The Pretenders announce 2023 intimate UK club shows
The Pretenders have shared details of a run of intimate club shows around the UK, set to kick off next month. Find ticket details below.
The run of new live dates comes in celebration of the band’s latest album ‘Relentless’ – their 12th studio LP which arrived last Friday (September 15) via Parlophone.
To mark the release, Chrissie Hynde and co. will be hosting performances at three intimate club venues across the UK, starting with an opening show at London’s Electric Ballroom in Camden.
Taking place on October 19, the aforementioned gig will be the first of the three shows held next month, and will be followed by a slot at the O2 Ritz venue in Manchester on Monday, October 23, and a final slot at the Barrowlands venue in Glasgow two days after (October 25).
Tickets will be available in the general sale from this Friday (September 22) and can be found here. Additionally, The Pretenders are also offering early access to the three shows now.
Discussing why the band have opted to play some intimate shows later this year, frontwoman Chrissie Hynde said: “Well, everyone prefers being in them. I certainly would rather go to see a band in the club. So there’s that, because I’m still an audience member.”
“And also it’s just more fun. It’s a small stage. And you can see everyone and they’re right in your face and it’s a laugh, that’s why you’re there,” she added. “If I see some crazy in the audience, I can really feed off of that. You can’t see it when you’re too far away.”
As well as announcing the new run of live shows, The Pretenders have also shared a new visualiser for ‘Losing My Sense Of Taste’ – the opening track to their latest album.
Recalling the inspiration behind the track, Hynde said the song was reflective of her time during the pandemic. “That song was more a take on the whole lockdown experience. It is called ‘Losing My Sense Of Taste’ – which, as a matter of fact, I never lost during the Covid period. But it did kick off the idea for the song… losing my sense of taste, my sense of smell, and sometimes the whole culture just seems tired,” she said. “Not now, of course, because there’s a new Pretenders album out.”
The newly-announced club shows come as a sharp contrast to the number of huge shows The Pretenders have performed at over this year.
Most memorable of which was their slot at The Park Stage at this year’s instalment of Glastonbury back in June. This saw a surprise appearance from Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl – who played drums for a large portion of the set – and from rock icon Sir Paul McCartney, who appeared briefly at the end of the set to wave to the audience.
They also opened for Guns N’ Roses at this year’s BST Hyde Park series, and later joined the band on stage in Boston to perform a rendition of ‘Bad Obsession’.
More recently, the band played in front of 35,000 fans at the BBC Radio 2 In The Park installation this past weekend, and are set to head to California by invitation of Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl to play at Ohana Festival next month.
The post The Pretenders announce 2023 intimate UK club shows appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
