Ah, Manchester. A cultural melting pot that has been an incubator for some of the most innovative and influential musical forces of the last thirty years. And, for Andy Hull, student at a Christian high school in Atlanta, Georgia, in the nineties, the city's famously seductive power was all too strong.

Unhappy at school and, fuelled by Morrissey and The Smiths on constant rotation, fascinated by this cultural diamond in the rough of England's industrial North West, Hull started writing songs. And so, from America's south east was born a Manchester Orchestra.

An unreleased album later (2004's 'Nobody Sings Anymore'), the Orchestra were maturing as a band and as songwriters and by the release of their debut LP 'I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child', the Manchester Orchestra were developing their own distinct sound.

Sophomore album, 2009's 'Mean Everything to Nothing', made the US Billboard Hot 100 and No 8 in the Alternative chart. The Manchester Orchestra were getting a bigger profile that would eventually earn them support slots with bands like Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance.

The band's third studio release, 'Simple Math', hit the shelves in May 2011 and became their best-performing record to date, even managing a chart position of sorts (No 107) in the UK.

Currently touring the new record in the US, the Manchester Orchestra have announced a UK tour which will see them visiting their spiritual home on 5th October (at Academy 2). It is the Orchestra's first ever UK headline tour, after opening for the likes of Kings of Leon and Biffy Clyro, as well as performing twice at the Reading and Leeds Festivals and Latitude.

The five autumn dates begin at Thekla in Bristol on 2nd October, followed by shows in Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester, before the final show at KOKO in London on Friday 7th October.

We will have tickets for all dates available from 9AM on Friday 29th July, priced just £11 (£12.50 for London).