North Wales band the Joy Formidable will be logging many miles travelled as they trek across the UK in March and April on tour. Note that four dates in Scotland originally slated for the start of the tour have been rescheduled for early April. Catch the band on the dates below.

Their new single ‘Popinjay’ is now available as a digital download, with a limited run of 500 7″ vinyl singles planned for 5 April.

Sunday 14th March 2010 – Manchester, Ruby Lounge
Monday 15th March 2010 – Liverpool, Korova
Tuesday 16th March 2010 – Nottingham, Bodega
Wednesday 17th March 2010 – Leeds, Cockpit
Friday 19th March 2010 – Cambridge, Portland
Saturday 20th March 2010 – Birmingham, O2 Academy 2
Sunday 21st March 2010 – Oxford, O2 Academy 2
Monday 22nd March 2010 – Brighton, Audio
Wednesday 24th March 2010 – London, Electric Ballroom
Thursday 25th March 2010 – Southampton, Joiners
Friday 26th March 2010 – Bristol, Start the Bus
Saturday 27th March 2010 – Cardiff, Barfly
Monday 29th March 2010 – Northampton, Roadmenders
Tuesday 30th March 2010 – Sheffield, O2 Academy 2
Wednesday 31st March 2010 – Newcastle, O2 Academy 2
Thursday 1st April 2010 – Wrexham, Central Station
Saturday 3rd April 2010 – Glasgow, King Tuts
Sunday 4th April 2010 – Inverness, Madhatters
Monday 5th April 2010 – Aberdeen, Snafu
Tuesday 6th April 2010 - Dundee, Fat Sams

MP3: The Joy Formidable – The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade
MP3: The Joy Formidable – Cradle
MP3: The Joy Formidable – Austere
MP3: The Joy Formidable – While the Flies

The wonderful Joy Formidable are cementing their reputation for being one of the hardest working bands by spending just about all of March going around the UK.

Tickets are on sale now for all dates, priced at £7 except for London which is £9 a ticket.

Tuesday 9th March 2010 – Glasgow, King Tuts
Wednesday 10th March 2010 – Aberdeen, Snafu
Thursday 11th March 2010 – Inverness, Madhatters
Friday 12th March 2010 – Dundee, Fat Sams
Sunday 14th March 2010 – Manchester, Ruby Lounge
Monday 15th March 2010 – Liverpool, Korova
Tuesday 16th March 2010 – Nottingham, Bodega
Wednesday 17th March 2010 – Leeds, Cockpit
Friday 19th March 2010 – Cambridge, Portland
Saturday 20th March 2010 – Birmingham, O2 Academy 2
Sunday 21st March 2010 – Oxford, O2 Academy 2
Monday 22nd March 2010 – Brighton, Audio
Wednesday 24th March 2010 – London, Electric Ballroom
Thursday 25th March 2010 – Southampton, Joiners
Friday 26th March 2010 – Bristol, Start the Bus
Saturday 27th March 2010 – Cardiff, Barfly
Monday 29th March 2010 – Northampton, Roadmenders
Tuesday 30th March 2010 – Sheffield, O2 Academy 2
Wednesday 31st March 2010 – Newcastle, O2 Academy 2
Thursday 1st April 2010 – Wrexham, Central Station

MP3: The Joy Formidable – The greatest light is the greatest shade
MP3: The Joy Formidable – Cradle
MP3: The Joy Formidable – Austere
MP3: The Joy Formidable – While the Flies

Going to a gig in a new city is always fun – different crowds, different venue policies. In a different country is even more fun.

Tonight I went to see José González at Aladdin’s theatre, Portland, a former burlesque theatre in a shady part of town. Full of character, the venue was one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of visiting in recent years. Clean, tidy, simple and yet still having that air of mystery that all former theatres of ill repute have, it has great acoustics and friendly staff.

Soon after taking my seat, Tiny Vipers came on. The Seattle rising star slowly worked her way through a reasonable back catalogue, sounding like a poor man’s Trespasser’s William. Backed up by an electric guitar, Jesy Fortino’s strumming becomes easy to get lost in. Many people have tipped her for big things, but whilst she was very good and skilled, I personally found the lack of other instrumentation rather boring.

A short break before the houselights goes down again and José ambles on stage. Warming up, he worked his way through some of the stuff from his new second album, In Our Nature. Slowly building the crowd up, the quiet Swede got a tad flustered when a guy yelled out “I love you José!” to which José replies “I love you too… actually, not really, I’m not into that sort of thing!”. Banter was distinctly thin on the ground, but to be honest this was to be expected: José is the sort of guy who lets his music do the work, his mesmerizingly beautiful songs.

Slowly things build, and before we know it we’re at the closing three numbers: The infamous “Heartbeats” – the song that perhaps launched him to the big time, thanks to the Sony Bravia advert featuring the thousands of bouncy balls hurtling through San Francisco. “Crosses” followed, sounding even better live than on record, before finishing off with a duo of stunningly beautiful covers, of Kylie’s “Hand On Your Heart” and Massive Attack’s “Teardrop”. Both of these were every bit as good as the original, though remarkably different.

Coming back for an encore, we were treated to another re-working of a modern classic, a formidable cover of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” that would have had Ian Curtis jumping for joy no doubt at the simplicity yet inherent quality of it.

And with that José quietly leaves the stage, ready to continue his way around the US before jetting over to the UK on 17th October for a full UK Tour. Make sure you catch him – it’s sure to be a good evening.

Photos are after the jump. Enjoy. Sorry they’re a bit rubbish – e weren’t supposed to take pictures so I didn’t experiment much.
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