New year, new music, new tour, new van!
With Santa and his reindeers safely back in Lapland, this years surviving turkeys breathing a sigh of relief… not only that they’ll see another few months before the Bernard Matthews gang get their hands on ’em, but also that if they traipse north of Watford Gap they’ll be able to catch some Hope and Social gigs on their “Yorkshire Electric” tour this January. So strap on your girdle, dust off your hobbling shoes and get yersleves down…
New Tour Dates
Jan 17th – Fibbers, York – Tickets : Facebook EP LAUNCH with The Grand Old Uke Of York
Jan 18th – The Greystones, Sheffield – Tickets : Facebook
Jan 19th – The Tin, Coventry – Tickets : Facebook with The Upsiders
Jan 20th – Thorner Victory Hall, Leeds(ish) – Tickets : Facebook with Boss Caine
Jan 21st – Square Chapel, Halifax – Tickets : Facebook
Jan 24th – The Big Burns Supper, Dumfries – Tickets : Facebook
Jan 25th – Stramash, Edinburgh – FREE SHOW!: Facebook with The Micro Band
Jan 26th – The Grand, Clitheroe – Tickets : Facebook
Jan 27th – RAOS Hall, Ripon – Tickets SOLD OUT! : Facebook
Jan 28th – East Riding Theatre, Beverley – Tickets : Facebook
And if you’re a kind sharing type who feels like doing something good for their friends, then why not splurge post our live promo video all over the interwebz, and buy ’em a ticket.
(or if you prefer setting your profile pic to our tour poster, well that’s here.)
In November and December, we started working on a new bunch of material, for a project which… well, that’s a long story for another time. To cut to the chase though, we’re got four, five, maybe six new pieces which we’re currently (we’re in the studio this very moment!) hammering into our new EP, “Yorkshire Electric“. We’ll be releasing it for the start of the tour, and if the rough versions we’ve got so far ripen like a juicy plum it’ll be a beautiful thing. We’re also going to be bringing some of the new music on tour… so be the first to hear it!
The Hope and Social Christmas Feast was, by almost all accounts, a resounding success. The Real Junk Food Project totally rocked an amazing meal for 400 people, all from food that would otherwise have ended up in bins and skips. Jon’s dad played beautifully, people sang Christmas songs with us for Uley-uke-aoke, and Bono’s standout performance in Do They Know It’s Christmas totally rocked. There was also some music by us, but don’t let that put you off. Fortunately our amazing friend at Sodium Films were there to capture it all.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. With some sadness, we say goodbye to our trusty red steed. With mileage that’d now have it slingshotting back to earth having rounded the dark side of the moon, it’s time for us to part ways.
We’ve seen some great times us and that red van. It was our van for The Tour Of Infinite Possibility, for a load of Bring The Happy dates, for countless tours. We picked up our Hammond organ in that van, and popped the door open at bus-stops for Ed to play it full blast at bewildered commuters. It was the tiniest van nestled amongst the biggest of trucks when we took it to Leeds Arena for The Grand Depart. Most of us have at one time or another slept in it.
But y’know, brakes, a chassis and a radio are important sooooooo YAY! New van!
In tribute to our sadly departed (left the band… not dead) bassist Simon Goff, we’ve named the new improved van after him. So everyone, please welcome… Van Goff!
I thank yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
PS FOR SALE: Red Mercedes Sprinter, LWB. 9 seater splitter/crew van. One careful owner (before we bought it). Reasonable condition (for the mileage), recently serviced*, vibey patina to the coachwork. Would make an excellent gift and/or plant pot.
* not serviced yet, but we will.
PPS Srsly, we are selling the old van. It does needs a few bits doing to it, which we’ll happily undertake… or if you’re handy with vehicles, maybe you want to take that on. She’ll probably run for another hundred thousand – our garage says they have one of these that’s done over 1,000,000 miles. You can probably even get the X-Box that’s in it working again by replacing/re-seating one ribbon cable. Have a think about it, and make us an offer.
PPPS See you on tour!