Courteeners

Coming from Manchester and playing anthemic indie rock will lead to some inevitable comparisons. So it proved for Courteeners, whose arrival in 2008 was seen in some quarters as the city’s fourth wave, after those spearheaded by The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis. The quartet even worked with The Smiths and Morrissey producer Stephen Street on their 2008 debut St. Jude.

In reality, Courteeners’ debut aligned them more closely with other ’00s UK indie movers and shakers like Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks, Kasabian and Editors. Finding its place among the guitar band boom, it peaked at No.4 in the UK album charts.

The brash Mancunian attitude of their debut was totally absent on the band’s second album, 2010’s Falcon, which found the quartet easing back and opening up their sound with the addition of brass and strings. Courteeners split the difference between the two poles on their third album, 2013’s Anna. Synths and strings added a sweeping 80s-influence to their fourth offering, 2014’s Concrete Love.

When the band returned with Mapping The Rendezvous in 2016, almost all traces of their raw, raucous debut had been smoothed out into a mature pop sheen with an emphasis on danceability. Courteeners followed this path resolutely through to More. Again. Forever., emerging with an even tighter set that delved into electronica and disco grooves.

In 2021, the band announced a huge outdoor homecoming show at Emirates Old Trafford with support from Johnny Marr, Blossoms, The Big Moon and Zuzu as well as performances at Scarborough Open Air Theatre and TRNSMT for September 2021. In advance of these appearances, Courteeners revealed a series of warm-up dates in Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent and Halifax.