A Bit of What You Fancy from The Quireboys - winter 2011 tour on sale now

The Quireboys

With roots in England's North East, British hair-and-make-up rock band The Quireboys were something of sensation back in the early nineties. Their brand of moody, poetic hair rock found a home under the wing of Axl Rose and, bandanas and eyeliner intact, The Quireboys supported Guns N'Roses on many occasions.

Their full-length debut was 1990's 'A Bit of What You Fancy'. Released six years after the band formed under the challenging moniker 'The Queerboys', the record was a big hit peaking at No 2 on the UK album chart. The album spawned four top 40 singles including 'Hey You' and the rather sombre 'I Don't Love You Anymore', both of which charted well and enjoyed considerable radio play.

The Quireboys toured the record extensively with a worldwide headline tour and a series of high profile support slots in the US including Iggy Pop and Soundgarden. At St James' Park in Newcastle, they even supported The Rolling Stones and also enjoyed high billing at the Donington Monsters of Rock festival.

What could possibly go wrong? One word: grunge. While Japan was double-handclapping to The Quireboys, rock was moving on. The follow-up to 'A Bit of What You Fancy', 'Bitter Sweet and Twisted' was only a muted success and The Quireboys broke up. After a brief reunion in 1995, a new line-up formed in 2001 to write, record and perform new material alongside the old.

A decade on and four studio albums later, The Quireboys have earned a reputation for reliable, fun-loving English rock. And, refreshingly, it's not simply a matter of recycling the old hits, instead mixing old with new and continuing to move forward as a band. Messrs Jagger and Richards may not love them anymore, but The Quireboys are no less enthusiastic and committed for it.

The tour begins in Belfast on 26th November, moving on to Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield, Southampton and London (Electric Ballroom), before the final gig of the run in Wrexham on Saturday 10th December.

We have tickets available now, priced £13 to £15.

In early December, The Quireboys will also be appearing at Hard Rock Hell V at Pontin's Prestatyn in North Wales. We have tickets available for the three-day festival (including day one's 'pre-party'), which takes place from Thursday 1st December, priced £126. The Quireboys are playing on Saturday 3rd, with one-day passes priced £51.

Stewart Darkin