Courteeners have been confirmed as the first headliners for next year's Lytham Festival. In a festival exclusive, it will be their only North of England show for 2024.
The Manchester-based guitar band are the first headliner to be announced as the North West’s biggest live music festival gears up for its July 2024 return. The Lytham Festival is an annual five-day music festival held in Lytham St Annes in Lancashire and Courteeners will perform at Lytham Green on Friday, 5 July.
They will be joined with support from English pop-rock group The Kooks and indie pop newcomer Nieve Ella. Tickets for Courteeners will go on general sale at 9.30am on Friday, November 24 via the Lytham Festival website here.
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Speaking about the anncounment, frontman Liam Fray said: “We are very much looking forward to making our debut and joining the illustrious list of acts that have performed at the Lytham festival. We made the short pilgrimage from Manchester last year to watch The Strokes and were blown away by the buzz of the locals and the beauty of the scenery.
“What a Friday it’s going to be on July 5th. See you down the front, x."
Formed in 2006 and lauded as one of “the world’s biggest underground acts”, all of Courteeners albums have gone into the Top 10. The band was formed in Middleton in 2006 with Liam Fray on lead guitar on vocals, Michael Campbell on drums and backing vocals, and Daniel "Conan" Moores of rhythm guitar - with the last replaced by the band's producer Joe Cross in 2015.
Released in 2008, St Jude launched Courteeners into the wider public consciousness, and they have gone on to release a further five albums and sold out gigs across the UK. Earlier this year, their 2008 debut album St. Jude reached Number 1 for the very first time with its 15th anniversary edition and the band also played their third sell out 50,000 capacity headline show at Heaton Park in June to celebrate the anniversary of the album.
Lytham Festival co-founder Peter Taylor added: “Courteeners are without a doubt one of the country’s biggest and best-loved bands. This is an exclusive performance for the North of England so if you want to see them next summer you need to head to Lytham Festival.”
Just last month, frontman Liam Fray announced he would be playing a very special, one-off gig in Manchester this winter. The Courteeners' founder will perform an intimate Christmas acoustic gig in Manchester in December.
Fray last performed to a sold out crowd in Manchester as part of Courteeners' huge homecoming gig at Heaton Park in June. More than 50,000 fans came out to party with the indie rockers as they celebrated the 15th anniversary of St Jude, their seminal debut album.
The remastered version of the album claimed its own spot in chart history this year after it became the album with the longest time between original release and hitting the top spot. Courteeners are only the third band in history to take the top spot with a reissue, following The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Details of all other Lytham Festival headliners and support artists will be announced at 8am on Monday, 27 November. Lytham Festival 2024 returns from Wednesday, 3 July to to Saturday, 7 July.
Fans can grab their tickets for Courteeners Lytham Festival gig at 9.30am on Friday, November 24 via the Lytham Festival website here.
