Shed Seven: 23 dates in November and December, including Sheffield, Halifax, Hull and Leeds. Picture: Barnaby Fairley
YORK chart toppers Shed Seven will conclude their 30th anniversary celebrations with a 23-date tour – their biggest ever – in November and December.
Yorkshire gigs on their now traditional biennial “Shedcember” itinerary will kick off with the tour-opening Sheffield Octagon on November 14, followed by Victoria Theatre, Halifax, November 18, Hull City Hall, November 19, and Leeds O2 Academy, November 30.
The tour’s closing night will take the Sheds to Brixton O2 Academy, London, on December 14. Keeping it Yorkshire, the support band at all shows will be The Sherlocks, Kiaran & Brandon Crook’s indie band from Bolton upon Dearne, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
Tickets for the 30th Anniversary Tour will go on general sale on Friday (22/3/2024) at gigst.rs/SS24. Fans who sign up to the Shed Seven mailing list at shedseven.com/signup by 12 noon tomorrow (19/3/2024) can access an exclusive presale on Wednesday.
“The tour promises to be our biggest yet, as we revisit cities and towns that have been instrumental in shaping our journey over the past three decades,” says the Sheds’ website. “Each night will see the band deliver a career-spanning set, as well as featuring tracks from our number one album, A Matter Of Time.”
The poster for Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary tour
“Expect some surprise guest appearances along the way too,” they tease. “This tour will be our way of saying thank-you to our incredible fans, both old and new,” says frontman Rick Witter. “So, whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or are just discovering/re-discovering our music, we would love you to join us for what will be an unforgettable celebration of 30 years of Shed Seven.”
The Sheds now line up with stalwarts Witter on vocals, Paul Banks on guitar and Tom Gladwin on bass, joined by 2022 recruits Tim Wills on keyboards and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, once a member of Banks’s band The Rising, on drums.
The Sheds’ 30th anniversary celebrations kicked off with the maximum bang when sixth studio album A Matter Of Time topped the official UK album charts in January, a feat matched by latest single Let’s Go Dancing in the vinyl, seven-inch, and Scottish singles charts.
Should you be wondering why York is absent from this winter’s tour, the Sheds will be playing two sold-out home-city gigs in the York Museum Gardens on July 19 as part of Futuresound’s four-night outdoor festival, bookended by Anglo-Italian singer-songwriter Jack Savoretti on July 18 and hit-laden London girl band Sugababes on July 21.
Feel the heat: Shed Seven could be hot news this week in the album chart
YORK band Shed Seven are on the cusp of hitting the maximum high after 30 years of chasing rainbows. New album A Matter Of Time is standing proud at number one in the midweek chart.
Their sixth studio album and first for their new home of Cooking Vinyl is on course to see the Britpop alumni become the first York group to top the UK album chart, giving them the perfect start to their 30th anniversary celebrations. Come Friday afternoon, all will be revealed.
Earlier today, the Sheds posted on Facebook: “We’re over the moon to confirm that A Matter Of Time is #1 in the midweek album chart!! Thank you all SO MUCH for buying the album and getting us to this amazing position.
“It’s not a done deal yet as we’re against the usual major label artists, so now more than ever, if you can buy a copy or download the album, it makes a huge difference to our chart position. Unfortunately streaming doesn’t make a big difference. https://shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOT”
“We’d also be the first ever artist from YORK to get a #1 album, so let’s bring it home!!!!” they added.
That claim is not strictly true, however: All of 60 years ago, York-born composer John Barry wrote the score for the James Bond film Goldfinger, whose soundtrack album topped both the British and American charts, knocking The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night off its perch in July 1964.
The promotional campaign has caught fire from the pre-sale start last autumn. All test pressings? Sold out. Limited-edition Blood Records vinyl edition? Sold out. Live edition of the album? Sold out.
Album release shows at Pryzm, Kingston upon Thames, on January 25, HMV Empire, Coventry, on January 26 and Project House, Armley Road, Leeds, on January 27 – the only times the Sheds will play A Matter Of Time in its entirety, coupled with a greatest hits set – all sold out too.
Timed to coincide with the album’s release last Friday, a ten-day record store tour began with meet & greet and signing appearances at HMV York, in Coney Street, and earlier that day at The Vinyl Whistle, in Headingley, Leeds, where the Sheds performed in stripped-back mode.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks, left, Tim Wills, Rick Witter, Tom Gladwin and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield in York Museum Gardens, where they will play two sold-out 30th anniversary shows this summer
The tour takes vocalist Rick Witter, guitarist Paul Banks, bassist Tom Gladwin and 2022 recruits Tim Wills, keyboards, and Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, drums, to London, Southampton, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and back to London.
At the weekend, Witter and Gladwin joined hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer in Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch studio, “chatting and cooking on gas”, followed later by a full band performance at the end of the show. “It will be the talk of the town!” they promised beforehand, in a reference to one of the album tracks.
Time matters, but it is not too late to support Shed Seven’s quest for the number one spot. A Matter Of Time is available to buy at shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOTPR, with a range of album bundles and a new Going For Gold coloured vinyl LP format, exclusive to Banquet Records and limited to 300 copies.
Standing on the edge of achieving a new peak, the Sheds have returned to their roots with a deluxe digital download format that combines A Matter Of Time with Changed Giver, a stripped-back unplugged re-make of their 1994 debut album, Change Giver, recorded at Reel Studios in Elvington.
While Shed Seven have been a mainstay on the album charts over the past 30 years, their highest-charting record to date is 1999’s Going For Gold. That greatest hits collection peaked at number seven although 1996’s A Maximum High, 1998’s Let It Ride and 2017’s Instant Pleasures all made the Top Ten.
This summer, the Sheds will mark their 30th anniversary by playing two homecoming shows in York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20 that sold out rapidly. Their special guest will be Peter Doherty, who contributes harmonies to the new album’s closing song, Throwaways.
Sheds’ vocalist Rick Witter enthuses: “Can you believe that after 30 years in the business, this album will be our highest-charting entry? We are also within reach of potentially getting our first number one album – we’d be the first band from York to reach the top! Thank you for all the support over the years and for A Matter Of Time. It’s genuinely appreciated. We have lots more planned throughout the year.”
Confirmed already is Shed Seven’s appearance at Blossoms’ Big Bank Holiday Weekend at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, on August 25.
Expect more anniversary celebrations to be announced soon.
Shed Seven at last Friday’s meet & greet and signing session upstairs at HMV York
Shed Seven band members Paul Banks, left, Tim Wills, Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, Rick Witter and Tom Gladwin at today’s meet & greet and signing session upstairs at HMV York
LET’S go. Shed Seven launched their 30th anniversary celebrations today with the release of sixth studio album A Matter Of Time, an accompanying video for opening track Let’s Go and an hour-long late-afternoon meet & greet, photo opportunity and signing session at HMV York.
Earlier in the day, the York band played in stripped-back mode at The Vinyl Whistle, in Headingley, Leeds, signing copies there too.
Released on their new home of Cooking Vinyl, A Matter Of Time has achieved a “phenomenal” amount of pre-orders, resulting in all copies of the live edition, Blood Records vinyl and all test pressings selling out months in advance.
The Sheds are marking the album’s release with a ten-date record store tour as A Matter Of Time looks set to become their highest-charting album ever: a record held by their 1999 compilation, Going For Gold: Greatest Hits, which peaked at number seven.
The campaign to take the Sheds to a maximum chart high has been bolstered by today’s announcement of a new Digital Deluxe edition of the new album that adds a re-recorded version of their September 1994 debut album, Change Giver, now retitled Changed Giver, available at store.shedseven.com.
“Let’s Go is the Sheds’ inner rock animal rearing its head and showing its teeth,” says Rick Witter
“2024 marks the 30th anniversary of our debut album,” says the Sheds’ website. “’To mark the occasion, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane and revisited the entire album in recording sessions at Reel Studios in Elvington, giving it a stripped-back, unplugged vibe that we think sounds amazing.
“We’ve poured our hearts into re-recording these songs, rediscovering the magic of the songs that started it all. It’s been a fantastic journey, and we’ve fallen in love with them all over again.”
Physical formatsof A Matter Of Time can bought at shedsevenn.lnk.to/AMOTPR, available as signed copies, vinyl and cassette editions in various colours, a regular CD and a deluxe edition with three extra tracks, Watch Out World, Feels Like Heaven and Starlings (demo).
The video for the raucous, punk-tinged rock’n’roller Let’s Go captures incendiary footage from July 15’s sold-out 6000-capacity headline show at Leeds Millennium Square last summer.
Hot news: The cover artwork for Shed Seven’s new album, A Matter Of Time, out today
Frontman Rick Witter, 51, says: “Let’s Go was always intended to be the grand opener to the album. It shows a statement of intent. It’s the Sheds’ inner rock animal rearing its head and showing its teeth. It’s an invite for us all to hold hands and travel the globe. It’s tight, frenetic and a potential punch in the gut. Let’s go!”
A Matter Of Time features Sheds stalwarts Witter on vocals, Paul Banks on guitar and Tom Gladwin on bass, joined by 2022 recruits Rob ‘Maxi’ Maxfield, from Audioweb, on drums and Tim Wills, from Ian Brown’s band, on keys.
The recording sessions in Spain reunited the Sheds with Youth, the Grammy Award-winning producer of their 2017 comeback album Instant Pleasures, and mixing was by Cenzo Townshend, whose credits include Florence + The Machine and Inhaler.
The singles In Ecstasy (featuring Happy Mondays’ Rowetta), Starlings, F:K:H and Talk Of The Town were introduced to a rapturous reception on last autumn’s headline tour. Further tracks include the sky-scraping melancholia of Let’s Go Dancing, the dreamy folk-rock of Tripping On You, complete with backing vocals from Reverend & The Makers’ Laura McClure and the buoyant, vintage Britpop vibes of Ring The Changes.
The curtain comes down with a special collaboration with long-term Shed Seven fan Peter Doherty, who contributes vocal harmonies to Throwaways.
The artwork for Changed Giver, Shed Seven’s re-recording of 1994 debut album Change Giver, available to download with the digital edition of A Matter Of Time
This month’s Stripped Back, Signing and Meet & Greet record store tour will take the Sheds to London, Southampton, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and back to London.
They will end the month with a series of sold-out album release shows at Pryzm, Kingston upon Thames, on January 25; HMV Empire, Coventry, on January 26 and Project House, Armley Road, Leeds, on January 27 at 7pm, promoted by Leeds record store Crash Records. Each night, the Sheds will play A Matter Of Time in its entirety – for the only time, exclusive to these gigs – plus a greatest hits set.
This summer’s special 30th anniversary concerts at York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20 have sold out too. Peter Doherty will be the guest act on both nights. “We discussed adding a third night but thought selling out two so quickly was a good look – and we’re going to announce a big Shedcember tour sometime soon,” says Rick. “We’re conscious of overkill, even though I’m sure a third night would have gone pretty quick.”
Look out too for Shed Seven’s appearance at Blossoms’ Big Bank Holiday Weekend at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, on August 25. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk/blossoms-tickets.
Expect further 30th anniversary plans to be announced in the near future. Watch this space.
“We’re going to announce a big Shedcember tour sometime soon,” says Shed Seven’s Rick Witter. Picture: Barnaby Fairley
