After a pandemic-enforced hiatus, West Yorkshire’s Long Division Festival will return this autumn – with The Futureheads set to top the bill. The Wearside art-rockers will join the likes of The Lovely Eggs, Beardyman, Brix & The Extricated, She Drew The Gun and Lanterns on the Lake in performing in venues across Wakefield city centre on Saturday September 25th.
Things getting awesome in #Wakefield on September 25th. Tickets on sale now! https://t.co/jIzmWS2rmP pic.twitter.com/Nwmjob5ZkP
— Long Division (@Long_Division_) March 11, 2021
In a statement posted on the Long Division Instagram account, the festival organisers said “Here’s our first full batch of artists for 2021. All in Wakefield City Centre within easy walking distance, in a range of weird and wonderful Wakefield spaces…We started this in 2011 not really knowing what we were doing. We just knew we want to get people to Wakefield to see some great grassroots artists breaking through, whilst checking in with a few musical legends on the way. It’s been a pretty tough ten years, but we’re still here. You’re still here too. So, let’s get together and celebrate the fact, right?!”
Since its inception in 2011, Long Division – which Under The Radar describe as “one of the best independent arts festivals in Europe“- has been headlined by an eclectic range of acts, including The Cribs; We Are Scientists; Billy Bragg; British Sea Power; The Fall; Asian Dub Foundation; The Wedding Present; and Gang Of Four. After the 2020 event was cancelled due to public health restrictions, festival supporters raised over £7000 to keep Long Division running.
The Futureheads will relish the opportunity to return to the live stage, having been forced to cancel their Spring touring commitments as part of a triple-bill with Reverend and the Makers and The Holloways. The Sunderland post-punk noiseniks, who produced two of the noughties’ most memorable indie disco numbers in Decent Days And Nights and Kate Bush cover Hounds of Love, are also set to headline the rescheduled Kubix Festival in their hometown on July 3rd. The band’s most recent release, 2019 LP Powers, was their first studio album in seven years.
We’re pleased to be heading to @Long_Division_ in September!
Tickets are on-sale now and available here: https://t.co/EneGYbv5CA pic.twitter.com/I9hlKPcuLl— The Futureheads (@thefutureheads) March 11, 2021
Lancaster duo The Lovely Eggs will take their distinctive brand of garage rock across the Pennines to Long Division off the back of their well-received 2020 album I Am Moron. Louder Than War‘s Wayne Carey hailed the the record a ‘leap forward‘ for the band and a ‘punk thrill‘. Fellow Lancashire outfit Brix and the Extricated will also be hoping to debut material from their most recent album Super Blood Wolf Moon, released at the tail-end of 2019. The group were co-founded in 2014 by Brix Smith Start and Steve Hanley, both former members of The Fall.
Essex singer-songwriter James McAllister (aka) Beans on Toast will bring his unique folk stylings to Long Division. The Braintree troubadour was busy in action in 2020, remarkably releasing two studio albums on December 1st, as well as releasing four new singles focused on the Covid-19 pandemic: Strange Days, Human Contact, Chessington World Of Adventures and Glastonbury Weekend.
Also confirmed for Long Division are beatbox specialist Darren Foreman (aka Beardyman); Merseyside pop-rockers She Drew The Gun; Newcastle five-piece Lanterns on the Lake; London rap duo Too Many T’s; Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble; Barnsley grunge rockers Hands Off Gretel; Hull folk musician Katie Spencer; Teesside singer-songwriter Jodie Nicholson; Hartlepool up-and-comers Mt Misery; feminist punk trio Big Joanie; Brighton indie poppers Peggy Sue; Bristolian ‘country punks’ Langkamer;
