Primal Scream Tickets

Primal Scream
Transforming themselves from struggling indie-guitar heroes to dance-rock heroes, Primal Scream have become of the UK's longest-running maverick, post-punk groups.

Several of their songs have appeared on movie soundtracks including PlayTrainspotting in the film Trainspotting, PlayMiss Lucifer and PlaySwastika Eyes in The Football Factory, PlayStar in The Jackal, and PlayCome Together in Human Traffic.

In the mid-'80s while drumming for goth-tinged noise rockers the Jesus and Mary Chain, primal Scream was formed by Bobby Gillespie. Other members include guitarists Andrew Innes and Robert Throb Young, former Felt keyboardist Martin Duffy, former The Stone Roses bassist Gary Mani Mounfield, and touring guitarist and producer Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine.

Since 2000, the band is signed to Sony/Columbia, Primal Scream were originally signed to Alan McGees Creation label, releasing two singles before being signed up by WEA imprint Elevation to release their first album Sonic Flower Groove in 1987.

However, they returned to Creation for the release their second self-titled album in 1989. After a brief detour to punky hard rock, the group reinvented itself as a dance band in the early '90s, following through on the pop and acid house fusions of the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.

They then released Screamadelica and remained with Creation until its closure in 2000 followed by the bands signup with Sony. The ultimate indie pop and dance fusion album, Screamadelica was created with the assistance of producers Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicholson in 1991.

The album was also a massive commercial success, reaching number eight on the British charts and number 31 on the US Billboard charts. The supporting tour kicked off in Amsterdam, and it included a performance at the Glastonbury festival before coming to an end in Sheffield.

Throughout the tour the band and their increasingly large entourage gained notoriety for their large narcotic intake. The Screamadelica CD managed to compress the entire four-decade history of rock into unruly 70 minutes.

Its 10 tracks fizzed over with R&B and C&W, trippy-dippy acid dub, gospel house, techno disco and out-and-out rude and raucous rock 'n' roll. In 1992 the boys started working on their fourth album in Roundhouse Studios in London. However, the sessions did not produce any new material as most of the band members had developed heroin addictions.

After 2 years of mixing and working with a couple of producers, the first single from the new album, Rocks, was released and became band's highest charting single to date, reaching number seven on the UK charts. During the American tour that was in support of the new album, the band came to a breaking point due to some internal riffs.

After a couple of years break, the band with its new line up finally resurfaced. Gary Mani Mounfield, fresh from The Stone Roses, was added as the band's new bassist, and Paul Mulraney was added as their new drummer. The next album, 1999's Vanishing Point, seemed to reinvigorate the band, becoming the real successor to Screamadelica and a stark comedown to the rave generation of the early 90's.

Featuring heavy dub effects, the album was full of dark, strung out paranoid grooves. In 2000 dark trance, sleaze funk, dub, hip hop and whirling dervish guitar was heard in the bands next album, XTRMNTR. Two years later Primal Scream released Evil Heat, a guest-laden (even supermodel Kate Moss makes an appearance) album in line and on par with XTRMNTR.

The album, like many of Primal Scream's previous albums, had multiple producers. Shields produced several tracks, and Andrew Weatherall produced three tracks. The album consolidated the band's stance as 21st century rock anti-heros.

In June 2005 while playing Swatsika Eyes at the Glastonbury Festival, Gillespie was playfully abusive to the crowd and was alleged to have made Nazi salutes. They were eventually forced off by officials after overrunning their allotted time. The next year, Riot City Blues came out.

Festival shows and gigs with My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields filled out the following year, capped off with the release of the single Can't Go Back. That single reappeared on the 2008 Suicide and Alan Vega-informed full-length Beautiful Future.

In their 25 years, the band never shied away from the odd sampling of drugs. Back in 1992, Bobby Gillespie was asked to pen a song for Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue. Turns out, he and his gang were too off their heads to seize the opportunity. However, she did manage to turn up at one of the Scream's gigs at the time.

Primal Scream released their ninth studio album Beautiful Future in mid 2008 on which they continue to mix pop with Krautrock superbly. It also features collaborations with Lovefoxx (CSS), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss) and folk legend Linda Thompson.

They also did a European tour promoting the new album beginning in October 2nd at Arena in Vienna and continued to play at a host of venues in the U.K and Ireland for a month or so. In 2008 Primal Scream was the big winner at Vodafone Live Music Awards after scooping two honors.

The rockers won Best Live Act and Outstanding Contribution to Music prizes. The ceremony was held at the Carling Academy Brixton and was screened on 4music hosted by presenter Steve Jones and Hollywood actress turned singer Juliette Lewis.

The band will tour United States once again in 2009, armed with a new set of infectious licks! They have been going since the late eighties and its great to see that they are still at the top of their game.