When we announced last year’s NME Radar show at The Wedge, the headliner was a little known artist called La Roux. A few savvy or curious pundits snapped up tickets straight away for what is always an intimate sneak preview of next year’s big names. In the weeks before the show, as acts seem to do these days, La Roux exploded, and a mad scramble for the remaining tickets ensued.

The moral of this story is, the early bird gets to gloat at all the people who don’t manage to get tickets. Here’s what NME have to say about it all;
MANCHESTER’S FINEST LEAD THE NME RADAR TOUR HURTS AND EVERYTHING EVERYTHING GET TOP BILLING
The infamous NME Radar Tour sees the very best in new and innovative talent tear through 13 towns across April and May, giving music fans the chance to see the hottest acts of tomorrow, today!

This time round the top two acts on the bill hail from Manchester - still one of the biggest breeding grounds for music talent in the UK. Hurts and Everything Everything will be picking up where previous Radar tour acts including La Roux, Friendly Fires and Marina and the Diamonds have left off - representing the hottest new music right now.

HURTS are Manchester duo Adam Anderson and Theo Hutchcraft. They wear their influences on their impeccably tailored sleeves, from disco-lento to Twin Peaks to The Righteous Brothers. Their live gigs; expect intensity and emotion. In the words of the NME Radar Editor Jaimie Hodgson, Hurts are “probably the best debut performance I can remember seeing”.

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING have been creating a buzz with their eclectic mix of post-punk guitar; floor-filling bass lines and hints of R&B. Described as ‘unconventional pop at its bravest and best’, the four-piece inspired by everyone from R Kelly to Ezra Pound, will blow audiences away.

Third on the bill is New Yorker DARWIN DEEZ who has managed to confuse and charm in equal measure with his own brand of “happy music for sad people”. Deez along with the three members of his band are certain to bring some craziness to the tour – prepare for them to come on stage to a custom mix of Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Do the Bart Man!

The NME’s New Music Editor Jamie Hodgson said: “The Radar Tour has built an amazing reputation for breaking some of the worlds most important and exciting new artists, with some staggering bills. This line-up is one of the biggest to date. I can’t wait. ”

Fresh from sell-outs dates with EDITORS on their UK tour, THE STRANGE DEATH OF LIBERAL ENGLAND return for their triumphant hometown gig opening the bill on the prestigious NME RADAR TOUR.

http://www.nme.com/