Canadian retro-rockers The Sheepdogs have announced a European tour for 2022. The tour kicks off on February 3 in Hondarribia, Spain, and climaxes 23 dates later in Bristol, UK, on March 6. Full dates below.
The announcement comes as The Sheepdogs release the No Simple Thing EP, the first new material from the band – last seen on UK shores at the Black Deer Festival in Kent in 2019 – since the previous year's Changing Colours album.
The Sheepdogs released the first song from the EP, Keep On Loving You, at the beginning of the month. A song with glam-flecked groove, our Tracks Of The Week feature described Keep On Loving You as "gloriously upbeat, with gorgeous harmonies, Allmans-style twin guitar harmonies, and a chorus built for drunken wedding parties." The band released a live video of Keep On Loving You last week. Watch below.
The EP was recorded in Montreal last summer at Frank Marino's Mixart Studios, which has played host in the past to the likes of U2, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Martha Wainwright and, uhm, Samantha Fox.
“This is the longest we've gone without writing, performing and recording together since we started the band 17 years ago," says Sheepdogs frontman Ewan Currie, who also produced the EP. "We've never really taken a break or long pauses so it was very foreign to us and was amazing when we could finally get together and make something together.
"It was really important to us that we did it in a studio that allowed us to all play together and really have that energy in the room, similar to when we play live. That's why Mixart was such a great studio, and I think our excitement and energy really shows through on these songs."
The Sheepdogs have also announced an online party to celebrate the release of No Simple Thing. The event will take place via Zoom at 8pm EDT this evening (that's 1am Saturday morning in the UK, timezone fans), and will feature a live Q&A with the band, some surprises, and an attempt to break the world record for most beers shotgunned at once. Free tickets are available now.
In other Sheepdogs-related news, the spinoff project Bros (rhymes with 'toes', not 'toss', we presume) founded by Ewan Currie and younger brother Shamus, released Theme From Bros earlier this month. It's a cinematic, Starsky & Hutch-style instrumental with an animated video featuring Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and U2 frontman Bono.
No Simple Thing is available to order from the band's webstore now.
The Sheepdogs - European Tour 2022
Feb 03: Hondarribia Psilocybenea Aretoa, Spain
Feb 04: Santander Stage, Spain
Feb 05: Madrid Sala Mon Live, Spain
Feb 06: Barcelona La Nau, Spain
Feb 09: Zurich Bogen F, Switzerland
Feb 10: Munich Electricity, Germany
Feb 11: Vienna Scene, Austria
Feb 12: Prague Chapeau Rouge, Czech Republic
Feb 14: Warsaw Hydrozagadka, Poland
Feb 15: Berlin Frannz Club, Germany
Feb 17: Hamburg Knust, Germany
Feb 18: Copenhagen Musikkens Hus, Denmark
Feb 19: Oslo John Dee, Norway
Feb 20: Stockholm Nalen Klubb, Sweden
Feb 23: Cologne Helios 37, Germay
Feb 24: Amsterdam Melkweg, Netherlands
Feb 25: Antwerp Trix, Belgium
Feb 26: Paris Gibus Live, France
Feb 28: Birmingham The Castle and Falcon, UK
Mar 01: Leeds The Wardrobe, UK
Mar 02: Glasgow Oran Mor, UK
Mar 04: Manchester YES (The Pink Room), UK
Mar 05: London Lafayette, UK
Mar 06: Bristol Thekla, UK
