It’s fair to say that 2017 has so far been a tremendous year for Leeds four-piece MARSICANS. It began with the release of their latest single, FRIENDS, the first of a string of scheduled releases on LAB Records planned for this year, which earned an array of hugely positive reviews; and a UK tour with Minnesota’s Hippo Campus, again generating thrillingly enthusiastic reviews. The single itself received repeated plays on BBC 6Music, BBC Introducing, Radio X and Amazing Radio, before being added to the playlist at BBC Radio 1 after wholehearted support from Huw Stephens, Phil Taggart and Tom Robinson.
In between, the band played their highest profile headline tour to date, often visibly shocked by the love and enthusiasm emanating from the crowd. Then, early one Saturday morning in March, a tweet out of the blue, reading “Chris and I are really enjoying this new Leeds band”, entered the ether from Coldplay, who posted the FRIENDS video on both their Twitter and Facebook. Those who have witnessed MARSICANS live, and grown to love their music, don’t need any further endorsement to justify their faith, but it was a lovely touch. And it certainly didn’t do the YouTube views any harm.
You can watch the FRIENDS video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsc3gbRcy2k&feature=youtu.be
Following their appearance at Live at Leeds Festival, where the band played to what can only be described as an absolutely rammed 1200 capacity Stylus at Leeds University, MARSICANS have now announced their lengthiest tour to date, mostly with label mates Natives, but interspersed with a further number of prestige festival appearances, including Close Up, Dot to Dot and Barn On the Farm. Full dates as follows:
MAY
Tue 09 BRISTOL * Louisiana
Wed 10 CAMBRIDGE * Portland Arms
Thu 11 NORWICH * Waterfront
Fri 12 SOUTHEND * Chinnerys
Sat 13 LONDON Close Up Festival
Mon 15 PLYMOUTH * Hub
Wed 17 BIRMINGHAM * O2 Academy 3
Thu 18 NOTTINGHAM * Bodega
Fri 19 BRIGHTON The Alternative Escape @ Beyond Retro
Sun 21 NEWCASTLE * O2 Academy 2
Mon 22 ABERDEEN * Tunnels
Tue 23 GLASGOW * King Tuts
Fri 26 MANCHESTER Dot to Dot Festival
Mon 29 SOUTHAMPTON * Joiners
Tue 30 MILTON KEYNES * Craufurd Arms
JUNE
Mon 12 CARDIFF * Clwb Ifor Bach
Wed 14 MANCHESTER * Deaf Institute
Thu 15 LONDON * Camden Assembly
Fri 16 BRIGHTON * Patterns
Sat 17 BOURNEMOUTH * The Winchester
JULY
Sun 02 GLOUCESTER Barn On the Farm Festival
Sat 08 ESKDALE Eskfest
AUGUST
Sat 05 TWYCROSS 110 Above Festival
Mon 28 KETTERING Greenbelt Festival
SEPTEMBER
Sat 09 REDCAR Redcar Rocks Festival
* With NATIVES
All long-term friends from school and the Leeds music scene, MARSICANS’ line-up started sampling old synths, distorting guitars and writing songs together in 2014. From an early incarnation of raw 18 year olds opening for the then up-and-coming Catfish & The Bottlemen at a small venue in Wakefield, in the past year MARSICANS have also played shows throughout Europe alongside a Glastonbury performance that was showcased on the BBC’s Best of Sunday highlights.
“This four piece have vocals that are as strong as The Beach Boys and songs that slip and slide at a ferocious pace with the occasional anthemic chorus thrown in …” LOUDER THAN WAR
“When Marsicans arrived on stage they truly took the roof off the place with a genuine high-quality performance …” NE VOLUME MAGAZINE
MARSICANS are:
* JAMES NEWBIGGING | lead vocals and guitar
* OLIVER JAMESON | guitar and vocals
* ROB BRANDER | bass, keyboards and lead vocals
* MATTHEW ‘CALE’ MCHALE | drums and vocals
WEBSITE marsicans.com
FACEBOOK facebook.com/marsicans
TWITTER twitter.com/marsicans
YOUTUBE youtube.com/marsicans
INSTAGRAM instagram.com/marsicans
SPOTIFY hyperurl.co/marsicansspotify
SOUNDCLOUD soundcloud.com/marsicans
STORE marsicans.bandcamp.com
TOUR DATES marsicans.co.uk/tour
