UK quintet The Afterparty announce new UK tour dates for June & July plus a special appearance at Download Festival 2013 opening the Jager Acoustic Stage on Saturday, June 15th. 

Vocalist Nic Matthews says he is “stoked to be heading out on the road again and to be invited to play Download is a dream come true”.

Second 

June 
15th – Download Festival 

20th – Mad Ferret, Preston* 

21st – The Tunnels, Aberdeen*
22nd – The Basement, Leicester*
23rd – Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff*
24th – Beer Cart Arms, Canterbury*

*with Next Stop Atlanta

July w/ Avosetta & Leopards

17th – B2, Norwich

18th – The Flapper, Birmingham

19th – Islington Academy 2, London

21st – Joiners, Southampton

22nd – CLWB Ifor Bach, Cardiff

23rd – The Underground, Stoke

24th – Ivory Blacks, Glasgow

25th – Brickyard, Carlisle

26th – Space Bar, Newcastle

27th – Fac251, Manchester

You can view The Afterparty’s latest video for ‘Liar, Liar’ here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmmOhrFYBds

Australian three piece Valentiine release their new single Chucky on 17th June via Integrity Records and album also titled Valentiine a week later.

Their current single Love Like was featured on Radio 1 Phil & Alice show and made no.1 in the Amazing Radio chart.

The Band also play a UK tour. Full list of dates and band info below.

VALENTIINE – HEADLINE UK TOUR – JUNE 2013

10th Leeds The Packhorse
Tel: 0113 2453980
208 Woodhouse Lane
Leeds
L52 9DX
Doors 7pm
Tickets £5.00

11th Hull The Adelphi Club
Tel: 01482 348216
89 De Grey Street
Hull
HU5 2RU
Doors 8pm
Tickets £5.00

13th Sheffield O2 Academy 2
Tel: 0114 2537777
Arundel Gate
Sheffield
S1 2PN
Doors 7pm
Tickets £5.00

14th Newcastle Think Tank
Tel: ?!!
Hoults Yard, Walker Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE6 2HL
Doors 8pm
Tickets £5.00

15th Edinburgh The Wee Red Bar
Tel: 0131 6515859
Edinburgh College Of Art
Lauriston Place
Edinburgh
EH3 9DF
Doors 7pm
Tickets £5.00

17th Brighton Sticky Mikes Frog Bar
Tel: 01273 749465
Middle Street
Brighton
BN1 1AL
Doors 8pm
Tickets £5.00

18th Camden The Dublin Castle
Tel: 020 74851773
94 Parkway
London
NW1 7AN
Doors 8pm
Tickets £6.00

20th Birmingham Asylum 2
Tel: 0121 2331109
Hampton Street, Hockley
Birmingham
B19 3LS
Doors 8pm
Tickets £5.00

21st Manchester Dry Bar
Tel: 0161 2369840
Oldham Street
Manchester
M1 1JN
Doors 6.30pm
Tickets £5.00

22nd Leicester Lock 42
Tel: 0116 2230303
Frog Island
Leicester
LE3 5AG
Doors 7.30pm
Tickets £5.00

Valentiine release their eponymous debut album via Integrity Records on 1^st July, preceded by new single ‘Chucky’ on 17^th June, alongside their first headline UK tour.

Valentiine are 3 girls from Melbourne, Australia, who reincarnate the heavy 90’s into something beautiful, dirty pop hooks drowned in the honesty of screaming vocals with seething cheerleader harmonies over the top.

New single ‘Chucky’ and its video show the band’s dark humour as they recount their own ‘morning after’ hangover blues in graphic detail. The single’s b-side, the heavier, moody slow-burn ‘Beauty Lies’.

“That song has got a bad attitude, like a snotty bratty version of Republika.  I love it.”

BBC Radio 1 Phil and Alice

‘Awesome. Disgusting. I love it!’  Ruth Barnes, Amazing Radio / Other Woman Blog

‘Chucky’ follows debut single ‘Love Like’ which was A-listed, Breakfast Show Record of the Week and went Top 3 in the Amazing Radio chart, B-listed on Bloodstock Radio and received spot plays on Radio 1’s Phil and Alice show, Q and several regional specialist shows.

‘The best Australian band you’ve never heard of’   The Guardian

‘Something different, something special‘   Musicosis

‘Riff laden, hard rocking‘   Loud Horizon

Valentiine’s 11-track album is out on CD on 1^st July but will be available as a special pre-release from all UK shows.  It also has full distribution via iTunes (pre-order now), Amazon and other download stores.

The Valentiine tour hits the following venues through June: 10th   Leeds   The Packhorse / 11th   Hull   The Adelphi / 13th   Sheffield   O2 Academy 2 / 14th   Newcastle   Think Tank / 15th   Edinburgh   Wee Red Bar / 17th   Brighton   Sticky Mike’s / 18th   London   Camden Dublin Castle / 20th   Birmingham   Asylum 2
21st   Manchester   Dry Bar / 22nd  Leicester   Lock 42

For more information visit : www.valentiine.com   /  www.integrityrecords.co.uk

announce special guests for Metal Hammer UK
Golden Gods Awards

25th Anniversary Tour supported
by LACUNA COIL

Thirteen albums into PARADISE LOST’s 25 year career, namedropping is pointless. The only band they can and should be held up against for comparison and consideration is PARADISE LOST.

With a career dating back to 1988, and their official recording debut in 1990 (Lost Paradise), the band has been riding and rollercoaster of highs and lows. Guitarist Aaron Aedy remembers the early days: “I remember our first rehearsal at Studio X in the Dean Clough complex of Halifax, it was Saturday March 26th between the hours of one and four pm. We had a few ideas flying around and managed to write our first opus ‘Blood-filled-eyes’ and start our 2nd ‘Plains of Desolation’, I can only describe these songs as unique.Afterwards we all went to the pub after to celebrate. Three and a half months later we were playing live, supporting Acid Reign and Re-Animator at the legendary Frog and Toad Night Club in Bradford. We had a 30 minute slot and only 15 minutes of music so we played one song twice, attempted a Sodom cover we hadn’t even learned and Nick [Holmes, vocals] did his stand up for the rest of it.”

Over their following career, PARADISE LOST have not only created and defined genres and styles, but almost immediately transcended them. From the crawling, harrowing doom of their 1990 debut ‘Lost Paradise’, to the electronic flourishes prevalent in 1997′s ‘One Second’, 1999′s ‘Host’ and 2007′s comeback to the heavier side of metal “In Requiem” and the latest opus “Tragic Idol” in 2012, their sound has continued to evolve vastly, but haunting melody and dark rock power has remained at the very core of their identity.

In 1991 the band released ‘Gothic’, not so much an album title as the definition for an entire genre, while the influence 1995′s huge-selling masterpiece ‘Draconian Times’ – the missing link between Metallica and the Sisters of Mercy – echoes loudly in today’s scene, with the likes of Cradle of Filth, Nightwish and HIM owing a huge debt to their knack for injecting heavy rock with their trademark dark sheen.

Now it’s time to celebrate 25 years of glamour and gloom with a very special show at the Metal Hammer Gloden Gods Awards that will be held on June 17 at London’s esteemed Indigo2 venue (headlined by that other British legend called Motorhead).

PARADISE LOST invited their friends Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) and Gus G (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne) as special guests to present a very special set-list. Cristina: “I am so very excited to announce that my friends PARADISE LOST are performing live at this year’s annual award show of Metal Hammer UK at the Indigo2 in London on Monday 17th June… and I’m going to perform with them! SO very excited!!!! Come and join us!

There are also some very special 25th anniversary shows coming up that PARADISE LOST will play with Lacuna Coil and some very special guests TBC, the dates of which are as follows:

Oct 30th – Wolverhampton - Wulfrun Hall (www.wolvescivic.co.uk)
Oct 31st – Glasgow – ABC (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
Nov 1st – Manchester – Ritz (www.kililive.com)
Nov 3rd – London – Roundhouse (www.kililive.com)

Nick had this to say about the forthcoming anniversary shows: “25 years IS a long time, on the surface we may look ramshackled, but playing music for so many years has kept us young in our hearts and I truly believe that a youthful spirit is one of the greatest things you can’t buy in a pub.
We have written many albums, played many concerts; we are older and not really any wiser, but there is a strong possibility we may play a song you thought we never would. So please come along and join the celebrations with us, including our biggest UK headline show to date!”

Cristina (Lacuna Coil) adds: “PARADISE LOST were in between the bands that strongly influenced me as a singer, when I started my career with Lacuna Coil, so it is just awesome for me to realise we’ll share the stage with them on this upcoming tour. I am sure that the dark vibe coming from the stage will totally embrace old school and new fans making it an event you absolutely CAN’T miss! Boy, I can’t wait!!!”

Stay tuned for more exciting anniversary announcements including a special audio surprise for fans!

PARADISE LOST online:
http://www.paradiselost.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial
http://twitter.com/officialpl

Century Media Records online:
http://www.centurymedia.com
http://www.youtube.com/centurymedia
http://www.twitter.com/centurymediaeu
http://www.facebook.com/centurymedia

Century Media webshop:
www.cmdistro.com

Cara Luft Set To Release ‘Darlingford’ In The UK Alongside UK Tour Dates

Juno award winning singer-songwriter-guitarist extraordinaire Cara Luft is that rare artist steeped in folk and traditional roots music almost from birth, yet willing to alter the fabric, stretch the boundaries and fearlessly bend genres and styles. Her much-anticipated third solo album, Darlingford, set for a UK release on June 3^rd is a stunning new collection of songs drawn from her recent life experiences and informed throughout with her indomitably optimistic spirit and impeccable musical instincts. Recorded primarily in old wooden churches and home studios across the Canadian prairies, the album shines a bright light on Cara’s skill at turning personal heartbreak into universal themes that resonate deeply with listeners. Darlingford is a musically profound, undeniably rich example of life informing art.

Luft deserves her solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest live performers. Her engaging, down-home style comes wrapped in a warm and delicious sense of humour. A co-founder of folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys, Cara was the spark behind the group. Her spirit and innate musicianship were instrumental in their rise to the forefront of the North American roots music scene. Since leaving the trio, Luft has wowed audiences and critics across North America and Europe with her solo performances. She is clearly at home on the stage, and invites audiences into her world with a rare and endlessly appealing confidence and humility. Cara’s the real deal, there’s nothing pretentious about her. And that sense of honesty, integrity, personality and spontaneity permeates both her music and her live shows.

JUNE 2013 …

7th  Sligo, IE – Hawks Well Theatre  071 9161518  www.hawkswell.com/

8th  Galway, IE – Roisin Dubh (upstairs)  353 91 509960  http://www.roisindubh.net/

9th  Dublin, IE – Whelan’s Upstairs  1890 200 078  www.whelanslive.com/

10th  Ballymore Eustace, IE – Mick Murphy’s

11th  Limerick, IE – The Loft @ Locke Bar  353 61 413733  http://www.lockebar.com/

12th  Ballybofey, IE – Balor Arts Centre  00353 74 9131840  http://www.balorartscentre.com/

13th  Halifax, Yorkshire – Square Chapel Centre  01422 349422  www.squarechapel.co.uk

14th  Southport – The Atkinson  01704 533 333  www.theatkinson.co.uk     

16th  Shrewsbury – Shrewsbury Folk Present @ The Hive  01743 234970  www.hiveonline.org.uk/

18th  Birmingham, Kings Heath – The Kitchen Garden Café  0121 443  4725  www.kitchengardencafe.co.uk

19th  Castle Hedingham, Essex – Hedingham Castle  01787 460261  http://www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk/

21st  Mylor, Cornwall – Mylor Session Summers Special  www.mylorsessions.co.uk/      

22nd  Hindhead, Surrey – Grayshott Folk Club  01428 604 798  www.grayshottfolkclub.co.uk/

25th  Battle, E Sussex – Mrs Yarrington’s @ The Senlac Inn  01424 773344  www.mrsyarringtons.me.uk

26th  Lewes – Union Music Present @ The Elephant and Castle  01273474053  www.unionmusicstore.com/           

27th  Pontypridd, Wales – Muni Arts Centre  08000 147 111  www.rct-arts.co.uk

28th  Porthcawl, Wales – Grand Pavilion  01656 815995  www.grandpavilion.co.uk/           

29th  Builth Wells, Wales – Wyeside Arts Centre  01982 552555  www.wyeside.co.uk