God Bless the Band

I wrote a post on Courteeners a few years ago, where I proclaimed them 'the biggest underground band in the UK'. A statement I still stand by, so now it seems a good time to delve a little more into my statement, and tell you why. 

The last post I did was in 2020, four years ago. Since then, this website has launched and I have the opportunity to delve deeper into the Manchester band.

Formation

The original band members, Liam Fray, Daniel Moores, Mark Cupello, and Michael Campbell have all known each other since they were children. All of them growing in Middleton. Although attending different schools in the area they remained close friends. In particular Fray and Campbell. Who started to play instruments together from a young age. Inspired by Manchester's rich musical heritage the Smiths and Oasis inspired Fray to write and form the band. "Noel [Gallagher]'s the reason why I picked up the guitar when I was 11 years old – trying to learn 'Wonderwall'", admitted Fray. 

Being from that city it is hard not be inspired by the music that has been produced. It is a part of Manchester's DNA. Fray went to the University of Salford, first studying economics before moving to a creative writing course. However he would never finish the degree. Due to music becoming his focus.

Fray penned what would become Courteeners' tracks "Not Nineteen Forever" and "Cavorting" while studying at university and holding a job at a Fred Perry clothing store in Manchester. He often took the stage at open mic nights as an acoustic singer-songwriter. Reflecting on his journey, he shared, "I've been performing since 2005, initially solo. Then, in the summer of '2006, we [the Courteeners members] formed and began performing regularly, kicking off around Christmas."

The band's first gig as 'The Courteeners' was at Manchester Roadhouse in October 2006, and they would follow this up with a first single, 'Cavorting' in August 2007.

A second single 'Acrylic' would follow in October 2007, and reached Number 44 in the UK Singles Chart. The Courteeners were more than a flash in the pan. They now just had to record a debut album.

Cavorting, & Snorting- St Jude

After the release of the two singles, the band were approached by producer Stephen Street. Street had previously worked with Manchester music legends 'The Smiths' as well as producing the bulk of 'Blur's' 90s catalogue. He was interested with working with the band, and the band said yes. First came the single 'What Took You So Long' in January 2008. The song hit Number 20 in the UK Singles Chart.

Street and the band began to work together in late 2007 on the bands debut album. Fray had written most of the songs, and some had been present on earlier EP's released by the band themselves. However, it wasn't until the band side a record deal with Loog Records that they could get to work on making an album. 

St Jude was the sound of the bands circumstances, written by Fray and clearly influenced by the city he both lived and worked in. Oasis and The Stone Roses sound can be heard throughout the record. Street's influence can be heard too, he had produced The Smiths and Blur, and Fray's character studies on songs like 'Bide Your Time' and 'Aftershow' lean into both Morrisey and Albarn's observational songwriting. 

The songs were written for the most part by Fray when working at Fred Perry in Manchester, with 'What Took You So Long' being a particularly good example of Fray's working day. As an album for a debut it is really varied, from the slow pacing of 'How Come' and Please Don't' which are indebted to the acoustic side of Oasis, and The Stone Roses. Through to the The Strokes like 'Not Nineteen Forever' and the snarling attack of 'If It Wasn't Me'. 

It makes for a very interesting listen, and has some of the bands very best lyrics and instrumentation. From the Smiths reference on 'Fallowfield Hillbilly' where the band quote 'Hand in Glove' through to the sound of Piccadilly Station on 'Yesterday, Today and Probably Tomorrow'. Oh and even the hand claps on 'No You Didn't, No You Don't which were performed by Madonna. Yes, you read that right!

The album reached Number Four in the UK albums chart on it's inital release, and then hit Number One with it's re release in 2023. For many this is the bands best album, and with the track listing it's hard to argue. It has given us some of the very best work. Following the release of the album, the band hit the road and performed at various festivals, including T in the Park, Ibiza Rocks, Wireless and V Festivals.

t marked the band's initial foray into touring, while they continued to produce music. Their live EP, "Live at Manchester Apollo," recorded during their most recent tour, was released on October 10, 2008. Following this, Fray performed a solo, one-off show in London later that same month as part of The Best British Sound: Best of the Festivals concert series. The Courteeners concluded 2008 and kicked off 2009 with New Year's shows in Leeds and Sheffield. They also headlined a show in New York City before embarking on a tour supporting Morrissey across the US, which lasted until April 2009.  They completed their tour of America at the 2009 Coachella Festival in Indio, California, performing on the festival's main stage along with Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Franz Ferdinand. In the UK the band played the 2009 Reading and Leeds Festivals on the main stage along with Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy and Ian Brown. They also appeared at the 2009 T in the Park Festival as second headliners in the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent.

I Miss the City I Love- Falcon

After the touring for St Jude finished, the band took to the studio again, this time with Ed Buller in the producers chair. This record is a much slower paced affair, influenced by bands like Elbow. The albums first single 'You Overdid it Doll' was released in in February 2010. It was a jump from what fans had come to expect. This was the albums first official single, however, fans had been hearing songs from the album at The Courteeners live shows in late 2009.

"The Opener", "You Overdid It Doll" and "Take Over the World" made their live debuts at two UK shows in December 2009. The first of these shows at Warrington's Parr Hall was followed by a sold-out headline homecoming show at the 10,000-capacity Manchester Central (formerly known as Manchester GMEX). Tickets for the show sold out within a week.

The album saw the band release some fan favouirtes, including "The Opener" a love letter to Manchester, and "Take Over the World" still one of Fray's best love songs. Critics loved the album, it marked a stark change in direction from the bands debut, but still gave us some of the band's very best material. Influences are still there but it sees the band do a deeper dive into their record collections. 

This album also saw the band move further up festival stages, as well as make the jump into arenas. The band appeared at many festivals during the summer of 2010, including on the Other Stage at 2010 Glastonbury Festival on Friday 25 June 2010. On Sunday 13 June 2010, the band appeared on the main stage at the Isle of Wight Festival. The performed on the main stage ahead of Paul McCartney's headline appearance that evening. In July 2010 the band returned to the T in the Park festival, appearing on the Saturday evening on the Radio 1/NME Stage. In August 2010, the Courteeners announced a five-date UK tour to take place in December. The tour included the band's largest-ever headline gig at the Manchester Arena.  

On 17 December 2010, the band announced a headline show at Delamere Forest, scheduled for 2 July 2011. The show sold out in 38 minutes, a record for shows performed in the forest. David Barrow, booker for the Forestry Commission said, "Following their triumphant MEN Arena show last weekend I knew we would comfortably sell out, but 38 minutes is a forest record, so it's official the Courteeners are the fastest-selling forest act we have had since the gigs kicked off 11 years ago. They took this momentum into the festival season for 2011, and played shows at V-Festival and Isle of Wight Festival. Two albums in the band were riding a real wave of optimism, they had the songs to back it up to. Two albums of very strong material, that sounded very different. A hurdle faced by most bands had been overcome by The Courteeners, they got past the difficult second album.

Welcome to the Rave- ANNA

ANNA saw a couple of changes for the band, first another change in the producers chair, Joe Cross came in for this record. Secondly a change in band name. The Courteeners, simply became Courteeners. After what had been a successful couple of years for the band, in 2011 they began to work on a third album and a follow-up to "Falcon".  After frontman Liam Fray broke his ankle, he re-listened to the material they had up to that point and felt they could be improved on. Following a meeting with Joe Cross, he was enlisted to produce the band's next album; sessions were held at 80 Hertz Studios.

However some of these songs had already been debuted in the live setting, a common theme for Courteeners. In 2011 at the end of year shows, Courteeners played "Lose Control" and "Welcome to the Rave" although these songs were later re worked into the studio versions we now know.

ANNA saw the band rip up the rule book, this was again a departure from what fans had come to expect, it is a lot more electronic and upbeat than "Falcon" and a lot less raw than "St Jude." It sees the band dip into a variety of influences and ideas from Simon & Garfunkel on "When You Want Something You Can't Have" to Two Door Cinema Club and The Vaccines on "Push Yourself." 

"Lose Control" was released as the album's lead single a month early on 10 December 2012; the seven-inch vinyl record edition featured "Chipping Away" as its B-side. ANNA was released on 4 February 2013. To mixed reviews, some were not thrilled by a departure in sound and the mixed nature of songs on the album. However fans seemed to really enjoy it. "Are You in Love With A Notion", "Lose Control" and "Van Der Graff" have gone to become some of the bands most well loved songs. All three becoming main stays in the bands live set even today.

On 28 June 2013 they played at the Glastonbury Festival on the John Peel Stage. They played 13 songs and the performance was their fourth appearance at the festival. The band supported The Stone Roses at their reunion gig in London's Finsbury Park on 7 June 2013 and Kings of Leon at Glasgow's Bellahouston Park on 15 August 2013. They also performed at the Belsonic, Benicàssim, T in the Park, V festivals and headlined the Mallorca Rocks closing party.

On 5 and 6 July 2013 Courteeners played at Castlefield Bowl, Deansgate, Manchester with support acts including The Strypes, Miles Kane and The Heartbreaks. All 16,000 tickets were sold out in a day. In December 2013, the band toured the UK once again culminating in their 3rd headline appearance at the 16,000-capacity Manchester Arena.

Things were getting bigger and bigger for the band, Castlefield Bowl would also be the start of a trend for Courteeners. Of playing huge outdoor shows in Manchester. Many more would follow.  Usually every two years.

Without You Where Would I Be- Concrete Love

After Castlefield Bowl, and the success of those two gigs. Fray and Cross decamped to Paris to work on demos to "ANNA's" follow up. After a brief hiatus and some live dates, both Fray and Cross began to work on more music this time in Whitby. They continued with the 80s sounds that had been present on "ANNA" as well as introducing some post-punk elements. Fray's songwriting also became less autobiographical on this record, more in tuned with the abstract, kitchen sink style of writing.

"Summer" was fans first taster of the album released to streaming services, an acoustic led song which marked a new sound for the band. That combined everything they had done before. Singles from Concrete Love, "Has He Told You That He Loves You Yet" and "Small Bones" became XFM's records of the week. The latter was the last XFM's Record of the Week before the station rebranded as Radio X.

They supported the Killers for a one-off show in Glasgow and appeared at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. Concrete Love was released on 18 August 2014; a deluxe edition included a DVD of footage filmed during their 2013 Castlefield Bowl performances.

The album contained some of Fray's best songs to date "Small Bones" describes long distance relationships, and the longing for someone. With "International", Fray spoke of how he spent more time working on it than any other song on the album: "I just felt very bare and very exposed and I didn’t like it at all. It was difficult." In my opinion "International" is the best song he has ever written, he bares it all for fans to hear. Ar real emotional affair

The album received support from a 19-date UK Tour spanning October and November, featuring notable performances at Brixton Academy in London and Echo Arena Liverpool.

On June 5, 2015, the band held one of their most significant headline concerts at Manchester's Heaton Park, with support from Blossoms, Bipolar Sunshine, and Peace. All 25,000 tickets sold out within 40 minutes. Q Magazine awarded the event a perfect 5-star rating, likening it to iconic gatherings such as the Stone Roses' Spike Island or Oasis' Maine Road. What did I say about a big Manchester gig every two years.

On July 9, 2015, Courteeners supported The Libertines at Dublin's 3Arena. Additionally, they graced the stages of renowned festivals including Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Ibiza Rocks, V Festival, and T in the Park.

In November of 2015 the band would release "Concrete Love Extra Love" which featured a new single, their first Christmas song "Winter Wonderland". That same month, the band would also depart with long-time bass player Mark Cuppell, who was replaced by Joe Cross.

Throughout November and December, the band commenced a UK tour, notably opening with an unprecedented five consecutive nights at Manchester Apollo—a feat unheard of for any other band at the venue. The entire tour, spanning London, Glasgow, and Manchester, sold out within minutes. Consequently, two additional dates were added in Manchester, bringing the total to seven nights at Manchester Apollo.

Courteeners also successfully added and sold out an additional London show at the London Forum, along with a second Glasgow show. Support on this tour came from a number of brilliant artists including 'Reverend & the Makers, Blossoms, The Sherlocks, Viola Beach, Spring King, Declan McKenna and Pretty Vicous.'

2015 was a huge year for the band, the album had been a huge success and they had sold out a huge tour. As well as playing their biggest gig to date at Manchester's Heaton Park. To end the Concrete Love cycle, On 19 June 2016, Courteeners supported The Stone Roses at Manchester's Etihad Stadium. They also played at the T in the Park and Reading and Leeds festivals. 

At the T in the Park show, Fray announced that the band had finished recording their latest album.

No One Will Ever Replace Us- Mapping the Redenzvous.

The songs that would end up on their next album were written in Paris, France, with Fray citing the film Victoria (2015) by Sebastian Schipper as the lyrical inspiration. Cross and Fray had spent six weeks in the city; they set up a tiny studio in the apartment they were staying in. Fray said he admired the romanticism involved with France, where he was an unknown person, allowing him to take his time writing. Sessions were held in Real World Studios in Bath, and unnamed places in Loch Ness and Manchester, concluding in July 2016. With the album set for release in October 2016.

A more grooved-based album, that wanted to lead fans to the dancefloor, with a defined theme about making bad decisions littered throughout the album's eleven songs. The album's first single "The 17th" is an LCD Soundsystem inspired pop gem. A song that builds and builds into a huge crescendo, lyrically telling the story of a couple wanting to escape from the rat race. So they can spend some time together. No One Will Ever Replace Us" the albums second single, deals with falling in love at Glastonbury Festival, as well as the "under-pinning fear about when you’ve got something so good, and you don’t want it to end." These two songs have gone to become huge parts of the bands discography, remaining live staples and fan favourites. "Kitchen" the albums first single, sees the band try to experiment with a funk driven sound, sadly not to great effect. However "Modern Love" is a real return to form, a classic indie love song, and really shows Liam's vocal ability. The album has some brilliant songs on it, from the singles through to "Finest Hour" a throwback to what the band had done on "Falcon"

The band would release a deluxe version of the record, which contained a DVD of the 2015 performance at Heaton Park. Before heading out on the road to tour this record, playing venues across the UK and heading into Europe. All in preparation for their biggest gig to date. 

A huge gig at Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket Ground. The gig was the biggest gig the band had ever announced. Heaton Park two years previously had saw the band make a jump to huge outdoor audiences playing to 25,000 people. Playing to almost double that was a big deal. Old Trafford Cricket Ground was usually reversed for Oasis, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys. However, they proved the doubters wrong and sold out the venue.

Liam Fray and the rest of the band saw an opportunity with the concert, not only would it help propel Courteeners, but it also allowed them to showcase that things were still happening in Manchester. They did this through there support bands. The Charlatans were booked, and it showed that even the older bands from Manchester were around and still producing music. Blossoms and Cabbage were proof that Manchester was still producing new music and in particular new guitar bands.

However, five days before the concert, on the 22nd of May 2017, a suicide bomber walked into the foyer at Manchester Arena and detonated a bomb,  killing 22 music fans at an Ariana Grande concert. Men, Women and Children were killed in the attack and it was something that brought the world to a bit of a stop. This was an attack on everything, it had shaken Manchester to it's core. Many thought that music in Manchester would stop, at least for a little bit. It's safe to say that, it was quite a shock when Courteeners announced the show would go on. Just five days after the attack. It had become more than just a concert now, it was a show of defiance, resilience and most importantly a sign of solidarity towards the people of Manchester.

16 songs into the set, Liam took to the stage and a solo acoustic cover of’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – a song that’s become the anthem for Manchester’s bounce-back, and one that couldn’t be any better received if it were the Gallaghers themselves on stage. It seemed signifcant that the band had chosen to do this, they had done it for Manchester but they were also having a water shed moment. This was there Maine Road moment, on 27th anniversary of Spike Island. The stars had aligned over Manchester that night.

The show proved to be a show of defiance, Manchester's people came out in force to celebrate what makes the city great and beautifully honour the 22 lives that had been lost. This would not be the first time the band took to the stage in support for the 22 lives lost that year. Courteeners would help re open the Manchester Arena, 4 months later on September the 9th 2017, with Noel Gallagher, Blossoms and Rick Astley amongst others. 

2017 was a year where Courteeners reminded us things were still happening in the North, and just how powerful music can really be.

Hanging off Your Cloud- More Again Forever

After a 2018 which saw the band get a little nostaligc, celebrating ten years of their debut album. With a reworked version, "St Jude Re-Wired" and some huge celebratory gigs at London's Royal Albert Hall and Manchester Arena. On 29 October 2018, Courteeners announced a new headline show at Heaton Park, Manchester on Saturday 15 June 2019. The line up included James, DMA'S and Pale Waves as support acts. Tickets for the show went on sale on 2 November 2018 and all 50,000 tickets had sold out in less than four hours.

This was another huge sell out show in Manchester for the band, and was twice the size of there previous gig at Heaton Park.

Fray took to the microphone at the Heaton Park gig "Manchester, you probably don’t know [but] we’ve had a bit of a difficult year as a band individually,” he says. “But we aren’t individuals in this band because we’re a team. The band had hit a point where the wave they had been riding, had come to a bit of stop. Yet they still had a loyal fan base behind them, and Courteeners had promised those fans a new album. After giving three songs a run out at previous dates, fans eagerly awaited what was next.

The band closed out the year with two one-off shows: Olympia in London on 30 November 2019; and Manchester Arena on 14 December 2019, both with orchestras. They were supported by the Coral at London and Miles Kane at Manchester; Courteeners were joined by touring member Elina Lin for the shows

"More. Again. Forever" arrived in January 2020. It was written by Fray and Rich Turvey, who had worked on Blossom's records previously. Fray and Turvey subsequently wrote four songs across six days. A majority of the songs that would end up on the forthcoming album were written within the first seven weeks of 2019, when Fray was abstaining from alcohol, the songs are influenced by a period of addiction and self-improvement that Fray went through.

This album continues the theme of experimentation, that we had come to expect from the band. However it was at it's most prevalent on this record, the opening track sounds like David Bowie fronting Kasabian. "Heavy Jacket" is indebted to Royal Blood and LCD Soundsystem. "Better Man" is indebted to R.E.M and The Smiths. "Hanging Off Your Cloud" is a string filled ballad, that contains arguably Fray's best lyrics to date. One of his very best songs. A really mature record that deals with some hard hitting themes, but still manages to keep the elements that made fans fall in love with the band.

Courteeners were due to support Kings of Leon for a one-off show and appear at the TRNSMT and Reading and Leeds Festivals; all of these gigs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic prevented the band from giving this record a proper run out. They would play a few album launch shows in January and February 2020, but it would not be until 2021 until they next took to the stage again properly.

In September 2021, Courteeners appeared at TRNSMT and played two one-off shows: a warm-up show at Scarborough Open Air Theatre with the Coral, leading to a performance at the Emirates Old Trafford with support from Johnny Marr, Blossoms, the Big Moon and Zuzu. The Old Trafford show, which consisted of a crowd of 50,000, sold out within 90 minutes.Courteeners closed out the year with a short UK tour in November 2021, under the banner of Whites of Their Eyes, intended to be a 15-year celebration since their first show in 2006. This short tour saw the band take to the stage in much smaller venues than the stadiums and arenas they were used to playing in. Ending with a night at London's Brixton Academy.

The band were cementing themselves as one of Britain's best live bands, continuing to define the naysayers  and playing huge venues. The NME said of the Old Trafford gig "September 25, Old Trafford: with support from The Big Moon, Blossoms and Johnny Marr, this is a celebration of the city's musical legacy – and future." Giving the show a five star review. Having been at the gig myself, I can say that five star review was deserved.

In that review they also said this "The band return for a second encore of their biggest anthems including ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and ‘What Took You So Long’ as fireworks burst high above the stage.
It’s a signal that feels like a colossal beacon to proclaim Manchester is alive and kicking, sent out by a band who have climbed the hill in their own way. There’s no doubt that The Courteeners have added to the rich lineage of Manchester’s music scene again tonight. This has perhaps been their Maine Road moment – their Spike Island – pulling them even closer to their devout following."

It was a statement of itent by the five friends from Middleton. 

Not Nineteen Forever- The Present

After the Old Trafford gig and the "Whites Of Their Eyes" tour. The band took to the festival circuit in 2022, Headlining Neighbourhood Weekender and Y Not festival, as well as playing two dates in London and Middlesborough. A short tour of America also happened for the band in 2022 but on the whole it was a quiet year for the band.

Courteeners announced on August 30, 2022, by announcing the reissue of their debut album, "St. Jude," alongside another highly anticipated gig at Heaton Park in Manchester, scheduled for June 9, 2023. Just two days later, on September 2, 2022, Courteeners achieved yet another milestone as they sold out Heaton Park for the third time, accomplishing the feat within a remarkable eight-hour span. The reissued version of "St. Jude" was unveiled on January 13, 2023, setting the stage for Courteeners to break new ground later that month. Notably, the album made history with the longest duration between its initial release and reaching No. 1 on the UK Album Charts, totaling 14 years, 9 months, and 14 days.

The band played the Royal Albert Hall in March 2023 for the Teenage Cancer Trust where they played St Jude and some B-Sides in full. The Heaton Park gig in June would follow in the same vein. Playing the album alongside some of the bands most well known songs. It was a celebration of 15 years of St Jude, similar to what they done 5 years previously. I love Courteeners but will they be doing the same thing in 2028 for 20 years. I hope not, I would hate for them to neglect what they have done and become a heritage act.

Speaking after the 2023 Heaton Park gig, Fray talked about the potential for new music, "We’re going to celebrate and soak this up for the next couple of days I think and then, you know what, we’re going to finish a record which might end up being two, maybe even three." Fingers crossed we get to hear that soon.

Conclusion

So there you go, a history lesson on the boys from Middleton. A band who have soundtracked mine and countless others teenage years and early 20s. One of Britain's best live acts, a bunch of friends who took on being in a band and its trials and tribulations in their own way. An underground band, who if you listen to certain critics and radio stations have one good song. Yet somehow manage to shift 50,000 tickets in minutes. 

A band who don't do things by the book, a band who have a genuine and sincere bond with those on the other side of that barrier. 

A bunch of hometown heroes, who mean it as much now as they did all the way back in 2006. 16 years of Cavorting and Snorting later. For those of us who get it, they are ours. For those of you who don't, well...

Thank you for reading x

For the Heavy Jacket Appreciation Society x