While various hotly-tipped pretenders to the title have come and gone over the past seven or eight years, Courteeners have quietly - with a little help along the way from supporters like Jo Whiley, Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe - been getting on with becoming one of the nation’s biggest rock bands. The definition of a home-grown success, they all met in Middleton, Greater Manchester at around the age of 10, only getting together 10 years later when Liam Fray started performing his songs at various open-mic nights while a student at the University of Salford.
They quickly gathered a strong and loyal fanbase, putting out their first single in 2007, their first album St Jude in 2008, and touring America with Morrissey (a firm fan) in 2009. Then the big gigs started; 10,000 people at Manchester Central in 2009, 16,000 at Manchester Arena a year later (and twice more since then), and then 25,000 at Heaton Park in June this year. This will be the band’s fourth Glastonbury, having worked their way around the festival site in 2008, 2010 and 2013. Don’t bet against them headlining soon.
While various hotly-tipped pretenders to the title have come and gone over the past seven or eight years, Courteeners have quietly - with a little help along the way from supporters like Jo Whiley, Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe - been getting on with becoming one of the nation’s biggest rock bands. The definition of a home-grown success, they all met in Middleton, Greater Manchester at around the age of 10, only getting together 10 years later when Liam Fray started performing his songs at various open-mic nights while a student at the University of Salford.
They quickly gathered a strong and loyal fanbase, putting out their first single in 2007, their first album St Jude in 2008, and touring America with Morrissey (a firm fan) in 2009. Then the big gigs started; 10,000 people at Manchester Central in 2009, 16,000 at Manchester Arena a year later (and twice more since then), and then 25,000 at Heaton Park in June this year. This will be the band’s fourth Glastonbury, having worked their way around the festival site in 2008, 2010 and 2013. Don’t bet against them headlining soon.
