The Snuts have announced their biggest UK shows to date – see all the details below.

READ MORE: The Snuts: “Our debut album says there is a place for guitar music in 2021”

The Scottish band, who returned recently with the single ‘Burn The Empire’, will hit the road next spring for a trio of headline gigs.

They’ll play at Manchester Academy (April 27), Northumbria’s Uni SU (28) and the O2 Academy Brixton in London (30).

Tickets go on general sale here at 9am this Friday (December 10). Fans can access an O2 Priority pre-sale at the same time tomorrow (December 8).

“We’re playing some of our biggest shows to date in 2022,” The Snuts wrote on social media “No fkin way man.”

You can see the official tour poster and schedule below.

We’re playing some of our biggest shows to date in 2022. No fkin way man. Tickets on sale Friday. pic.twitter.com/J6GzsDE3FX

— The Snuts (@TheSnuts) December 6, 2021

The Snuts’ 2022 UK tour dates are as follows:

APRIL
27 – Academy, Manchester
28 – Uni SU, Northumbria
30 – O2 Academy Brixton, London

In April The Snuts’ debut album ‘W.L’ beat Demi Lovato‘s comeback record ‘Dancing With The Devil… The Art Of Starting Over’ to Number One in the UK charts.

They recently wrapped up a string of UK shows in support of the album.

Following a performance in Oxford, The Snuts called out “the behaviour of male fans” that were in attendance.

“This is a male problem and it is only the responsibility of males to stamp it out,” they wrote in a joint statement. “No one should ever feel unsafe at our gigs and it’s your responsibility to report and call out your friends if they are acting like fucking animals.”

Meanwhile, The Snuts have also been confirmed for Tramlines 2022. They’ll join headliners Sam Fender, Kasabian and Madness at the Sheffield event.

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Willow has opened up about the impact of the success of her debut single ‘Whip My Hair’, which peaked at Number Five in the US charts when it was released in 2010.

READ MORE: Willow – “Humans have never been good at accepting that people are different”

The musician, who spoke to NME for the latest Big Read cover interview, said that the gruelling press cycle and attention that arrived right at the start of the career made her question her path in music.

In 2011 she supported Justin Bieber on the UK leg of his ‘My World’ tour but wanted to drop out of the upcoming Australian dates, with reports that she walked off stage in Dublin.

She told her dad, the actor and musician Will Smith, that she was done. After Will refused to let his daughter back out of the commitment, the then-aged 11-year-old Willow shaved her head in protest. It would be another three years until she released new music.

“I was extremely done with music after that. I tried to do so many other things. I didn’t make music for a whole year, which is insane for me,” she told NME.

Willow on the cover of NME

“I wanted to do other things to figure out if music was the real deal or not. But it just stuck, man. It would not go away. It’s like music was saying, ‘I’m in your mind and in your heart; your forever roommate. You could write a book if you want, but it’s not going to be your main thing. You’re not going to leave me behind and be an author.’

She continued: “I definitely could do both, and that’s going to happen soon – but still: music has my heart. She’s got me by the ovaries.”

Willow went on to release four albums, ‘Ardipithecus’ (2015), ‘The 1st’ (2017), ‘Willow‘ (2019) and this year’s ‘Lately I Feel Everything‘.

Elsewhere in the Big Read interview Willow spoke about her mother’s experiences of racism in the music industry.

Willow recalled being introduced to the rock world by watching her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, play live shows in the heavy metal band Wicked Wisdom. However, she also witnessed her mother being subjected to racist and sexist abuse.

“She showed me what being a woman is really all about,” Willow told NME. “There are literally no words to describe having to get up in front of people who literally hated her, every night. She did it with such grace and power. And at every single show, she won them over.

“By the end of the show, the people who were calling her racial slurs and throwing things at her were like, ‘Actually, they kinda went off’. That made it really worth it.”

Willow, 2021. CREDIT: Dana Trippe

Willow, who has experienced anxiety in her life, also told NME about how important it is for her to use her voice to help others.

“A lot of people might think, because I have resources or am supported in so many ways, that those things [mental health issues] don’t come into account. But we all feel lonely. We all feel like we don’t have a purpose. We all need to find the reason to get up everyday and continue. I want people to know that we all feel that. As humans, I hope we can connect on that and be kinder to one another and more understanding,” she said.

“Even if my music was trash and I wasn’t talented at all, I would 100 per cent still want to have the content of self-love, love for the planet, love for each other and unconditional compassion,” she added. “That’s so important to me.”

In other news, Willow plays a one-off London show at Camden’s Electric Ballroom this Thursday (December 9) in support of her new album.

The post Willow was “extremely done with music” after pressure from success of ‘Whip My Hair’ appeared first on NME.

Musician John Miles has died at the age of 72, it has been confirmed.

Born in Jarrow, County Durham in 1949, Miles was best known for his 1976 rock ballad ‘Music’.

The musician’s family confirmed his death in an official statement posted on Facebook yesterday (December 6).

“We are devastated to have to announce that ‘Mr Music’ John Miles sadly passed away peacefully after a very short illness,” the message began.

“He was a loving Husband, Father and Grandfather and we will all miss him more than any words could ever express. We kindly ask you to respect our privacy at this extremely difficult time.”

It continued: “He will live on forever in our hearts and with the wonderful musical legacy he has left behind. You were our first love and will be our last. Our Husband, Father, Grandfather and hero. We Love you.”

The statement references the opening lyrics from ‘Music’: “Music was my first love/ And it will be my last/ Music of the future/ And music of the past.”

It’s said that the late singer wrote the track in just half an hour while in between shows in Leeds.

Miles released 10 studio albums between 1976 and 1979 – including his debut ‘Rebel’, 1979’s ‘More Miles Per Hour’ and 1985’s ‘Transition’ – and also played in Tina Turner‘s touring band from 1987.

Miles received an outstanding contribution prize at the Progressive Rock awards 2017. “I think I made a contribution but that was way back in the 70s,” he said in his acceptance speech.

“I suppose it has endured though. And the song ‘Music’ has endured as well, and that was the biggest hit worldwide. I’m a man of few words and there are eight lines of lyrics in that song. I get to work with orchestras these days too, which is fantastic.”

Miles also performed in the band The Influence, which featured drummer Paul Thompson (of Roxy Music) and guitarist Vic Malcolm. Following their split, he relocated to London and signed a deal with Decca Records.

In 1975, the late musician received his first top 20 single with ‘Highfly’. Follow-up track ‘Music’ landed in the top five, with Miles going on to support Elton John off the back of its success.

John Miles was married to his wife, Eileen, for almost 50 years. They had two children and two grandchildren together.

The post John Miles, best known for hit single ‘Music’, dies aged 72 appeared first on NME.

MANILA, Philippines—Kiefer Ravena on Tuesday paid a courtesy call to the Philippine Embassy in Japan. The Shiga Lakestars guard met with Deputy Ambassador Robespierre Bolivar and donated a signed jersey to the embassy. “It was very refreshing to be able to come to the Philippine Embassy, see many of my compatriots and speak in the same language. I am grateful to […]

The post Shiga Lakestars’ Kiefer Ravena visits PH Embassy in Japan appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

MANILA, Philippines—Throughout Manny Pacquiao’s legendary boxing career, his performance against Oscar De La Hoya was arguably his most spectacular one of all. On Monday, it marked exactly 13 years since Pacquiao defied the odds in a masterclass that forced De La Hoya, an all-time great, to quit on his stool and into retirement. “December 6, […]

The post Pacquiao remembers monumental win over De La Hoya 13 years ago appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

WELLINGTON—New Zealand will not be sending diplomatic representatives at a ministerial level to the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said on Tuesday, citing COVID-19 as the reason. The comments come after the United States said this week that it would not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics due […]

The post New Zealand won’t send diplomats to Beijing Olympics, cites COVID-19 appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

BEIJING—The United States will have to “pay a price” for its diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China said on Tuesday, just weeks after talks aimed at easing tense relations between the two sides. The White House said on Monday U.S. government officials would boycott the Winter Olympics because of China’s human rights […]

The post China says US will ‘pay the price’ for diplomatic boycott of Winter Olympics appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

World No. 46 Bianca Andreescu announced Monday that she won’t play in the upcoming Australian Open to give herself “extra time” to recover mentally and physically. Andreescu, 21, cited time spent in quarantine and her grandmother’s bout with COVID-19 that landed her in the intensive care unit as her reasons. “A lot of days, I […]

The post Bianca Andreescu won’t play in Australian Open appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

MANILA, Philippines—Fil-American pole vaulter Natalie Uy bolstered her stock with a podium finish in Thailand over the weekend just months away from the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games. Uy, the reigning SEA Games champion and current record-holder, bagged the bronze medal in the 2021 Golden Fly Series in Phuket. “What an incredible meet here in paradise! […]

The post Natalie Uy bags pole vault bronze in Thailand tilt appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Danish golfer Thorbjorn Olesen grabbed a woman’s breast and urinated on a first class seat after taking alcohol and sleeping pills on a British Airways flight from the United States to London in 2019, a court heard on Monday. The Ryder Cup winner denies charges of sexual assault, assault by beating and being drunk on […]

The post Danish golfer grabbed woman’s breast and urinated on plane seat, court hears appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

DJs, festival organisers and music fans are seeking to secure Unesco world heritage status for Berlin’s techno culture amid fears that it will struggle to survive.

READ MORE: “My earnings more than halved”: how are new artists breaking through the pandemic?

Rave The Planet is lobbying German authorities to apply for intangible cultural heritage (ICH) status. The campaign group is formed by Matthias Roeingh aka Dr Motte, the DJ who founded Love Parade, a seminal electronic music festival that debuted as a political peace technoparade in West Germany in the summer of 1989 before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Berlin adopted the native Detroit music genre, with its post-war abandoned bunkers, power plants and factories providing an escape for clubbers to dance to the music that soundtracked the nation’s reunification in the late ’80s.

But the culture is under threat. Estimates (via Sky News) point to 100 clubs closing in the last decade, compounded by the fact that the value of the city’s real estate and the impact of the COVID pandemic will continue to threaten Berlin techno’s stability.

Clubs would get extra protection under planning laws and there would also be access to subsidies and other funding if Unesco status were granted.

View at night of people waiting outside entrance to famous Berghain nightclub in Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany. CREDIT: Iain Masterton / Alamy Stock Photo

Detroit DJ, Alan Oldham, who is now based in Berlin and is backing Rave the Planet’s campaign, said that recognition from Unesco would help to protect key venues.

“Unesco protection would go a long way towards maintaining that old spirit,” he told The Observer. “Legacy venues like Tresor and Berghain for example would be protected as cultural landmarks.

“So many venues have closed in just the seven years I’ve lived here full-time. In other cities, it would be the natural club cycle at work, but Berlin is a different kind of place, where the club and creative scenes are the currency of the city.”

Peter Kirn, a Berlin-based DJ and music producer, added to the publication: “You literally can hear this music thumping from all corners. It’s really just everywhere.

“In other cities, people wouldn’t accept music that’s really hard or weird and full of synthesisers and really brutal, distorted drum machines. You can’t play that at peak hour in a club, let alone over lunch. And here it’s totally acceptable to play that over lunch.”

Unesco usually grants ICH status to more obscure musical movements or practices, such as Slovakian bagpipe culture, Irish harping and Tibetan opera, however reggae was added to the list in 2018.

Earlier this year, a near-unanimous vote was made in favour of changing the status of Berlin’s live venues from entertainment sites to cultural sites.

It’s hoped that the move would help venues weather the adverse effects of the pandemic as well as help selected venues benefit from new tax breaks.

Elsewhere, earlier this month Germany banned unvaccinated people from much of public life including attending gigs – and announced that some nightclubs will need to shut.

The move, made in an effort to curb a fourth wave of COVID in the country, means that only those who are fully vaccinated against the disease or have recovered from the virus in the last six months will be able allowed in cultural venues, restaurants, cinemas, leisure facilities and many shops.

Nightclubs, for example, must close in areas where 350 cases have been recorded per 100,000 people in the past seven days (the national rate is over 400).

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