment of Ade will help us move the business forward in a number of areas.”