JAMES will be the Saturday night headliners at July’s Deer Shed Festival at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, near Thirsk.
The Manchester band, led by Boston Spa singer Tim Booth, will top the July 25 bill, following in the footsteps of Johnny Marr, Goldfrapp, John Grant and Richard Hawley.
Deer Shed Festival’s delighted director, Oliver Jones, says: “There’s no doubt James are one of the biggest bands we’ve ever booked for Deer Shed.
“Their back catalogue is astonishing, with track after track of excellent guitar anthems, and their most recent album [August 2018’s Living In Extraordinary Times] confirmed that they’re still at the absolute top of their game. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a band that can pack out Leeds First Direct Arena before.
“Curating a line-up of artists that we personally love every year is always a source of much pride for our team, and James now sit on top of what we think is both the best and most star-studded music bill we’ve ever put together.”
Formed in 1982, James have charted with such singles as Sit Down, Destiny Calling, Laid, Sound, Born Of Frustration, Sometimes, Come Home, Tomorrow, She’s A Star, Just Like Fred Astaire and Getting Away With It (All Messed Up), as well as releasing 15 studio albums.
James, who headlined Scarborough Open Air Theatre in 2015 and 2018, join Stereolab, on July 24, and Baxter Dury, on July 26, to complete Deer Shed 11’s trio of main-stage headliners.
Meanwhile, the family-friendly festival’s latest additions, announced today, are The Soft Cavalry, the new project from Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell and her husband, Steve Clarke, on the Lodge Stage on July 25, before DIY supergroup Shopping take up the late-night party slot on the same stage.
French-Caribbean act Dowdelin, indie-rock band Marthagunn and Hullensian post-punk outfit Low Hummer all join Deer Shed’s In The Dock stage bill. Elsewhere, David Thomas Broughton and Andrew Cushin strengthen the festival’s north eastern contingent, alongside Marsicans, Life and Ruthie.
Manchester club night DJs Across The Tracks and Leeds DJ and production duo Baba&Ganoush join Happy Mondays’ Bez on the late-night silent disco line-up.
Deer Shed’s tenth anniversary event last summer sold out with record audience numbers. Tickets for Deer Shed 11 are on sale at deershedfestival.com, where further festival information can be found too.
Deer Shed Festival 11’s confirmed acts:
James; Stereolab; Baxter Dury; Ghostpoet; Cate Le Bon; Kate Tempest (Telling Poems); Tim Burgess; The Twilight Sad; Warmduscher; Boy Azooga; Sinkane; Dream Wife; Roddy Woomble; Jesca Hoop; The Soft Cavalry; Snapped Ankles; Melt Yourself Down.
Liz Lawrence; LIFE; Marsicans; Erland Cooper; Dry Cleaning; Admiral Fallow; W.H. Lung; Ren Harvieu; Shopping; International Teachers of Pop; Avalanche Party; I See Rivers; Kitt Philippa; Rachael Dadd; Native Harrow; Kate Davis; Big Joanie; Do Nothing; Egyptian Blue; Rina Mushonga; Dowdelin; Friedberg; Heidi Talbot & Boo Hewerdine; Ruthie.
Serious Sam Barrett; Eve Owen; Low Hummer; Irish Mythen; Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band; Tom Joshua; Brigid Mae Power; David Thomas Broughton; Conchur White; Gary Stewart; Beccy Owen; Morrissey & Marshall present Dublin Calling; Steo Wall; The Magpies; Padraig Jack; Andrew Cushin; Bez (DJ); Rory Hoy (DJ); Meg Ward (DJ); Across The Tracks (DJ); Baba&Ganoush (DJ).