Rich & Strange – the finale

The final instalment of ‘Rich & Strange: The Return of the CUD Band’ is ahoy, and it’s a marathon 10-page chapter presented in a special wraparound cover by regular dream artist Philip Bond, with stage lighting by colourist Lee Loughridge.

Next Wednesday, you’ll find Black Crown Quarterly #4 in all good comic-book stores. Look for the big shiny Carl on the cover. Part 4 features Old Carl and Will’s plans to escape Dying Embers and thwart Mike’s plans to replace them with a younger, more handsome band. Plus, CUD’s first Peel session, secret drummer tips, the cursed van and Gogs at last! The mag also features the final part of Rob Davis’ ‘Tales of the Black Crown’ and a special ‘Hey, Amateur!’ by Will Potter and Katie Shelly. Enjoy this exclusive preview of the goodies ahead.Black Crown Quarterly #4 is out Wednesday October 3. We’ll bring some copies on next month’s tour too.

 

 

CUD return to Shiiine On Weekender

New CUD date alert!

In what is becoming something of a happy annual fixture for us, the band are returning to play the Shiiine On Weekender in November by popular demand!

Following our ‘Good Ones’ tour of October/November, CUD are joining the Saturday November 17 line-up which is headlined by Ocean Colour Scene. Other big acts on the weekend bill include Orbital, Shed Seven, Sleeper and Peter Hook.

The venue once again is Butlin’s massive Minehead Arena. Tickets can be bought here.

And don’t forget to use the promo code NCB10 for a discounted rate.

Shiiine On is a fantastic event and we can’t wait to return. See you in November!

CUD ‘Good Ones’ Tour supports revealed

Turn up early for the CUD tour dates. We have some great support acts lined up.

First up, our friends Jack Adaptor will be playing three dates:

Fri October 26 Manchester Night & Day

Sat October 27 Leicester The Shed

and Sat November 10 London O2 Islington Academy

If you don’t already know, Jack Adaptor feature former Family Cat vocalist Paul Frederick with guitarist Christopher Cordoba. They have a brilliant new album ‘The Spoiler Versions’ out now. Here’s a taster.

Click here for more info.

Post-punk Leicester legends Yeah Yeah Noh, who reformed in 2010, are supporting us in Birmingham.

Fri November 2 Birmingham Castle & Falcon

Click here for the band’s FaceBook page.

and finally, Fri November 9 Leeds Wardrobe, 

we have the excellent Galaxians, who some of you may have seen play before CUD at Wakefield Long Division.

Click here for more on the band.

Leeds will also have the benefit of DJ Templehead at the decks.

We look forward to seeing you all in October/November!

Talking Music and Comics ‘tour’

Want to know more about the creative process behind the CUD ‘Rich & Strange’ comic strip, or hear some hoary tales of the band’s adventures in space and time?

Well, Will and Carl are going on a two-day talkie tour of sorts.

On Saturday 14 July both Carl and Will are joining “Twisting my Memory, Man”, a two-day programme of talks, performances and a chance to chat with like-minded music fans and readers.

Will and Carl will be discussing their comic strip Rich and Strange: The Return of the CUD Band (published in Black Crown Quarterly), plus Tom Hingley of the Inspiral Carpets will be opening the event on the Friday with a talk about his own memoir Carpet Burns.

The event takes place at the Students’ Union, York St John University.
For more info and tickets, click here.

On Thursday 19 July, Will will be at Graphic Brighton, with The Meow Meows’ Danny Noble and Howlround’s Robin the Fog, talking about their crossover interest in music and comics before a screening of Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated, the classic 1968 zombie movie reinterpreted by 100 artists with a new live soundtrack DJed by Robin the Fog.

The free event takes place at 7pm at The Phoenix, Brighton.
For more info and free tickets, click here.

CUD 2018 Tour Dates are here!

Yes, CUD are heading back on the road again!
No gimmicks. No theme. No anniversary. CUD are playing ALL their best songs.

These are the dates for your diary.
Tickets are on sale from Friday 1st June 9am:

Fri October 26 Manchester Night & Day

Sat October 27 Leicester The Shed

Thu November 1 Newcastle Riverside

Fri November 2 Birmingham Castle & Falcon

Sat November 3 Glasgow O2 ABC 2

Fri November 9 Leeds Wardrobe

Sat November 10 London O2 Islington Academy

Click on the dates for ticket-site links. Spread the word!

CUD Long Division venue and times

We can now reveal the times and venue of our show at next month’s Wakefield Long Division Festival.

CUD will be playing on Saturday 2nd June at Warehouse 23 from 19.45 to 20.35. Long Division have provided a handy Clashfinder tool to help you work out who to watch and when.
Click here to check all times and performers.

And, here’s another reminder that you can pay what you like and download the Division Five album for a taster of many of the acts at this year’s festival, including CUD’s own ‘Superstar’. Well worth purchasing, with all proceeds going to Wakefield’s branch of the Samaritans.
The album is here.

This year’s Long Division is the fastest-selling ever but a few tickets are still available. Click here for details.

See you in three weeks!

 

Carl and Will at Portsmouth Comic Con

Will and Carl will be attending this weekend’s Portsmouth Comic Con along with Black Crown supremo Shelly Bond, partner-in-crime/Rich And Strange artist Philip Bond and the Punks Not Dead team, David Barnett and Martin Simmonds.

Shelly, Philip, Will, David and Martin will be in Panel Room 2 on Sunday at 3pm, to exclusively reveal new Black Crown art and titles, hopefully including a first glimpse of Rich and Strange track 4. And, there will be swag handed out to the early comers, including limited-edition Rich and Strange postcards, above.

Carl will only be around on the Saturday so he’ll miss the panel but he’ll be hanging out with the team on Day One. Keep an eye out for him. And don’t forget to bring copies of Black Crown Quarterly to get them signed.

For more information on Portsmouth Comic Con, click here.

CUD share track for Division Five

Ahead of June’s Long Division Festival in Wakefield, an album featuring 33 of the artists appearing (including CUD, Charlotte Hatherley and the Lovely Eggs) is now available to stream and download on a name-your-price basis, with all proceeds in aid of Wakefield’s branch of the Samaritans. Cover artwork, above by John Welding.

Click here to find out more and order.

Rich & Strange 2.5 out this week

Black Crown Quarterly #3 is out this week (Weds April 18) with the next instalment of ‘Rich & Strange: The Return of the CUD Band’. It’s a shorter episode this time – Track 2.5 – due to the talented Mr Philip Bond’s other many commitments (in the same mag) but, fear not, as Issue #4 promises a bumper episode wrapping up the saga soon.

Track 2.5 reveals Mike Dunphy’s secret machinations that involve these four familiar urchins…

Plus, as well as the comic strip, Carl exposes his taste in literature, music, spirits and eggs (?!?)…

And these familiar garments make an appearance…

Black Crown Quarterly #3 also includes Rob Davis’ continuing Tales from the Black Crown Pub, a Kid Lobotomy spin-off, a ghost tour of Canon St (c/o Tini Howard and R&S illustrator Philip Bond), two features by Leah Moore, plus previews of Punks Not Dead and upcoming new title Euthanauts.

Look out for this alluring cover by Dilraj Mann in your local comic-book emporium from Wednesday.

More info from Black Crown, here.

And you can order digital copies of BCQ 3 here.

CUD at sea and Carl on air

Thanks to everyone who joined the Shiiine cruise this month. Calm seas, a friendly atmosphere and great music made it unforgettable.
Thanks to ‘The Cobbie’ who captured a few memories on video, below.

Yesterday, Carl got together with fellow Shiiine cruise act The Farm’s Peter Hooten, and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s Jonn Penney to talk about the trip, plans for the year, and to rate the week’s new music on Steve Lamacq’s Round Table.

You can listen to the show for the next 29 days, here.