Latest News: Wed 26th May

 

Wed 26th May ASH ANNOUNCE DERBY SHOW

Ash will play The Venue, Derby on Wednesday 14th July 2010. Tickets now on sale.

Ash are a Northern Irish alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick. The band has sold 8 million albums worldwide. Ash officially formed in 1992, reportedly having taken their name from the first word they liked in the dictionary. In 1994 the band released their first single instantly getting interest from Radio 1 and a few months later the band signed to Infectious Records. The band’s first Infectious singles, Petrol and Uncle Pat top the UK indie charts. After leaving school in June 1995 and embarking on a sold out riot around the UK, Girl From Mars crashes into the UK Top 20, and establishes Wheeler as a writer of truly great pop tunes. The band sign to Warner Records in the US and NASA uses Girl From Mars as hold music on their phone systems! Their first raucous appearance at Reading Festival is so dangerously over-packed and out of control, security stops the show twice!

In 1996 the band release debut album 1977. The album shoots straight to the top of the UK charts and their nihilistic teenage rampage becomes a press sensation as covers on Smash Hits, NME, Select and Kerrang hit the shelves. The summer of ‘96 belongs to Ash. They scalp 2 UK Top 5 hits with, Goldfinger and Oh Yeah, and sell out 5 consecutive nights at the London Astoria. The festival season crescendos at Reading, with over 60,000 heat-scorched bodies singing along to, Oh Yeah, the anthem of the summer. In 1997 having already headlined The Other Stage on the Friday night at Glastonbury, Michael Eavis offers them chance to make history… Ash close the Pyramid stage on Sunday evening to become the first act to headline the mega festival twice in one year. With the addition of guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, poached from London outfit Nightnurse, the three become four. In 1998 Nu-Clear Sounds charts at No. 7, and yields the hit single, Jesus Says and gains gold status in the UK.

Ash came back in 2001 as Shining Light smashes its way into the UK Top 10. The rifftastic Burn Baby Burn, with a scorching hot cheerleader video, puts the rock back in the singles chart at Lucky 13. The new album Free All Angels is released in May beating Janet Jackson to the coveted Number One spot. The band headline Reading, and a world tour takes Ash up to Christmas. Free All Angels spawns two more hit singles, Sometimes and Candy. Q magazine crowns their return to form with the Single Of The Year Award for Burn Baby Burn. There’s A Star gives the band their 5th UK Top 20 hit from Free All Angels. Burn Baby Burn is voted Best Single by the readers of the NME. At the Irish Hot Press Awards, Free All Angels picks up the gong for Best Irish Album and Shining Light comes away with Best Single. Meanwhile Mr. Wheeler wins Best Contemporary Song for Shining Light at the Ivor Novello Awards. In 2004, Clones, the first single from Meltdown, is release as an Internet-only download with a dark and gritty performance video. Follow-up single Orpheus gets hammered on UK airwaves and hits the singles chart at number 15. It goes on to feature with the title track Meltdown on the soundtrack for cult movie Shaun Of The Dead. Meltdown debuts at No. 5 in the album chart achieving instant gold. In February 2006, after 9 years together, Charlotte Hatherley and Ash mutually agree to part company.

In 2007 the band release free download I Started A Fire as a taster of their new Studio album Twilight Of The Innocents. The album’s first single You Can’t Have It All hits number 16 in the charts, and is followed into the Top 40 by epic ballad Polaris. However, in the age of digital download and diminishing album sales the album fares less well; in June, Tim announces from the stage at the Isle of Wight Festival that Twilight Of The Innocents will be their last album. Instead the band have created the ‘A-Z Series’: 26 singles in one year, a single for each letter of the alphabet, one release every fortnight via the unique subscription service run from the band’s website. They also took off on alphabetical tour of the UK. The A-Z Singles Series will continue through until September 2010.

 

Price: £15.00
Age Limit: 14+
Buy Tickets
Location: The Venue, 47-49 Abbey Street, DE22 3SJ

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