The Nightingales
Manchester Gullivers
Support from The Things + BLACKLUNG
The Nightingales were formed by former members of The Prefects following that band's demise in 1979.
Championed by John Peel, who said - "Their performances will serve to confirm their excellence when we are far enough distanced from the 1980's to look at the period rationally and other, infinitely better known, bands stand revealed as charlatans".
They recorded a bunch of critically acclaimed singles (Almost always 'Single Of The Week' in the music press) and three albums, plus many radio sessions for their great supporter Peel. They regularly toured the UK and Northern Europe, as headliners and supporting acts as diverse as Bo Diddley and Nico.
The current line up features Robert Lloyd, Andreas Schmid from Faust on bass, ex Violet Violet drummer Fliss Kitson and James Smith on guitar.
Since restarting, in 2004, the group have been more productive than ever – releasing five 7″ singles, a 10″ EP and six studio albums (Plus two live albums), touring England, mainland Europe and USA numerous times and recording many radio sessions along the way. They have been invited to play various festivals in Europe and the States, including Glastonbury and SXSW. Their "Let's Think About Living" 45 was 'Single Of The Week' on BBC 6 Music and they have continued to receive regular rave reviews for their records and live shows.
The group's most recent trio of albums – "No Love Lost" (Cooking Vinyl 2012), "For Fuck's Sake" (no label 2014) and "Mind Over Matter" (Louder Than War 2015) were all produced by bassist Schmid at Faust Studio in Germany, where he is the house engineer.
"No Love Lost" was described by Mojo as "Brilliant. One of the fiercest and most exhilarating rock records in ages" and the record features guests, Hans-Joachim Irmler, founder of krautrock legends Faust, on keyboards and, semi regular collaborator, U.S avant-garde composer, Katherine Young on bassoon.
Their next album "For Fuck's Sake" was a self released, limited edition vinyl only LP available on no label, with no barcode, with no distribution and only at the bands gigs. The record quickly sold out.
In 2015 following the release of "Mind Over Matter" the group played an extensive tour of UK and Ireland prior to a bunch of dates on the U.S West Coast and a tour of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary.
The Nightingales will be releasing two new 7″ singles in the early part of 2016 – One of which will feature a special guest collaborator.
There will be a new album recorded for late '16/early '17 release.
https://www.facebook.com/thenightingalesuk/
http://thenightingales.org.uk/