Tuesday 15 July 2008

Verve Push Back Album Release

The Verve has announced today that they will change the release date of their upcoming album, 'Forth'.

The album will now be release on August 26th in the US and Canada and a day earlier (August 25th) in the UK.

The original release date of the album was August 19th in the US and Canada and August 18th in the UK.

Monday 14 July 2008

Ask The Verve

Is there a question you have always wanted to ask The Verve?

We are looking for Verve fans to send in their questions for the band. The top 50 submitted questions will be posted on theverve.tv, with the people behind the best 2 questions, as picked by the band, receiving a pair of tickets to the V Festival.

To enter a question simply email asktheverve@theverve.tv.

Deadline for entries is Sunday 3rd August. Winners will be contacted via email.

Verve's Anniversary Blues

The Verve headlined T In The Park on Friday - despite it clashing with Richard Ashcroft's wedding anniversary.

Ashcroft dedicated Lucky Man to wife Kate, saying: "I'm good at writing songs for my wife, but it's about all I am good for. This is to apologise for all the times I've messed up."

T In The Park had a succesful first day, with 10,000 campers and one arrest by Friday lunchtime.

Sunday 13 July 2008

Ashcroft Slams Ronaldo And United Nations

The Verve have brought the second day (July 12) of Oxegen 2008 to a close, with a headline performance on the Main Stage.

The set saw frontman Richard Ashcroft speaking out about Zimbabwe, following yesterday's veto of United Nation sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime.

He also took aim at FIFA president Sepp Blatter's recent claims that modern footballers like Christianaldo Ronaldo are "slaves".

The Wigan band kicked things off at the Irish festival with 'This Is Music', before playing a set that mixed their three existing records, with two songs from impending comeback album 'Forth'.

With frontman Ashcroft introducing each song, the Irish crowd got their first taste of the new material four songs in with 'Sit And Wonder'.

"I tell you what if that REM band put the work in they could be huge," joked Ashcroft as he introduced the new track, referring to the fact The Verve had topped the bill over the veterans.

Following the likes of 'History' and 'Velvet Morning', Ashcroft informed the crowd: "The dressing rooms are dead good, they've got pictures of the jockeys and the champions on the walls [the site is usually a racecourse]. The funny thing is all the trainers have got all the same name over here. I guess if you've got the look... Anyway this if for Tony Soprano, Tony Montana and all 'The Rolling People'."

Following the song, the band built up towards the set's climax with 'The Drugs Don't Work'.

However, it was 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' that enjoyed the loudest crowd vocals of the night, although Ashcroft ensured the track lived up to its name with an acerbic intro.

"Shame on the United Nations, shame on the United Nations, the people of Zimbabwe need you," he called out over the intro, before attacking Manchester United's winger. "Ronaldo, you're not a fucking slave, £120,000 a week?"

Barely pausing from the outro of the band's 1997 anthem, The Verve blitzed straight into brand new single 'Love Is Noise', bringing the second day of Oxegen 2008 to a close.

The Verve played:

'This Is Music'
'Sonnet'
'Space And Time'
'Sit And Wonder'
'History'
'Life's An Ocean'
'Velvet Morning'
'The Rolling People'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Lucky Man'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'
'Love Is Noise'

Verve Slam 'Haters' At T In The Park

The Verve played an epic headline slot at the T In The Park festival tonight (July 11), bringing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' to the masses in Scotland.

During the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft slammed critics of the band, referring to an article in a newspaper published earlier today that had criticised them.

The show included old favourites such as 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'History' as well as two new songs.

Shortly into the set, frontman Richard Ashcroft declared the T In The Park crowd to be the greatest audience on earth.

Ashcroft was wearing blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a leather jacket. He sank to his knees and gestured to the crowd as he took to the stage at 10.15pm (BST), leading his band through opener 'This Is Music'.

The singer then donned a semi-acoustic guitar to play 'Sonnet' with the band, making a hugging gesture as the song ended.

"Thank you, greatest live audience in the world," he said before playing 'Space And Time'. "That's something Guardian writers don't understand."

He was referring to an opinion column that appeared in the newspaper today, in which the band's relevance was questioned.

Later in the set, Ashcroft mysteriously asked the crowd: "Which lead singer of a '90s band told me he was now a mod? 'I've been baggy but now I'm a mod.' Any guesses?"

The band then played 'Sit And Wonder', a the opening track from the band's forthcoming album, 'Forth'.

Ashcroft later dedicated 'The Rolling People' to "['Scarface' character] Tony Montana, ['The Sopranos' character] Tony Soprano and all the haters."

He then shouted, "it's Friday night at T In The Park, let's have it!" before leading into the song and upping the ante of the set.

A large cheer erupted from the crowd as the singer later announced 'The Drugs Don't Work', while similar applause was heard for 'Lucky Man', which Ashcroft dedicated to his wife, Kate Radley.

"Do you know what it's like to write a classic?" he then said, triggering screams from the crowd as they guessed which song was coming next.

"Some of you in this crowd are going to write a classic tune," he added, before playing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony', which had fans in hysterics as they waved their hands in the air and sang along.

The song bled straight into new single 'Love Is Noise', which saw Ashcroft dancing down the wings of the stage then dropping to his knees and roaring, before heading off backstage.

The Verve played:

'This Is Music'
'Sonnet'
'Space And Time'
'Sit And Wonder'
'History'
'Come On'
'Life's An Ocean'
'The Rolling People'
'The Drugs Don't Work'
'Lucky Man'
'Bitter Sweet Symphony'
'Love Is Noise'

Watch 'Love Is Noise' Now

The Verve have made the video to their forthcoming single 'Love Is Noise' available to watch on the internet.

The first single to be released from the band's album 'Forth', their first since 1997's 'Urban Hymns', 'Love Is Noise' is out on August 4.

The video mixes up shots of the band performing in a dimly-lit room, with frontman Richard Ashcroft sitting on the floor, with montages of other images, including snow-capped mountains, a dancer and a woman with a falcon.

You can watch the video now on The Verve's MySpace page.

Monday 7 July 2008

Festival Shrugs Off Verve Comment

Glastonbury organisers have played down comments by Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft that festival founder Michael Eavis opposed the band's headline slot.

Eavis's daughter Emily rebuffed the claim, saying "that's not true at all". "We've liked The Verve for ages and we were really pleased to have them on," she told the BBC News website, adding that the group "really pulled it off."

The Verve closed the festival on Sunday night with the anthemic Bittersweet Symphony and new single Love Is Noise.

Addressing the crowd in front of the Pyramid stage, Ashcroft said: "I want to thank Emily Eavis for inviting us to play Glastonbury.
"I hope her dad realises why she booked us now. I think he was a bit worried we wouldn't be as good as Keane or something."

But Emily Eavis, who co-organises the event, refused to respond to the jibe, saying it was "not a big deal".
"I'm not sure where the Keane thing came from because Keane were never an option this year."

Thursday 3 July 2008

New Album Artwork Revealed

The below image was shot by Uwe Duettmann and designed for cover-readiness by Stephen Kennedy (for Studio Fury).