justin currie tour 2023

Justin Currie

• Motion-sickness

"Attention-seeking desperado punting inoffensive balladry"

An introduction to hell.

Welcome to Hell. You can navigate from here to other, more private hells. You will find little in the way of further elucidation there but be my very special guest. In the torrential guff that is the internet you have arrived at a place that is uniquely neither informative nor entertaining, sickening nor aggravating, colourful nor classy, but one that is certainly very, very far from interesting. Feel free to move around within the confines of this dreadful place and when the agony of ennui begins to bite you can always return to Hell.

We slip into Sydney in the damp darkness, dump our load and we’re out. Well, Mardi Gras has just finished…

Goodbye, Christchurch

I can’t get a handle on Christchurch. There are old-time trams on freshly laid tracks. It looks like a…

Auckland, NZ

The plane descends over what looks a heavy Tasman Sea into a thick bank of cloud covering the land…

Show day, Melbourne

I have a stormy sleep and wait in the morning for an interview that never happens. I tap at…

Heading out to St Kilda from the airport we hit our first traffic jam of the trip. We skirt…

Show Day, Brisbane

I have an epic sleep – 2AM through to midday with only one stop for defuelling. I potter about…

Day off, Brisbane

I have a patchy nap after the long morning of circadian chaos. At 1PM I make plans. I’ll head for…

Adelaide to Brisbane

The jet zips up from the scorched runway into the limpid blue. We climb out over the St Vincent…

Perth to Adelaide

After the second show I walk down to the river around midnight. A city of two million people and…

We reunite at arrivals with our long lost colleague, Skip and are quickly at the hotel. It’s balmy out,…

Doha to Perth

After a luxury repast I get horizontal for the rest of the flight. Having put my watch on WA…

Heathrow to Doha

We re-lounge at Heathrow, surrounded by the snooty, the successful, and the sordid all wheeling their valuables around the…

Glasgow to Heathrow

Long haul. The start goes smoothly. Guitars, packed two to a golf bag, are weighed and spirited away on…

I sit in the back lounge listening to Sky and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On until…

We all sleep fractiously after a late leave and a lot of stopping. I slouch off the mothership into…

Copenhagen and Hamburg

I don’t sleep much after 2AM so read until 6 when I finally slip under. I charge off the…

We’re late arriving after getting stuck at the Norway/Sweden border in the middle of the night due to a closed…

The bus brings us into town. This is not the Oslo I remember. It’s all gleaming towers in the…

Like yesterday the venue is nowhere near anywhere. I sniff the air outside the bus. Cool, overcast, intermittent cats…

This is all I saw of Stuttgart.

I peer out of the back lounge window. Dark clouds torn and tattered stir around the sky. Downstairs I…

In Amsterdam

There’s a milky green canal two feet from the door of the bus. I edge tentatively along its edge…

To Amsterdam

I’m sitting in my usual seat in Glasgow airport in a quiet corridor just beyond the scent and shades…

I roll out of my air-con coffin around 1 after a long sleep broken by the odd rattling noise…

To Ostend (We must go on)

The tour bus is waiting for us in a bay right outside Terminal 5. It’s a double-decker with a…

To Guilford and Weyfest

Andy, Jim and I sit gossiping in a taxi, keen to be back at work, preparing ourselves…

To Southampton (When Will Bingo Die?)

I’m to be limo driver this morning as the Glasgow taxi landscape has become increasingly unpredictable since the pandemic…

I was going to start this sentence with the word “so” but I caught myself just in time.…

Belfast, 6th June 2020

Our propeller plane glides southwest down the Firth of Clyde to land with a gentle bump at George…

Just three of us sit in the little van taking us south from dreich Glasgow to (possibly) sunny Durham.…

I sleep till one thirty and head out to meet a friend at the Hall of Fame.…

Warrendale, PA

I’m sitting outside a pizza place situated at an oblique X-shaped intersection and gazing over heavy traffic to a…

Summersville, WV

Burly workmen carry me from my station to a high wall where, in a horrifying initiation ceremony, they mount…

We have a food poisoning casualty in the shape of Iain, who only barely makes it back on for…

Carrboro, NC

I stir at sunrise and sit in the front lounge as the bus pulls into the leafy campus of…

Before we leave for Alexandria at 3AM we drop into the Red Lion opposite the gig where a five…

New York, New Jersey

I cannot muster the enthusiasm to emerge from my cotton sheet cocoon until late afternoon. I make out for…

Toronto and Philadelphia and Boston

The dreaded day off, day of the dead. I open the curtains of my room on the 16th floor…

Milwaukee to St Paul

In Milwaukee I spend a few hours catching up with Bobby T, an original eighty-sixer and friend. We have…

Salina, Kansas

I drop down from my bunk around 6AM, rosy-fingered dawn spreading across the plains. Gary the bus driver pulls…

I have a rough night of it on the bus. Sleep will not swaddle me, it just claws me…

To Salt Lake City

We’re off at 9AM to Utah and after a brief stint in my coffin I make bus coffee and…

Day Off, Boise

BOY-see not BOY-zee says Wikipedia. Well, the streets are immaculately clean and everyone exudes that rural hospitality so typical…

To Seattle and Vancouver and Portland

Today we drive by day for the first time and I stretch out on the leather upholstery of the…

Berkley and Eugene

I drop down from my bunk around 10am. There’s a foul odour in the air. Gary, our trusty driver,…

Back we come overnight from Phoenix to a sodden Hollywood for an early morning check-in prior to the…

After the Canyon Club show we say hi to some old friends in the parking lot before the…

Good morning Hollywood. I crank up the window blind to a foggy scene right out of Chandler. There’s…

The device chirrups at my ear and I click into staring consciousness. It’s 3:30AM. I scrape some marmalade…

In Kirkwall

I draw back the heavy woollen curtains and sunlight streams in like honey. The harbour lies gleaming below my…

Blue, blue as an egg, the sky says spring and my watch says go. I don my two small…

To Southampton

We park up outside the front of the Guildhall and head to catering to discover our chef Sarah has…

Day Off Birmingham

On arrival I chuck my stuff in the room and get out for a wander. I take the canal…

To Dunoon and Oban

A few powder puff clouds hang in a limpid sky and a raptor sails over the first of the…

In Inverness to Perth

After scran I take an amble through the twilight along the river Ness.…

To Inverness

We angle northwest through Aberdeenshire’s rich pasture, autumn a little more advanced up here, patches of foliage coloured…

To Aberdeen

We are debating when we might have played in the granite city last. I wager it was the Music…

Sheffield to Newcastle

I sleep poorly therefore sleep in. But I have my packing honed to a military efficiency and…

Day Off, Manchester

I wander off in early afternoon, sniffing out a few local recommendations. The first thing I do…

Blackpool to York

In the early evening I walk south along the waterfront, the Welsh hills pale in the distance…

To Nottingham and Blackpool

The milky light leaks around the hotel room window blinds and I toy with getting out for a stroll.…

In Cardiff, to Southend

We head straight for the stage door, leaving hotel check-in for later. I scope out the venue and find…

We’re on a day trip to the outskirts of Wigan. Seven days of rehearsals done, we’re decamping south to…

Queens Hall Days Two and Three

And off we set a second day, the weather still madly midsummer. We discuss some changes to the…

Queens Hall Day One

Here’s a white van, glinting on my street, three rows of seats, side door open. We enter the…

Promo Day 2, May 28th, 2021

PROMO DAY 2

To the bathroom, to the bag, to the cab to the radio. Virgin is…

Promo Day 1, May 27 2021

Eebs arrives at the flat at 9am and we commence loading acoustic instruments into the vehicle, which closely…

“I really don’t know if there is hope beyond the black hole; if there…

I’m driving northeast to Nairn, where I am appearing as an unannounced guest at their beer festival. It’s a pub…

Edinburgh, St. Celia’s

I’m playing a “songwriter-in-the-round” charity event in Edinburgh with Ricky Ross, Karine Polwart and old friend Gary Clark. It’s taking…

Changing server

We may lose contact soon.

Everything’s gonna be alright.

So to London, choking snakepit of billionaires. Our abode is way uptown, a barren tower in a morass of roads…

Brighton and Colchester

I’m sitting on the seafront basking in the sun. My bench has a plaque that reads: “FAY HARRIS 1921 -…

To Preston and Nottingham

Bristol, goodbye. Not a cloud to be seen, October at its most beautiful and here we sit, strapped to our…

We approach Bristol from the south, passing black lakes of solar farms. Portishead lies out to the west, a few ships…

We grab some scran on the way out of Cardiff and are soon cruising across the Severn bridge stuffing our…

Farewell Holiday Inn, sterile lodge on the edge of town. Today’s route takes us directly south along A-roads edging the…

We arrive at our hotel outside Chester in good time. There are a few hours of daylight left so I…

We snake towards the motorway through Yorkstone villages, passing a vast estate. The aristocracy are everywhere, like rats or Nando’s.…

To Wakefield

I make my own way back to the hotel after the Glee, amazed to find no restaurants open after 11…

To Birmingham/ Day Off

The infernal chirruping of my phone alarm pokes me into resentful consciousness. It’s 11am but I could cruise the halls…

To Newcastle

Suitcases packed in the back of the Grey Toupee, we build up to escape velocity. England is beckoning. We pick…

To Edinburgh

I come to in my own bed, not yet fully on the road. I set the kettle on its plastic…

To Manchester

As soon as we are on the road Mr. Nisbet christens our vehicle “The Grey Toupee” after a gentleman’s club…

Day Off, Liverpool

Our hotel is a ’70s brown brick building refitted to resemble an art-deco ocean liner. So I went out roaming…

To Liverpool 

White cumuli hang lazily in a milky blue sky as we angle up to Merseyside. Everywhere about us there must…

To Wolverhampton

I investigate my face in the bathroom mirror, pink and pillowy like an eleven-year-old girl’s bedroom. I should put a…

To Pocklington

I wake up in the dark cocoon of my 70s hotel and draw back the vinyl shades to reveal a…

To Holmfirth

The lid of doom is clamped on the country and a porridge of grey prevails. Summer’s over, boys or maybe…

Oh, shit – the sun is shining, shining down on all of bonny green Scotland. What does this portend?…

Crybabies (Shot and edited by Jamie Vincent Gillespie)

https://youtu.be/1h3vS9di0mE

With the encroaching cynicism of middle age, episodes of excitement become increasingly rare. Perhaps a trip to some unvisited country…

This Is My Kingdom Now out today on all capitalist tech outfits

This masterpiece of meh can be retrieved from here in physical form:  https://justincurrie.tmstor.es/

And here in bits:  http://apple.co/2naovtO

And from the tax…

Tour with The Pallbearers announced for October/ November!!!!!!!

Tickets on sale 9:00am on Monday 15th May

See Parades for details.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

I have had a “single”. It’s called Failing To See and it weighs a ton. Here’s a video featuring people…

Separated at Perth?

Perth want me to punt this:

http://www.perthfestival.co.uk/event/justin-currie/

Consider it punted, Perth.

World exclusive. Video of specie cunt on train.

https://youtu.be/MtAAzMV47BY

Trump fucks goat – kittens frolic. An introduction to My Kingdom

https://youtu.be/m4mePqzm5tE

Album release announced via satellite, telegraph, semaphore etc…

Good moaning. I take great pleasure today in announcing the pre-release (whatever the fuck that is) of This Is My…

This Is My Kingdom Now

Link to high-budget video. Directed by Steven Seagull.

https://youtu.be/ab-jjL6fWo0

Short UK jaunt announced

Just added some dates in May/June to support the forthcoming release of This Is My Kingdom Now on Endless Shipwreck…

Leeds to London, November 16th-19th 2014

After four nights in the same hotel in Leeds it’s refreshing to be back…

Selby and Uppermill, November 12th-14th 2014

At last we escape the clutches of the country club with its therapy pool and veneer of hushed sympathy. I…

Norwich, November 11th 2014

Heave-ho, we head out of Bury, swinging round the sugar factory which belches white…

Bexhill-on-Sea, November 8th 2014

By the time we hit Bexhill the warm southern wind is whipping off the channel in swiping gusts. We hear…

To Liverpool, 7th November, 2014

We start at ten. The gear goes in the back, the boys go in the front and we get on…

Phoenix to LA, LA to San Francisco, October 4th – 9th 2014

We load into the van at eleven for the seven hour drive to LA,…

El Paso to Phoenix, October 2nd & 3rd

Another morning, another fucking beautiful day, still in Texas. But not for long. The route out of El Paso hugs…

Dallas to Austin and El Paso, TX, September 1st & 2nd 2014

Texas is a different world, an unimaginable place in, say, Manhattan. It sits culturally…

Dallas, TX, 30th September 2014

In the afternoon of the show I hook up with old friends the Kresses…

Minneapolis to Dallas, September 28th to 30th 2014

We leave the Twin Cities early and are…

Minneapolis, September 27th 2014

We cross the Mississippi four times, once in, once out and twice in the…

Chicago, September 25th 2014

Why do we wave to people on boats? I’m sitting under a high sun…

To Chicago, 24th September 2014

We escape the clutches of the city early in the morning, all the heavy…

To and From Philadelphia, September 22nd 2014

We take a leisurely amble down the 95 to Philly and seem to drive…

New York City, 21st September 2014

Around lunchtime I take a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge dodging through the streams…

To New York, September 20th 2014

Onward up the eastern seaboard we go, the weather consistently glorious. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware,…

To Vienna, VA, September 19th 2014

I awake to the tragedy of my own people rejecting radical change to cling…

To Pittsburgh, September 17th 2014

We are out of Cleveland by 9am, pale blue skies above. There are three…

To Cleveland, OH, September 15th 2014

I am sorry to be leaving Nashville. After last night’s show a pleasant bevy…

To Nashville, September 13th 2014

We lift out through thin fog and reach over Islay’s inner seas, the island…

NYC City Winery

Still tickets left for this show here:

http://www.citywinery.com/newyork/justin-currie-4-22.html .

Hallo good people of USA. Here’s a quick update on the upcoming tour. It’s all up. For debate. Firstly I’m…

Rotterdam to Cologne, January 6th 2014

Hull to rotterdam, jan 5th 2014, tracks of the year 2013.

Here are my tracks of the year, 2013:

Small Plane by Bill Callahan Black Tambourine by Withered Hand Avant Gardener by Courtney…

Bob Harris session, London, December 9th & 10th

I come burning out of the JPR Management Christmas party in a…

Monday 4th of November, 2013

Being the dick that I am, I pride myself on passing pointless…

I NEED YOUR HELP

Women, I need your help. Next…

September 20th 2013

September 17th – 19th 2013, september 14th 2013, 12th september 2013, 11th september, 2013, bend to my will live at kyoti studios.

Brighton, September 9th 2013

We haul out of Cambridge through desultory drips of rain. I have…

Cambridge, September 8th

The broken white lines stream towards me like tracer fire, England in early autumn slides past the van’s windows all…

Bad sports metaphor

As the transfer window closes I find myself sitting in the manager’s office, gold Montblanc in hand, staring down at…

Lolling in bed.

Into A Pearl

Good morning, Fuckers

Out today like a goddamn plague, like a mass escape from the asylum.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/178Q3Tk iTunes: http://smarturl.it/lowerreaches …

This is my ass

I’ll be selling my ass on Thursday at HMV, Buchanan Street in…

Wogan with a guitar

On with Tezza, 11am Radio 2, Sunday 18th singing live with Stu

Back to Gatwick

After an arduous soundcheck trying to fit eleven lines into…

French village

To gatwick and beyond.

My cabbie offers me a pellet of chewing gum, perhaps reacting to the reek…

Whoring Alert

For I shall be a-whoring, next Thursday the 22nd at HMV, Buchanan St, Glasgow. Singing and signing on the week…

Hitler Youth watches Coronation Street

Member of Hitler Youth watching Coronation Street during half-time of Celtic game.

Little Stars

Download this for free now at http://justincurrie.com/little-stars-download New album Lower Reaches released 19th August. Pre-order it and a signed lyric…

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Fatal Mistakes

‘twisted’ reissue out now.

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‘Every Night Has A Dawn’ is OUT NOW!

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Del Amitri tour dates 2024

Del Amitri is currently touring across 3 countries and has 5 upcoming concerts.

Their next tour date is at Royal Arena in Copenhagen, after that they'll be at Zenith, die Kulturhalle in Munich.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (5) See nearest concert

Royal Arena

Zenith, die Kulturhalle

Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod

Scenic Stage, Dreamland

Past concerts

Sportpaleis Antwerpen

View all past concerts

Recent tour reviews

At the end of the 80s, Scottish band Del Amitri released their biggest UK hit, a song called 'Nothing Ever Happens'. The lyrics describe the apathy and futility of day to day life, lyrics which still ring true 25 years later. This year, Del Amitri announced their live return to music, having been split up for ten years. Their shows hold none of the apathy that they sing about in 'Nothing Ever Happens'. Lead singer Justin Currie is a practised show man, the longevity of the band making them an experienced group to see. Despite changes in membership over the years, they still bring a cohesive feel to any stage. Currie's ability to switch from calmer acoustic settings to bigger venues just demonstrates why they are still such an impressive band, even after the ten year break. Often feeling a bit understated, Currie's thick Scottish accent adds an extra dimension to their music through his chatting between songs. Although the band talked about being apprehensive going back to touring after such a long break and at an older age, they show no signs of tiring and whilst their audience may have aged with them, they seem just as excited for the band to be back.

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• But we really hope you love us.

INTERVIEW: Del Amitri – Justin Currie

Australian tour interview.

8 February 2023 Mark Diggins

It’s been 30 years since Del Amitri last played Australia and the host of sold out shows in February shows that either party has forgotten about each other in the interim.  The tour will also see founding members and songwriters Justin Currie (vocals/bass) and Ian Harvie (guitar) reunited with former members Andy Alston (keyboards/accordion), Kris Dillimore (guitar), as well as Jim McDermott (drums).  Touring off the back of their 2021 release ‘ Fatal Mistakes’ , which saw them return to the charts hitting no. 5 in the UK albums charts, it’s bound to be a memorable return. We caught up with Justin Currie to talk about the tour and ask the big questions! 

Mark: Great to see you coming back to Australia again after such a long time I guess the first question must be what did we do wrong last time that made you leave it so long?

Justin: Well you never asked us back!

Mark: (laughs)

Justin: Nobody ever asked us back after 1990! We must have pissed somebody off.

Mark: You open the tour in Perth in just a few short weeks now, I’m not sure if you played the Astor before, but it’s a lovely old theatre with a wonderful sound.

Justin: We did a theatre in Perth before but I’m not sure it was the same one.

Mark: It’s been a while for the band now…

Justin: Just a bit!

Mark: 43 years can you believe it!

Justin: I can believe it! It feels longer!

Justin: It’s a whole lifetime of fun and anxiety.

Mark: What a great way to describe being a working musician! You must have seen so much wonderful music during that time, the start of the 80’s was a wonderfully rich and creative time for music, so much texture, so much variety. What sort of things were you listening to in the early days of the band to get the sound that you had?

Justin: Well in this country there was a famous show on the BBC called The John Peel show which played Alternative Rock, it kind of played everything: a bit of Reggae, a bit of Soul, but with the emphasis of the obscure and the new. And that’s what we kind of came out of, so from about 1978 onwards I was listening to what you would call Punk and Post-Punk  and that’s what we came out of.  There was a record label in Glasgow called postcards that had a kind of Post-Punk DIY aesthetic  and crossed it with a kind of Motown sensibility and that had a huge impact with guys like me at school in the early 80’s.

Mark: So let’s put the pieces together. Why did you choose the bass? Now we all know the bassist is the most important member of the band…

Justin: Absolutely.

Mark: But what led you to it? You mentioned Motown and I love the drive and the basslines that people like James Jameson gave a lot of those old songs.

Justin: Yeah, but to be honest I think the main reason I played the bass Mark was my big sister had a friend who bought a bass that he couldn’t play. He lived in a bedsit and he was worried that it was gonna get stolen so he kept it at my parent’s house. And he was quite happy for me to play it so I had a bass in the house, and also at the time I was listening to a lot of really bass-driven things like ‘Echo and the Bunnymen’ and especially Joy Division. I remember learning all the Joy Division bass-lines from ‘Unknown Pleasures’ which are kind of like very simple lead guitar parts. And I found the bass so much easier than the guitar, I’ve always struggled with the guitar. And also I’m a huge Paul McCartney fan as well, I love melody and his bass-playing. But I think the main reason was just that I got my hands on a brand new Fender Precision and had unlimited use of it.

Mark: A nice instrument. It’s been great to have a new Del Amitri album to listen to ‘Fata Mistakes’ were we just lucky that we had a pandemic?

Justin: No because it was written and recorded before the pandemic, in fact the last day of recording was the first day of the UK lockdown at the end of March 27th or 28th or whatever it was in 2020. So it’s not in any way influenced by the pandemic the only effect the pandemic had on that album was that it took ages to mix because we couldn’t be in the same room as the producer.

Mark: Before we dig into the new record let’s look back to the early days. How do you look back at them now, and did you have a plan?

Justin: Well we learned quite quickly that any plan that you formulated would go disastrously wrong so we gave up designing masterplans in the mid 80’s, or maybe the late 80’s! I sort of think of that early Indie band Del Amitri as a different life. You know, we just looked so different then, we were so…. we were kind of desperate in a lot of ways: desperate to try and be original, desperate to forge our own unique path; and I think we made it quite difficult for ourselves. And it wasn’t until we went to America in 1986 and met a whole load of people who listened to different kinds of music, that we became a bit more relaxed about what we were doing, and threw out the rule book and kind of followed our noses a wee bit, and didn’t worry so much about writing songs that sounded like somebody else. So we started to relax and grow our hair towards the end of the 80’s and everything became a lot easier.

Mark: Was there label pressure constantly throughout that period to make you sound a certain way or fit their ideas about you?

Justin: Yeah there was on the first album with Chrysalis, that first album didn’t do anything commercially but they picked up the option on the second album and then tried to mold us into something that we couldn’t really be and that was extremely painful. We then… we went on strike! (laughs)

Justin: We went on strike because they were forcing us to write Pop songs that we weren’t capable of doing. We staged a sit-in, we got some fans to stage a sit-in at the Record Company offices in the West End of London. And when the Record Company heard of that they very quickly got rid of us which was the plan all along. so that worked! And then after we left Chrysalis we spent a few years in the wilderness just kind of reconfiguring who we were and what we were doing.

Mark: I love how a mythology has grown up over the years about the name Del Amitri, from obscure Greek translations to Ice Cream men, what’s the real story?

Justin: Well there is no real story it’s just a made up name t sound a bit foreign. We liked the idea of calling ourselves Dimitri Gonzalez or something, we thought it sounded like a Mexican Cruise Ship singer or something.

Mark: I’ve seen him he was sensational! (laughs)

Justin: (laughs) And that idea just morphed into Del Amitri, and it’s quite weird because in the late 80’s and early 90’s there were loads of bands with ‘Del’ in their names. The Del Vikings and the Del-Lords and the Delgardos and I’m sure there were more. So you would go to Record Shops in the United States and there would be all these ‘Del’ bands, so there must have been something in the air in the early 80’s that this word ‘Del’ just got adopted by various different Indie groups.

Mark: It is something I shall have to look into and report back on! (laughs)

Justin: (laughs)

Mark: I was just watching the live DVD the other day ‘Every Night has a Dawn’ are things like that going to be available on the tour? It’s been hard to find over here.

Justin: That’s on a DVD that we did last summer – we shot a couple of nights of Barrowlands concerts, then we put some extra acoustic songs on the DVD. I guess it might be available online somewhere.

Mark: I shall track it down and let the good people of Australia now, it’s well worth a watch.

Justin: Than you.

Mark: Now let’s get down to the serious stuff – if you could have been a ‘fly on the wall’ for the creation of any album in the history of rock and roll what would you have like to have seen being made – just to see how the magic happened?

Justin: I would like to have been in the control room for the recording of ‘Hard Day’s Night’ which I regard as the greatest Beatles record that they made. Just because it would have happened so fast and most of it was played live. I think it would have been incredibly exciting watching these four people move from being a pretty crazy rock band to be something else entirety – a Brill Building meets Folk meets Elvis kind of thing. And just to watch them record the first suite of songs that were all self-written as well. That would have been quite amazing I think. Just to watch those Abbey Road engineers in their white coats moving big levers about you know (laughs)

Mark: It’s incredible when you think about it and everyone has their own particular period for The Beatles and I guess a lot of that comes from what you heard first. We get a lot of musicians who answer with a Beatles album but it tends to be towards the end of their career like Sergeant Pepper.

Justin: I do go through periods when I really adore Sergeant Pepper but the last time I listened to Sergeant Pepper I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous time I listened to it in fact a couple of things really annoyed me about it, but I expect the next time I listen to it I’ll absolutely love it again.

Justin: I had a couple of years where I was completely obsessed by the ‘White Album’, I just couldn’t stop listening to it which is strange because it’s such a strange disturbing record in a lot of ways. Full of sarcasm and satire and kind of hellish expressions of disillusionment and alienation. But ‘Hard Day’s Night’ for me is just so perfect and to me it’s also the one that’s most dominated by John in a really good way, not in a self-indulgent ‘oh woe is me’ way. It’s a very positive record but it’s also very full of pain and a kind of anguish in a very accessible way. I just think it’s perfect from start to finish ‘Hard Day’s Night’.

Mark: Certainly right up there with the best records of that great decade. Let’s wind it all the way back now:- when was it in your life that you realized that music was going to play such an important role? I know some always know, some stumble into it and some have a defining moment. what was it for you?

Justin: Well I was always kind of musical. I sang a lot around the house and I sang to records a lot even when I was quite young – about eight or nine. I would learn the lyrics to a whole album. I listened to a lot of Cole Porter, I remember ‘Ella Fitzgerald sings the Cole Porter songbook’ – my mum had a reel-to-reel of that. But it wasn’t until Punk happened that I thought music was a cool thing, before that all the local bands, the guys were just idiots. They were playing Led Zeppelin covers to impress girls which I just thought was so uncool.

Justin: And they weren’t very good, and they were trying to do all these complicate things they weren’t capable of. Whereas Punk was all self-expression and being: making art for art’s sake and saying what you wanted to say without being a virtuoso, or without being particularly skilled at anything. Punk Rock really opened the door for me and everybody that I know that is in music now is in music because Punk said “Anybody can do this and you don’t need to be a virtuoso”.

Mark: Do you think that your writing has changed much over time, particularly with regards the things that you want to write about? The lyrical themes?

Justin: Yeah, I mean my writing has probably changed less that I would perceive it having changed. The subject matter definitely changes in that as you get older you’re not writing to impress as much I donlt think. I think when you’re young you’re writing to try and dazzle people. You use a lot of wordplay and you write a lot more words (laughs) and you try and inject a lot of energy and intelligence in what you do. Whereas when you’re older you’re just trying to get ‘feeling’ out a bit more – you try and get emotions out. And I guess it depends what you listen to – the stuff I’ve been listening to in the last 20 years is a lot slower and probably more expressive than what I was listening to when I was in my teens. And also you wrote about adult themes – you write about disease and dying and regret and loss, and you just haven’t experienced those things when you’re a teenager.

Mark: You’re right, things change so much as you get older and it’s great to see those themes change over time as a fan looking in. We always tend to close our first chat with the easiest question of the evening

Justin: Oh good.

Mark: What is the meaning of life?

Justin: (laughs) I have been pondering that a lot recently, I have to keep reminding myself there is no meaning and the search for meaning is illusory and utterly futile. I think older people do tend to think about that question. Because they go through more stuff  they do tend to start clutching around for meaning, and I repeat myself, you have to remind yourself it is completely pointless. So just try and enjoy the day.

Mark: A great sentiment to leave with. Over 14 years I’ve asked over 400 people that question, and I’m slowly getting there!

Mark: Thank you so much for your time, it’s been great to talk to you.

Justin: My pleasure Mark.

Mark: I shall be photographing you on the night so I shall see you soon.

Justin: I will give you some good poses.

Mark: (laughs) Thank you! It’s funny because I was just talking about photographing bands and how some come out and it’s all dark for three songs and others come out like Kiss and they just pose for the first three songs.

Justin: (laughing)

Mark: So I shall be expecting you to come out more like Kiss.

Justin: Yeah I think that’s definitely not gonna happen! (laughs)

Justin: Having seen Kiss and watching them appear out of a Sphinx’s mouth, that will never be topped!  (laughs)

Mark: (laughs) You’ve still got two weeks to come up with something.

Justin: That’s not fair it’s in my mind now! (laughs)

Mark: Thanks Justin, safe trip!

Justin: Thanks Mark.

Del Amitri 2023 Australian tour

Astor Theatre, Perth: Thursday February 16

Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide: Saturday February 18

Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane: Tuesday February 21

Palais Theatre, Melbourne: Thursday February 23

Enmore Theatre, Sydney: Tuesday February 28

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LIVE: DEL AMITRI – Perth, WA, 15 Feb 2023

LIVE: DEL AMITRI – Perth, WA, 15 Feb 2023 With Vancool, The Astor Theatre, Perth, Western Australia – Wednesday, 15 February 2023 Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar Photography by Stu McKay

It’s been thirty-three years since del Amitri’s last visit to our sunny shores, and the love for the Scottish band is enough to have scored them this extra show, tacked on at the start of the tour. That means they’re playing to a slightly less-than-full house to start their Aussie run, but the warm reception more than makes up for the few empty seats up the back.

Dion Mariani’s newish outfit Vancool open the night’s entertainment with a lively and impassioned set of sunshiny and jangly guitar pop, with hints of Britpop and garage influences. It’s impossible to mention this talented young man without referencing his revered uncle Dom, shining light of The Stems, The DM3, The Someloves, Datura4 and more: the musical Force is strong in this family.

Already well known to supporters of local bands through The Flairz, Custom Royal, et al, Dion is a born entertainer yet still showed a lot of grace and humility on stage, congratulating his parents on their wedding anniversary, and admitting how thrilled the band were to be playing the gorgeous old Astor Theatre.

The lights dim and with zero ado Iain Harvey and Justin Currie deliver a sweetly subdued When You Were Young, then with a change of guitars and Harvie shaking his flowing locks out of his man bun they launch into the meaty riff of excellent new track Musicians & Beer.

There’s a lot of new material in tonight’s set, showcasing latest album Fatal Mistakes, their first in almost twenty years. At one point Currie admits that they don’t mind if you go to the bar during these less-familiar tracks, but having done due diligence our investment in the new record pays off in spades, and there’s no hint of new stuff versus old stuff: it’s all just del Amitri stuff, and damn fine stuff at that.

It’s the Currie and Harvie show, really: they’ve kept del Amitri alive through the years, though they’re ably supported by new drummer Jim McDermott, guitarist Kris Dollimore (a founding member of The Godfathers, which may explain his suit, tie, and sunglasses on-stage combo, he’s been with del Amitri since 1997), and long-time keys & accordion player Andy Alston, who joined in 1989.

If Currie chooses to let his voice do the heavy lifting, he’s more than entitled. His vocals, even thirty-plus years after their biggest hits, are warm and resonant. If anything, they’re more nuanced, like a warm hug from a loved one.

Kiss This Thing Goodbye gets dancers up and the audience choir in full voice, which is not bad for a breakup song, and it’s only after this track that Currie finally addresses the audience directly.

“It’s lovely to be here, lovely to see you, and all that patronising shit.” It serves to break the ice and perhaps help him out of his shell, and although never approaching garrulous he does interact more from this point.

There’s a warmth, a deep soulfulness, which sets del Amitri above most of their contemporaries, and there’s nowhere that is more evident than when seeing the band live. The musicians and even their road crew are so well-honed they hit the sweet spot where being well-rehearsed and also spontaneous co-exist in perfect harmony.

“This song is much too fast to play in your fifties,” Currie quips of Roll To Me, before jokingly asking Harvie “should I do some drugs, Iain?”

Turns out the song is exactly fast enough: lively and engaging, and of course Currie delivers it seemingly effortlessly.

Tremendous run throughs of Spit In The Rain and Stone Cold Sober finish the main set, before amassed stomping and chanting bring the quintet back on stage for a genuinely moving Empty followed by Gone In A Second, the latter of which is a rarity from the Fatal Mistakes sessions of which Currie declares they’d “never played this one in front of an audience.”

It sounded great from our seats, but the singer notes good humouredly, “as long as we start at the same time, finish at the same time, who gives a fuck what happens in between?”

Old favourite Nothing Ever Happens, one of del Amitri’s biggest chart hits, has The Astor Theatre choir in full voice, before another great newie, I’m So Scared Of Dying. The entire band down tools apart from Alston’s accordion for a semi-acapella Be My Downfall, ending the night as they started it, semi-acoustically.

We simply couldn’t have hoped for a better del Amitri gig, even all these years later, and the band couldn’t have hoped for a better response to their first Antipodean show in thirty-three years. If we could go back again for night two and experience it all again, we would.

Setlist: When You Were Young Musicians & Beer All Hail Blind Love Always The Last To Know Not Where It’s At Kiss This Thing Goodbye It Might As Well Be You Mockingbird, Copy Me Now Driving With The Brakes On Missing Person Move Away, Jimmy Blue Roll To Me You Can’t Go Back Here and Now This Side Of The Morning Before The Evening Steals The Afternoon Spit In The Rain Stone Cold Sober

Empty Gone In A Second Nothing Ever Happens I’m So Scared Of Dying Be My Downfall

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Justin Currie

Scottish singer/songwriter, most famous for his role as founder member of popular rock group Del Amitri, writing many of their biggest hits, including more...

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Justin Currie. Were you there?

• Nov 30 2023 Edinburgh, Usher Hall Blazin' Fiddles Justin Currie, Soundhouse Choir
• Sep 22 2019 Aberdeen Music Hall True North - Rip It Up Live! Justin Currie, King Creosote, Clare Grogan, Richard Jobson, C Duncan…
• Nov 02 2017 London, The Jazz Cafe Justin Currie
• Nov 01 2017 London, The Jazz Cafe Justin Currie
• Oct 31 2017 Colchester Arts Centre Justin Currie
• Oct 30 2017 Hove, The Old Market Justin Currie
• Oct 28 2017 Nottingham, The Rescue Rooms Justin Currie
• Oct 27 2017 Justin Currie
• Oct 26 2017 Bristol Beacon Justin Currie
• Oct 24 2017 Exeter Phoenix Justin Currie

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Scotland's Blazin’ Fiddles & Justin Currie Countdown To Special St Andrew’s Day Concert In Edinburgh

By Megan Routledge. Photo Credit: Sean Purser.

Scotland’s most celebrated fiddle band Blazin’ Fiddles will be joined by special guests Justin Currie of Del Amitri and Edinburgh’s Soundhouse Choir , for an exciting Saint Andrew’s Day celebration at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on Thursday 30th November 2023.

The award-winning band celebrating 25 years of touring and recording comprises musical royalty with Jenna Reid, Bruce MacGregor, Rua Macmillan and Kristan Harvey on fiddle alongside Anna Massie on guitar and fiddle and Angus Lyon on piano.

The six-piece hope this will be the first in a series of eponymous concerts held annually to celebrate Scotland’s national day. Each member of Blazin’ Fiddles draws a distinct flavour of music from their part of the Highlands and Islands. Blending solo and ensemble sets with the occasional insightful tale, they come together in a fiery blend to deliver an encapsulating and musically uplifting evening of entertainment.

Founding member and lead vocalist of legendary Scottish alternative rock band Del Amitri, Justin Currie will be joining the band to perform. Justin Currie was born in Glasgow in 1964, forming indie/post-punk band Del Amitri in 1980 while at school. After being joined by guitarist and sometime farmer Iain Harvie in 1982, Currie and Del Amitri released their self-titled debut album in 1985, going on to have several radio hits throughout the 1990s. Del Amitri, reforming for a UK tour in 2014 eventually released their seventh studio album, Fatal Mistakes in 2021. 2023 saw the band continue to perform live, appearing in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US. Currie lives in Glasgow with a cat called Rita and enjoys sitting about watching football and the films of Alfred Hitchcock on his television.

Opening the concert before sharing the stage with Blazin’ Fiddles and Justin Currie will be The Soundhouse Choir. Run by The Soundhouse Organisation, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose mission is to promote independent live music, the choir was founded in 2016 as a collaboration with choir leader Heather Macleod. Originally from the Isle of Lewis, and now based in Edinburgh, Heather is well known as a teacher and performer, having performed with various acts including The Eliza Carthy Big Band. The Soundhouse Choir is a large community choir where all are welcome to share their voices and love of music.

Bruce MacGregor of Blazin’ Fiddles, said: “We think St Andrew’s Day deserves a real celebration, so we’re bringing together some of Scotland’s finest musicians and voices for one night only. We’re honoured to be joined by the incredibly talented Justin Currie and the wonderful voices of the Soundhouse Choir for what’s shaping up to be a great night of live music in the iconic Usher Hall.”

Heather Macleod, choir leader of The Soundhouse Choir, said: “We are beyond delighted and excited to return to Edinburgh’s stunning Usher Hall for the second time this year as guests of Blazin’ Fiddles for a very special concert for St Andrew’s Night. We can’t wait to share the stage with them as well as Justin Currie - it’s going to be epic!”

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Del Amitri’s Justin Currie Reveals Parkinson Diagnosis

by Paul Cashmere on March 6, 2024

Justin Currie of Del Amitri has revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and has agreed to discuss the condition with the BBC this weekend.

Currie was diagnosed two years ago just before the Del Amitri world tour, which brought the band to Australia in 2023 for the first time since 1990.

Watch the Noise11 interview with Justin Currie:

A post at the Del Amitri socials reads:

We expect by now you will have read the stories about Justin’s diagnosis with Parkinsons. This coming Sunday March 10th, Justin will be interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on her BBC One show. Tune in at 9am GMT. On Sunday afternoon, Justin narrates his own story of the diagnosis, and how it has affected his life, in a new 30 minute documentary called ‘Tremolo’ on BBC Radio 4. Listen live from 4:30pm, or shortly after broadcast at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001x49y

In 2021 Del Amitri released ‘Fatal Mistakes’, their first album in 19 years. Their first hit was ‘Kiss This Thing Goodbye’ in 1990.

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Del Amitri singer: I want Parkinson’s to make the choice to end my touring days

Justin Currie has said that he wants his degenerative illness Parkinson’s to make the decision on whether he should stop touring.

The Del Amitri lead singer and Scottish musician, 59, revealed his diagnosis earlier this month.

He has been struggling to play his band’s hit song Nothing Ever Happens, which he told the Sunday Times Weekend magazine you need “quite a strong arm” for, and has continued to tour.

Currie said: “You also need a relaxed wrist but I couldn’t do two things at once. If I tried, I’d lose the grip on the plectrum (and) get stuck in the strings. You just become more and more of an amateur. Your body’s like this.”

He says calling his Parkinson’s tremor, a “shake” sounds “horrific” so he has named it Gavin to give him some control over the condition, which causes parts of the brain to become progressively damaged over many years.

Currie also said it is “a way of humanising the thing inside you that’s not human because the disease feels like some kind of nemesis”.

Despite continuing to perform, he says that there is “nothing dignified, at any age, in bopping about on stage, singing your own lyrics and desperately trying to get people to watch you”.

He added: “So I don’t mind losing my dignity in the sense of the Parkinson’s affecting me.

“As long as I’m not driven by some mad obsession to keep going, which I’m not.”

Explaining why he thinks Parkinson’s should make that decision, he said it “would be utterly heartbreaking so, (I want to) let Gavin be the one to say it.

“Gavin goes, ‘Nah, I ain’t playing!’ Then, fine, I’m done.”

He also said that he was not “horrified” by knowing about Parkinson’s as he was aware of his symptoms due to Back To The Future film series star Michael J Fox disclosing details of living with the condition.

Scottish comedian Sir Billy Connolly and Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne have also been diagnosed with the disease.

Currie revealed his condition on BBC Radio 4’s Tremolo documentary programme on March 10 and was interviewed by BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

Del Amitri formed in Glasgow in 1980, have had six albums in the top 10 in the UK albums chart.

According to the NHS website, Parkinson’s is characterised by involuntary shaking of parts of the body, as well as slow movement and stiff muscles, is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra.