FRIENDLY Fires come to Southampton Guildhall tonight.
The gig was rescheduled from November which has meant that although it was originally sold out there have been some returned tickets so it’s not too late to get yours.
It has been three years since the band, who fuse alternative, funk and disco sounds, released their self-titled debut album. For an album entirely recorded in a garage, it had a big impact, selling more than 200,000 copies and picking up a fistful of Brit Award and Mercury nominations along the way.
The band’s appeal spanned everyone from indie kids through clubbers to the highest strata of the fashion world – the band were handpicked by Gucci to soundtrack a worldwide campaign.
They have watched their global audience grow hugely as their live shows become ever more spectacular. Two sold out dates at London’s 2,500 capacity Kentish Town Forum found the band transforming the venue into a Brazilian carnival.
In 2009 they began to piece together the ideas and themes that would become their new record, Pala. They began in a basement studio in Shoreditch called, with admirable candour, The Basement, but London’s ever-present distractions kept them from really focusing, so they moved operations back to their original home, lead singer Ed’s parent’s garage in St Alban’s.
The album came out earlier this year, when they also announced that they would be embarking on their biggest UK tour to date – which brings them to Southampton tonight.
The band have now been playing together for half their lives, so weren’t worried about another long stint on the road together.
Tonight’s support comes from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Chad Valley.
l Tickets: £16. Box office: 023 8063 2601.
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