Multiple broken bones in Sydney, Australia. More than 80 shows in 18 different countries. Playing to 10,000 people at each of Reading and Leeds, opening the Radio 1/NME stage. 2009 has been a busy year, even by Scottish six-piece Dananananaykroyd’s standards and what better way to bid it farewell than their biggest UK tour to date?
HUGTOBER 09 – as it’s been dubbed – takes in twelve venues around the UK and culminates in the band’s hometown of Glasgow. Combining their love of hugs and the spreading of good times via delicious rock music, with the month in which it takes place (”October” as it’s known in English) HUGTOBER 09 promises Dananananaykroyd’s most exciting live set yet; new songs, crowd favourites, more dancing, more hugging and maybe even some other exciting twists. There is also an emphasis on getting under-18s into the shows, so efforts have been made to make sure every date is as age-inclusive as possible.
Joining them on the road will be Dinosaur Pile Up, as well as selected dates with Super Adventure Club, Stage Blood (comprising members of Mogwai) and Calories.
To celebrate the tour, the band are asking fans to design a poster for HUGTOBER. It needs to include the name of the tour, the dates and be as creative and interesting as the entrant wants. The winning entrant will have the pleasure of seeing their poster used by the band before and during the tour, as well as a bag of delightful swag including a signed CD copy of the album ‘Hey Everyone!’, both 7″ singles, a t-shirt and passes to all and every show the winner may want to attend on the HUGTOBER tour.
Entries can be sent to hugtober@googlemail.com and the deadline is 5th October. Dates are below, with ticket links.
OCTOBER
21 Newcastle Cluny (16+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
22 Nottingham Bodega Social (14+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
23 Norwich Arts Centre (14+) – (01603) 660352
24 Cardiff Swn Festival (18+) – http://bit.ly/12V4rB
25 Oxford Academy 2 (14+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
27 London Scala (16+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
28 Brighton Audio (16+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
29 Manchester Academy 3 (all ages) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3I
30 Leeds Brudenell Social Club (14+) – http://bit.ly/1VxWFi
NOVEMBER
1 Glasgow Oran Mor (14+) – http://bit.ly/QXJ3
The similarities to Nirvana-isms can be drawn instantly; a grungy rock trio, the foppish mane of frontman Matt Bigland, chunky riffs, punchy percussion, the list is endless. And with the crunching power chords of opener ‘Summer Hit Song’ and ‘Opposite’s Attact’ Dinosaur Pile-Up are pointing so blatantly towards Cobain‘s ‘In Bloom’, if he was still alive, he may well be one eye down. They hold bar with Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, Foo Fighters and Weezer too. ‘Melanin’ is a hooky, monotone Foo’s number after being sedated for some while in a mental hospital. The grungy ‘Beach Bug’ finishes the EP, that in evaluation is full of raw vigour and passion akin fellow Leeds band and mates Pulled Apart By Horses. And its been a year of evolving for this Leeds-based trio writing these spiky grunge numbers that are now elevating them above the ‘New Band’ status that’s been hanging off their coat tails for sometime now. Their lo-fi 90s Seattle college-rock sound reverberates quite profoundly in a dingy college bar with swilled beer on the walls, the only problem is we’ve just got to get ourselves in to witness their visceral onslaught so much the hype that Dinosaur Pile-Up have circling them right now. It’s maybe not the ‘Most Poweful EP In The Universe’ but it packs quite a punch.
`Dinosaur Pile Up` boast that rare thing: the songs to back up an eccentric name, rather like `Bloc Party`, `Franz Ferdinand` and `Led Zeppelin` before them. Apparently, their moniker was inspired by the scene in Peter Jackson’s King Kong where stampeding dinosaurs tumble down a ravine, in a CGI orgy of scales, teeth and claws. If Jackson ever wanted to update the classic monster flick (again) with a more rockin’ soundtrack, he would do well to hook up with DPU.
