Mark Morriss (Bluetones)

The Roar Club & Club Biscuit are excited to confirm that Mark Morriss will be playing Bedford Esquires on Friday the 30th March 2012.

As lead singer of the Bluetones, Mark enjoyed huge success for the best part of 18 years - a staggering 13 Top 40 singles and 3 Top 10 albums. Influenced by the poise and melody of The Stone Roses and The Smiths, they released a string of indie anthems at the height of Britpop - ‘Slight Return’, ‘Bluetonic’, ‘Marblehead Johnson’ etc…

While their contemporaries crashed, burned or split acrimonously, The Bluetones continued to release a string of critically acclaimed albums, culminating in 2010’s ‘A New Athens’.

The band parted ways in 2011, but not before they had performed their classic debut LP ‘Expecting to Fly’ in full at a series of euphoric and sold out gigs across the UK.

Mark released his own solo album ‘Memory Muscle’ in 2008, a record that combined the charm of the Bluetones with dash of such classic artists as Lee Hazelwood and Love. With the strings on the album arranged by the film composer David Arnold, it featured a cover of Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Alcoholiday’ which was somehow even more heartbreaking than the original.

Now playing solo, Mark’s gigs feature hits from the extensive Bluetones’ back catalogue as well as lending his plaintive vocals to a few choice cover versions (The Shins, Neil Young). This will not be his first visit to Bedford, as the Bluetones played a memorable gig at Esquires supporting Supergrass in 1995, and regulars will remember that a poster of said gig was proudly on display in Danny’s Bar for the best part of a decade!

Support comes from the Chris Corney Band, with another act to be confirmed shortly.

Tickets are just £7.50 in advance, available now from www.wegottickets.com and Danny’s Bar.

Mark Morriss

The Bluetones