Nebraska counts among Leighton’s favourite albums, so much so that the cover artwork is in homage to the Springsteen classic. Says Jay,‘I have always found Springsteen to be a brilliant storyteller. Nebraska as an album and as a track are superb examples of this but the thing I love the most about  the album is that  it has captured the very desolation of Nebraska. When we drove across it I felt that desolation, almost tinged with sadness but at the same time extremely inspiring. I can't think of another record that has ever managed to capture the feeling for a place as much as Nebraska has by Springsteen. I love it!’

April 7 – The Woodman, Highgate, London
April 9 - The Redhouse, Sheffield
April 10 - The Nursery Tavern, Coventry
April 17 - Guitar Bar Nottingham

May 6 - Gaslight Oporto, Leeds

May 10 – The Living Room CB2, Cambridge
May 25 - Boiler Room, Guildford

www.jayleighton.com

Press Contacts:

Big Machine Media

020 7253 6409

rosie@bigmachinemedia.com

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iona@bigmachinemedia.com

The Welsh band will make their live return after two years at the event, which takes place from September 13-15 in Portmeirion.

The indie stars said of the news: "Festival No.6 is the only thing that could break our self-enforced two-year British gig ban. To be able to play in Sir Clough Williams-Ellis’ iconic village is something of a dream for us. See you in September."

While the show is the first that the Manic Street Preachers have played in the UK since a one-off singles show at the end of 2011, they embarked on a European tour to support greatest hits collection 'National Treasures' in April and May 2012. The band also re-released their debut album 'Generation Terrorists' to celebrate its 20th anniversary last year.

Other acts confirmed for this year's festival include James Blake, Everything Everything, I Am Kloot, AlunaGeorge and Laura Mvula, along with DJ sets from Frankie Knuckles, Carl Craig and Gilles Peterson amongst others.

Watch the video for Manic Street Preachers' 'This Is The Day' below:

]]> London Newsdesk http://www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/thisismission/view/69665/ Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:00:29 +0000 http://www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/thisismission/view/69665/ Festival No.6 is excited to announce that Welsh trio Manic Street Preachers have been persuaded to end their self-imposed two-year exile to headline one of the nights at this year’s event, which will be a UK festival exclusive.

The cover of their fifth studio album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours was shot in 1998 on the beach at Portmeirion, North Wales – home of Festival No.6. This year’s festival falls on the 15thanniversary of the album’s release, all of which helped to convince the Manics to appear at what promises to be an astonishing homecoming.

Manic Street Preachers said: “Festival No.6 is the only thing that could break our self-enforced two year British gig ban. To be able to play in Sir Clough Williams-Ellis’ iconic village is something of a dream for us. See you in September.”

The musical bill at Festival No.6 - recently named Best New Festival at the UK Festival Awards and Best Small Festival at the NME Awards

 - will again combine a blend of iconic acts alongside the freshest emerging talent and a stunning DJ line-up. Other live acts confirmed in the first wave of announcements for 2013 include James Blake, Everything Everything, I Am Kloot, AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula, Mount Kimbie, Caitlin Rose, Chapel Club and Dutch Uncles.

A selection of the stellar DJ acts confirmed so far include Frankie Knuckles, Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Gilles Peterson, Justin Robertson, Greg Wilson, Maxxi Soundsystem, Unabombers and Futureboogie.

Arts and culture is another integral part of Festival No.6, and this year’s line-up is even stronger. Guests include John Cooper Clarke, the punk poet who is now a national treasure, name-checked by everyone from Alex Turner to Plan B, plus Man Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre, award-winning novelist and Times columnist Caitlin Moran and author and Review Show critic Paul Morley.

Other highlights include talks and readings from Tracey Thorn (Everything but the Girl), John Niven (Kill Your Friends), Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) and Michael Smith (The Culture Show) as well as the return of the wonderful Jan Morris, one of the highlights of last year’s No.6.

Festival co-founder Gareth Cooper said: “We’re delighted and very proud that we’ve managed to entice one of the biggest Welsh bands of all time to end their hiatus and play Festival No.6. There’s a wonderful synchronicity in the fact that this year’s event falls on the 15th anniversary of one of the Manics’s greatest albums This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. The cover of that record was shot on the beach at Portmeirion, which makes it all the more special. We feel it’s important to maintain Welsh heritage within our line up and entertainment and there is no bigger way to do it than by booking this band!”

Last year’s event saw thousands of awestruck guests converge on the peaceful shores of the Welsh wonderland of Portmeirion, where the ocean, mountains and forests create the festival’s perimeter. The filming location of cult 60s TV show The Prisoner is a fantasyland of whimsical Italianate architecture overlooking the rolling estuary waters of the Irish Sea.

Such was the success of its inaugural year that Festival No.6 was named Best New Festival at the UK Festival Awards, whilst 2012 headliners New Order walked away with the prize for Best Headline Performance. More recently it was voted Best Small Festival in a public poll at the NME Awards.

Guests in 2013 can look forward to another year of outstanding musical acts, ethereal scenery, breathtaking architecture and enchanting distractions at a UK festival location like no other!

More artists, attractions, activities and VERY SPECIAL GUESTS to be announced soon!

For tickets and info please visit: http://www.festivalnumber6.com/

Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/festivalnumber6
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/festivalnumber6

This 13 song album, features for the first time in English, some of the most impressive songs from the award winning songwriter's vast catalog alongside two new songs. With lead-off track, "Mensch," Gronemeyer is joined on vocals by U2's Bono, one of the special guests on the record, along with Antony Hegarty of Antony and The Johnsons on the dramatic "Will I Ever Learn" and guitarist James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers on "To The Sea."

I WALK is a touching and passionate collection of songs about love, loss and survival. In a recent UK Telegraph feature Bono explained "There's always more to Herbert's songs than you first hear, 'Mensch' is a really profound song about the coldness and steeliness that friendship and love sometimes need to survive, a most unromantic paean to romance. That stuff appeals to me."

The paper went on to say "Gronemeyer is a singer-songwriter of the highest order, a deep lyricist and richly melodic composer with a gruff, grown-up voice and vigorous stage presence, whose thoughtful songs deal with the real stuff of life" while veteran Jools Holland calls him  "an incredibly talented musician and songwriter".

Alongside the new album release, Gronemeyer will be making two US appearances: February 23 at The Chicago Theatre in Chicago and February 26th at Irving Plaza in New York City. A full US tour will begin in September 2013. He also makes his first US public television special with Herbert Gronemeyer : I Walk. Taped at Postdam in Germany, and featuring Bono as a guest star, Gronemeyer combines his own original songs with some of his favorite classics in a one-hour concert that airs across the US through June 2013.

Although this is Herbert's US debut, Americans may recognize him from his role as Lt. Werner in the movie Das Boot. He has also graced the cover of Time Magazine as a "European Hero" who was changing the world with his ongoing humanitarian work and has an impressive and extensive composition and performance background including the 2004 Athens Olympics theme song "Everlasting", the 2006 FIFA World Cup theme song "Celebrate The Day" as well as the soundtrack and film score for Anton Corbijn's "The American" starringGeorge Clooney . He's currently working on the music for Anton Corbijn's new movie, John LeCarre's "A Most Wanted Man" and he has a small role in it – starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Nina Hoss, Robin Wright and Willem Dafoe .

For more Information on Herbert Gronemeyer visit www.hgiwalk.com. 

The Welsh band will make their live return after two years at the event, which takes place from September 13-15 in Portmeirion.

The indie stars said of the news: "Festival No.6 is the only thing that could break our self-enforced two-year British gig ban. To be able to play in Sir Clough Williams-Ellis’ iconic village is something of a dream for us. See you in September."

While the show is the first that the Manic Street Preachers have played in the UK since a one-off singles show at the end of 2011, they embarked on a European tour to support greatest hits collection 'National Treasures' in April and May 2012. The band also re-released their debut album 'Generation Terrorists' to celebrate its 20th anniversary last year.

Other acts confirmed for this year's festival include James Blake, Everything Everything, I Am Kloot, AlunaGeorge and Laura Mvula, along with DJ sets from Frankie Knuckles, Carl Craig and Gilles Peterson amongst others.

Watch the video for Manic Street Preachers' 'This Is The Day' below:

]]> London Newsdesk http://www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/manicstreetpreachers/view/31491/ Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:25:26 +0100 http://www.pressparty.com/pg/newsdesk/manicstreetpreachers/view/31491/ Manic Street Preachers have acknowledged the dramatic change in the music industry since launching their own career and admit that singles are a thing of the past. 

The band, who recently announced details of a special one-off gig that will see them perform all of their hit singles, explained to the NME that having huge chart success - especially if the band is guitar based - is "probably at an end":

"It's something we feel is probably over, the idea of having massive hit singles- unless something dramatically changes in life, it's probably at an end. The single is no more, as such, from what we grew up with anyway, let's face it, it's a different dimension."

"There are no guitar bands in the charts really, if you look at the top 40. You've got to come to terms with that at some point."

Tickets for the Manics' exclusive 38-song performance at London's O2 Arena are now available and you can watch their video for 'Postcards From A Young Man' here:

The country specific award was created to celebrate the best in contemporary music from Wales and a shortlist of 12 albums, which includes some huge names, was released this week. 

The 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' stars have been recognised for their latest album, 'Postcards From A Young Man', and will compete against Funeral For A Friend's 'Welcome Home Armegeddon', The Joy Formidable's 'The Big Roar' and The Blackout's 'Hope'. 

The winner will be crowned in October during the SWN Festival in Cardiff and tickets for the Manics' recently announced one-off singles concert are now on sale to the general public. 

Watch a recent interview with Nicky Wire of the Manics here:

The band will perform at the huge venue on December 17 in what promises to be a very special gig with a set list comprised of their single releases.

Tweeting this morning (August 30) about the show, the band wrote:

"Remember remember the 17th of December - glitter-tickertape and 38 songs xx"

An official statement issued to XFM also read, "A never to be repeated one-off visual experience encompassing 21 years of MSP with 38 songs – from 1990’s Motown Junk to (but not in order!) 2011’s The Is The Day. There will be an interval in order to top up on refreshments and like all the best parties, you’ll talk about it for years to come and your friends will wish they’d been there." 

Tickets for this Manic Street Preachers musical extravaganza go on sale at 9.30am on Friday, September 2 and you can watch them perform 'Postcards From A Young Man' here:

The band's bassist, Nicky Wire, used his private collection of between "6,000 to 10,000 Polaroid photos" for the project and he explained the concept behind the exciting pictorial history to Q magazine:

"It's called 'Death Of The Polaroid: A Manics Family Album'. It's the cream of my collection of around 6,000 to 10,000 Polaroid photos. Some of The Holy Bible-era Polaroids are odd because they're from when Richey was hospitalised. There's a shot of me and (frontman) James (Dean Bradfield) that's bleak."

News of the photo book originally surfaced in the spring, but the group have since confirmed it will be made available in November and tweeted on July 11:

"Polaroid book all done-set for some time in november-farrow design+faber have exceeded all expectations-magical x"

Watch Wire talk about his book project with Faber and Faber in a recent interview here:

Nicky Wire, the 'If You Tolerate This' band's bassist, told the crowd they will do "one gig" next year, despite their plans to lay low, purely to "avoid the Diamond Jubilee":

"We were gonna take a year off from touring altogether next year but we are gonna do one gig just to avoid the Diamond Jubilee. I mean, how f*cking saturated have we been with the Royal Family this year? So there’ll be one gig, just to avoid having to listen to Prince Philip for an hour.”

Watch the band's performance of 'The Everlasting' from last night below:

The band is racking up a list of exciting performances for later this year as they will also headline their very own UK mini-tour in May before heading off for a few dates around Europe.

July 3 will see the 'If You Tolerate This' rockers take the stage at Camden's Roundhouse, a venue that they revealed their love for in a statement about the confirmed appearance:

"We love playing the Roundhouse, we've done some of our best gigs there and the 'A Design For Life' video was shot at the old venue before it was beautifully refurbished so we’re very excited about playing our first iTunes Festival gig there”.

Watch their video for their classic track, 'A Design For Life', here:

Speaking about the newly announced show, bassist Nicky Wire commented "We are really looking forward to playing Cardiff CIA again as it has been over three years since we played there. It will be a great warm up for the festival season and a perfect way to end what has been a brilliant campaign for 'Postcards From A Young Man'. On the last dates (and these coming up) we've been playing lots of songs from our past too which has been really enjoyable." Support on all shows comes from The Joy Formidable.

The band also release the title track of their new album 'Postcards From A Young Man' as a single on 28th February 2011. The track will be released on 2 x CD and 7" all featuring brand new tracks including a long lost track 'Midnight Sun' on CD 2. In addition there will be a digital EP available via i-Tunes featuring live tracks from their last album 'Journal For Plague Lovers'.

Live: May 2011 

13 May HAMBURG, Markthalle 
14 May AMSTERDAM, Melkweg 
16 May DUBLIN, Olympia 
18 May LLANDUDNO, Cymru Arena 
19 May WOLVERHAMPTON, Civic Hall 
21 May CARDIFF, CIA 

'Postcards From A Young Man' single details 

CD1: Postcards From A Young Man / Inky Fingers / Engage With Your Shadow / Kiss My Eyes For Eternity 
CD2: Postcards From A Young Man / Midnight Sun 
7": Postcards From A Young Man / The Passing Show 
Live EP: Postcards From A Young Man (album version) / This Joke Sport Severed / Peeled Apples / Marlon J.D 

MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com

The band's bassist Nicky Wire revealed in a statement:

"We are really looking forward to playing Cardiff CIA again as it has been over three years since we played there.  It will be a great warm up for the festival season and a perfect way to end what has been a brilliant campaign for Postcards From A Young Man. On the last dates (and these coming up) we’ve been playing lots of songs from our past too which has been really enjoyable."

Support on all of the dates will come from The Joy Formidable, and the gigs will act as a 'warm up' for the Manic Street Preachers' forthcoming headlining slot at the Isle of Wight Festival later this year. Catch the band at the following venues:

• May 16 - The Olympia in Dublin, Ireland 
• May 18 - Cymru Arena in Llandudno, Wales
• May 19 - Civic Hall in Wolverhampton
• May 21 - CIA in Cardiff, Wales

A fan presale will begin at 9am on Thursday, February 17 and the general sale is due to open up on Friday, February 18. Check out the band's cover of Rihanna's hit single, 'Umbrella', below:

'Postcards From A Young Man' is the title track from the band's tenth studio album which was released last year to huge critical acclaim. The album debuted in the UK charts at No. 3 and was featured in virtually every end of year poll at the close of 2010.

The track will be released on 2 x CD and 7" all featuring brand new tracks including a long lost track 'Midnight Sun' on CD2. In addition there will be a digital EP available via iTunes featuring live tracks from their last album 'Journal For Plague Lovers'.

The band toured extensively through the UK last year and finished up with dates in Australia and Japan.

Full single details are as follows:

CD1:

1. Postcards From A Young Man
2. Inky Fingers
3. Engage With Your Shadow
4. Kiss My Eyes For Eternity

CD2:

1. Postcards From A Young Man
2. Midnight Sun

7":

1. Postcards From A Young Man
2. The Passing Show

Live EP:

1. Postcards From A Young Man (album version)
2. This Joke Sport Severed
3. Peeled Apples
4. Marlon J.D

MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com