MOJO Honours Shows

• 13th May 2009

MOJO Magazine is proud to announce a series of very special shows to take place in London in the run-up to the MOJO Honours List 2009 Ceremony on 11 June at The Brewery, London.

Starting on Monday 8 June with legendary folk guitarist Bert Jansch at the Jazz Café in Camden, and agents provocateurs extraordinaires turned mainstream botherers The Manic Street Preachers at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, continuing on Tuesday 9 June with pioneers of grunge Dinosaur Jr, again at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town, and concluding at the same venue on Wednesday 10 June, with a triple Manchester punk bill comprising Buzzcocks, The Fall and John Cooper Clarke, these gigs will be the perfect build-up to the MOJO Honours List 2009.

The MOJO Honours List is the most respected of all music magazine awards ceremonies. The winners of The 2009 MOJO Honours List will be announced on Thursday 11 June at The Brewery, London. Legends of music, unsung heroes and contemporary talent will join together in celebration of the MOJO year in music and the 2009 winners.

Bert Jansch is one of Britain’s most influential guitarists, not only in the folk arena and through his work with the group Pentangle, but also on successive generations of musicians including Donovan, Jimmy Page, Neil Young and Johnny Marr. Jansch received the MOJO Merit Award at the MOJO Honours List ceremony in 2006 when Roy Harper and Beth Orton presented the award.

Straight out of Blackwood, South Wales, The Manic Street Preachers are known as much for the anthemic critiques of capitalism Motorcycle Emptiness and A Design For Life, as for the contrary antics of bassist Nicky Wire and the much-missed Richey Edwards. Journal For Plague Lovers, their ninth studio album, produced by Steve Albini, uses lyrics Edwards left behind in 1995 and sees Wire, frontman James Dean Bradfield and drummer Sean Moore reconnect with their early abrasive sound. Fittingly, for this MOJO Honours Show, the Manics are revisiting a venue they last played in the mid-nineties.

Dinosaur Jr are acknowledged as one of alternative rock’s premier bands. J. Mascis and Lou Barlow formed the group in Massachusetts in the mid-eighties though Barlow soon went on to front Sebadoh. In 1992, the Rollercoaster package tour, also featuring Blur, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus & Mary Chain, helped establish Mascis and co in the UK. Their use of feedback and loud-quiet dynamics was acknowledged as an influence by Nirvana. Mascis, Barlow and original drummer Murph are about to release Farm, their second album since reuniting in 2005.

The 10 of June concert at the HMV Forum, Kentish Town, is very much a tribute to Manchester, the second city of punk in Britain. The line-up actually mirrors the legendary first night at Soho punk club, The Vortex, on July 4, 1977, which saw the three Mancunian acts appear on a bill topped by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers.

Buzzcocks pioneered the DIY approach with the Spiral Scratch EP in January 1977 and went on to release a series of perfect punk-pop singles, including the much-covered Ever Fallen In love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve). Since reforming the group in the late eighties, Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle have toured with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, two of the many groups they have influenced.

John Cooper Clarke put the poetry into punk in the late seventies with the Gimmix! multi-format single and the Snap Crackle and Bop album, produced by the late, great Martin Hannett. The bard of Salford endeared himself to the eighties generation with his appearance in a Sugar Puffs ad while his characteristic delivery has also graced the soundtracks to Control and The Sopranos.

Since their inception in 1977, The Fall have been a constant thorn in the side of the music industry. Led by the fiercely uncompromising Mark E. Smith, the sole constant in an ever-changing line-up, they were the favourite group of broadcaster John Peel and are often referenced by Sonic Youth, Pavement and Franz Ferdinand. They have released over 30 albums.

With special guests still to be added to the Manics and Dinosaur Jr bills, The MOJO Honours Shows are sure to be highlights of the music calendar.

Tickets for all shows went on sale today Tuesday, May 12.

For more details go to link

HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London

June 8 – Manic Street Preachers (plus special guests) £20.00

June 9 – Dinosaur Jr (plus special guests) £17.50

June 10 – The Fall, Buzzcocks and John Cooper Clarke £17.50

Jazz Café, Camden, London

June 8 – Bert Jansch £25.00

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