Guy Garvey has spoken to NME about the news that Elbow will be playing three hometown shows at Manchester Ritz for where they’ll be playing the whole of their debut album ‘Asleep In The Back’ to mark its 25th anniversary.
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In a 9/10 review at the time, NME hailed ‘Asleep In The Back‘ as “Manchester’s first great album of the millennium”, adding: “It seems that after all the pale imitators, Radiohead finally have a competitor worthy of healthy comparison.”.
Now, they’ll be playing the album in full along with B-sides from the era at The Ritz across three nights from November 20-22.
The five-piece – which comprised guitarist Mark Potter, bassist Pete Turner, keyboardist Craig Potter and since-departed drummer Richard Jupp – had experienced a lot of industry turmoil before releasing the album.
They had two record deals cancelled at the last minute, then signed to Island, recording the original version of ‘Asleep In The Back’ with Happy Mondays producer Steve Osborne.
That version got shelved when Elbow’s record contract was cancelled after Island were taken over by Universal Music, with the band eventually re-recording the album with Blur producer Ben Hillier.
Recalling the struggle to get the album made, Garvey said: “By the time we made the final version of the album, we were really fucked off with the industry. That manifests itself in things like the long organ intro of ‘Any Day Now’ at the beginning of the album.
There’s a lot of: ‘Forget what anyone else is saying, we’re doing what we want.’ It gave us an extra bit of swagger, which is there in the songs’ patience, letting them unfold.”.
Check out the rest of our interview with Garvey below where the frontman told us about plans for the shows, why the Ritz is so special, turning down the chance to meet his hero from Talk Talk, and how the new David Bowie Lightroom experience is inspiring the follow-up to 2024’s acclaimed ‘Audio Vertigo’.
He also shared his thoughts on Andy Burnham’s potential as Prime Minister, after the former Manchester Mayor used Elbow’s 2008 classic ‘One Day Like This’ in his successful campaign video to win the Makerfield constituency, which launched his bid to unseat Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
NME: Hi, Guy. You released an acoustic album ‘Live At The Ritz’ in 2020. Why are you returning there for these ‘Asleep In The Back’ shows.
Guy Garvey: “The Ritz is such a beacon of Manchester’s musical nightlife. It’s been there forever, it’ll be there forever. At 16, just before I met the band, you could find me and various members of Elbow at the Ritz’s indie night.
You’d hang out, wishing a goth girl would kiss you, while smoking cigarettes and bouncing around on the dancefloor. It was where you’d display your feathers, to make a statement that you were of the counterculture.
When Elbow had so many issues with record companies before finally getting signed, did any of the band consider leaving.
Are there any songs on the album you’re really looking forward to playing live again? And any you’re not.
There are 11 different songs that are exclusively B-sides on the ‘Asleep In The Back’ era. How many of those will you play at the shows.
Talk Talk singer Mark Hollis was famously elusive. Did you ever met him.
Andy Burnham is such an Elbow fan that he used ‘One Day Like This’ in his Makerfield campaign video. How do you think he’ll fare as Prime Minister.
Elbow will play ‘Asleep In The Back’ in full at Manchester Ritz on November 20, 21 and 22. Tickets are available via a fan presale from 10am on Wednesday September 2 by signing up to Elbow’s official mailing list here before they go on general sale on Friday September 4 here.
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