The Pigeon Detectives are joining the ranks of those bands announcing tours today, by announcing a sizeable UK tour for November and December to capitalise on their success this year.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (8th August) at 9am.

Monday 24th November - Grimsby Auditorium
Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th November - Wolverhamption Civic Hall
Thursday 27th November - Newcastle Carling Academy
Friday 28th November - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Sunday 30th November and Monday 1st December - Glasgow Barrowlands
Tuesday 2nd December - Nottingham Rock City
Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th December - Manchester Academy
Saturday 6th December - London Alexandra Palace
Sunday 7th December - Reading Rivermead
Monday 8th December - Swindon Oasis
Tuesday 9th December - Bournemouth Solent Hall
Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th December - Leeds Carling Academy

The Pigeon Detectives, Fratellis, Zutons and CSS have all been announced to be headlining their own three night UK and Ireland tours for MTV as part of their “Brand Spanking New” tours. Some of the best names and up and coming names in the music biz will be making their way around the country, playing venues smaller than they normally do. So be sure to get your tickets when they go on sale on Friday (7th March) at 9am.

The Pigeon Detectives / The Metros / The Rascals
Monday 28th April - Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 29th April - London Islington Academy
Wednesday 30th April - Liverpool Academy

The Fratellis / The Ting Tings / Alphabeat
Sunday 27th April - Cambridge Junction
Monday 28th April - London Islington Academy
Tuesday 29th April - Liverpool Carling Academy

The Zutons / One Night Only / The Script
Sunday 4th May - Cardiff University
Monday 5th May - Glasgow ABC
Tuesday 6th May - Dublin Academy

CSS / The Futureheads / MGMT
Monday 5th May - Cardiff University
Tuesday 6th May - Glasgow ABC
Wednesday 7th May - Dublin Academy

Clearly fans of the bigger tour, Pigeon Detectives have announced a new UK tour for next May and June around the UK, starting off with two massive nights at Leeds’ Millenium Square for a homecoming of sorts.

Tickets go on sale on Thursday (6th December) at 9am, with the exception of the two Leeds dates which have already sold out. Sorry.

Saturday 3rd + Sunday 4th May - Leeds, Millennium Square
Saturday 17th May - Glasgow, Academy
Sunday 18th May - Newcastle, Academy
Monday 19th May - Lincoln, Engine Shed
Wednesday 21st May - Sheffield, Academy
Thursday 22nd May - Manchester, Apollo
Saturday 24th May - Cambridge, Corn Exchange
Monday 26th May - Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
Tuesday 27th May - Portsmouth, Guildhall
Wednesday 28th May - Bristol, Academy
Thursday 29th May - Plymouth, Pavilion
Saturday 31st May - Bridlington, Spa
Monday 2nd June - Birmingham, Academy
Tuesday 3rd June - Brighton, Dome
Thursday 5th June - Newport, Centre
Friday 6th June - London, Brixton Academy

Looking for the 2008 Mencap Gigs? Click here. This page is about 2007’s Mencap Gigs!

Updates: I’ve just added the 20th November gig and the 26th November gigs, thanks to a comment from Kathryn below. This was originally posted on 4th October.

The brilliant Mencap have announced this year’s “Little Noise Sessions”, a series of intimate, acoustic gigs, which will take place from Tuesday 20th November to Wednesday 28 November 2007, at Islington’s Union Chapel in London. They’ll be hosted by Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley.

To get tickets you’ll have to register here to get tickets when they go on sale. Ticket registration opens on Tuesday 2 October and closes at 12.00 Friday 19 October. Those who have registered can then buy tickets online on a first-come-first-served basis from 9am on Monday 22 October. Tickets are £35 each.

The gigs will raise money for Mencap’s Arts Awards scheme which enables children and young people with a learning disability to take part in local arts projects.

Tuesday 20th November - Secret Headliner, Jack Penate, Laura Marling, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong
Wednesday 21st November - Athlete and The Hoosiers
Thursday 22nd November - Will Young, Newton Faulkner and Adele
Friday 23rd November - Biffy Clyro, We Are Scientists and Young Knives
Saturday 24th November - The Pigeon Detectives and The Metros
Sunday 25th November - Snow Patrol and Cajun Dance Party
Monday 26th November - Kate Nash, Robyn, The Ting Tings
Tuesday 27th November - The Enemy + Special Guests
Wednesday 28th November - Keane, Rilo Kiley + Scouting For Girls

Current indie darlings The Pigeon Detectives and GoodBooks are set to play a special show during London Fashion Week.

The bands will appear with Malvern singer/songwriter Sam Isaac at Gibson Guitar Studio on Tuesday 18th September as part of ‘The Big British Sound’ series of events.

To be able to go you’ll need to enter a prize draw on the Ben Sherman website.

If you don’t win tickets it’ll be shown on MTV Two on Saturday 13th October at 9pm as part of their ‘Best of British’ night.

Those lovely people at iTunes have set up their own “festival” in the centre of London to take place at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) throughout July, with a raft of the best in current bands playing each night.

iTunes will be recording each of the shows and are planning to make songs from the shows available via their music shop. The ICA holds about 350 people, making the shows exceptionally intimate.

The bands include, in date order:

Mika supported by Leon Jean-Marie (1)
Crowded House supported by Justin Nozuka (2)
Travis supported by The Hoosiers (3)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club supported by Nine Black Alps (4)
Groove Armada supported by Mutya Buena and Beardyman (7)
Ash supported by Ben’s Brother (8)
The View (9)
Imogen Heap supported by James Wolff (10)
Editors supported by GoodBooks (11)
Scott Matthews (12)
Athlete supported by Tiny Dancers (13)
Paolo Nutini (14)
Gianna Nannini (15)
Ludovico Einaudi supported by Dhafer Youssef (16)
The Bad Plus supported by Rebekka Bakken (17)
The Pigeon Detectives supported by The Rakes (18)
Beverley Knight supported by Raul Midón (19)
Stereophonics supported by Little Man Tate (20)
Jamie Scott & The Town (21)
Wir Sind Helden (23)
Amy Winehouse supported by The Rumble Strips and Remi Nicole (25)
Just Jack supported by Mr Hudson & The Library (26)
Jack Penate (27)
The Maccabees supported by Goldspot (28)
Duke Special supported by Tom McRae (29)
The Coral supported by Candie Payne (30)

Tickets will be given away free via radio, TV stations and band and fan websites. The specific details of which will be announced soon. Some tickets are already available from the itunes festival website.

Photo taken from Mteson’s flickr stream.

One of this years hottest new bands, Pigeon Detectives have announced a new tour that, quite frankly, would make most bands wet their pants. Tickets are on sale at various points from Thursday (7th June) at midnight up to Friday (8th June) at midday. Be sure to get tickets now, because come closer to the time they’ll be going for large amounts on eBay.

They’ll be playing:

OCTOBER
15 Aberdeen Lemon Tree
16 Inverness Raigmore
18 Dundee Fat Sams
19 Fort William BA Club
20 Ullapool Village Hall
21 Glasgow Arches
24 Durham Studio
25 Newcastle University
26 Scarborough Vivaz
28 Manchester Academy
29 Blackpool Empress Ballroom
30 Hull University
31 Liverpool Carling Academy

NOVEMBER
2 Skegness Embassy
3 Sheffield Union
4 Peterborough Cressett
5 Norwich Waterfront
6 Nottingham Rock City
8 Wrexham Central Station
9 Bangor University
10 Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
11 Keele University
13 Swansea University
14 Bristol Anson Rooms
15 Exeter Lemon Grove
16 Portsmouth Pyramids
17 Bournemouth Fire Station
19 Reading Hexagon
20 Oxford Zodiac
22 London Forum

…phew!