close

Dean Friedman announces extensive summer/autumn 2012 UK tour

Posted: 12 years ago
Dates include Edinburgh residencies and two shows in London - on sale now
Dean Friedman - Image: www.deanfriedman.com

Writing articles about certain artists' tours can get a bit samey after a while - band members meet at High School, form group, pick a name, produce detritus no-one likes then split up. Or, singer-songwriter travels the world (i.e. Bracknell and Brighton) and insists on boring the lugholes off the populace with tales of poverty, heartbreak and life being crap. Sometimes it's best to stay in and watch the telly, hmmm?

Dean Friedman, on the other hand, is far from boring. In fact, throughout his varied career, the American song-smith has tried his hand at lots of musical styles since debuting during the most difficult cultural era of all - punk. Friedman was as far from punk as you could imagine. Instead, he wrote charming ineffectual songs such as 'Ariel', 'McDonald's Girl' and 'Woman of Mine'. In 1978, he hit gold with the memorable smash-hit 'Lucky Stars' and the lesser-known 'Lydia', before heading back into relative obscurity. Well, obscurity of a sort.

During the '80s, his music appeared in the hit TV-series, 'Boon', as well as several US TV programmes on Nickelodeon and NBC. In the '90s, his attentions turned to video game designing and software development. In the UK, eccentric indie-rockers Half Man Half Biscuit devoted an EP's title to him, while Ben Folds Five acknowledged his influence on their work. He's released countless kids' songs on CD and even a potty-mouth disc of adult songs. Is there no end to this man's talents? Apparently not.

Later this year, Friedman will be wheeling out his treasured songs for an enormous stack of live shows, including a couple of weeks' worth in Edinburgh during the Fringe season. Beforehand, however, Friedman will be appearing in Kinross on 3rd August, followed by Glasgow on the 4th. Then it's off to the Scottish capital for week-long stints at the Sweet Grassmarket and Malmaison Hotel before leaving Edinburgh after a closing show at the Voodoo Rooms.

In September and October, Dean Friedman heads south for the final leg of his tour. Shoreham-on-Sea is the first night on 28th Sep, followed by Crawley, Southampton and many more, including two nights in Islington, before finishing in Abertillery on 27th Oct and Omagh on 1st Nov. Tickets for all shows are available now, priced between £16.50 and £30 (depending on location).

Paul Pledger