news last updated 9th October '03

B&S Webchat

Mick & Stevie are doing a webchat tomorrow (Thursday) night for the Vic & Gill programme on BBC Radio One. You can ask questions now by visiting the Radio One website here.


The Glasgow Album Launch Party ...

... was an absolute blast!!! Thanks again to Stephen, Tam & the Johnny 7, Dep, Craig and all the other lovely people at Monorail and Mono for organising it. If you're interested in seeing some pix from the fabulous karaoke, head on over to Glasgow based photographer Stuart Reidman's site. The band also signed copies of the album for Mono so if you fancy a signed copy of the CD or LP, get down there as soon as you can!


UK & US tour dates!

Please scroll down for details of the just announced UK & US tour dates for the autumn ...
The UK dates have changed due to problems with the venue in Bradford, please see the confirmed FINAL details below.
We've also added a show in St. Paul, MN for the US dates, please see the confirmed FINAL routing below.


New website to launch this weekend!

We've been working on it for months but it should all hopefully go live this weekend! In the meantime, why not take a peek at our microsite for the new album at Dear Catastrophe Waitress. It's got a wee waitress game, snippets of the new tunes on the record and some notes from the band on the songs. It'll bring you back to this site eventually, and was made by the lovely people at smalloranges


B&S release new album!

'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' Sleeve


Belle and Sebastian's sixth album "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" will be released by Rough Trade Records in the UK/Europe on October 6th 2003 on CD and Gatefold Double Vinyl. The track listing is as follows:-

Step Into My Office, Baby
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
If She Wants Me
Piazza, New York Catcher
Asleep On A Sunbeam
I'm A Cuckoo
You Don't Send Me
Wrapped Up In Books
Lord Anthony
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
Roy Walker
Stay Loose

The album will be released in the US by Rough Trade America on October 7th, in Japan by Toshiba-EMI on September 29th, in Brasil by Trama on October 6th and in Australia by Spunk Records on October 6th.

We've got a series of promo nights around the UK to promote the album, for more info please see below ...


DVD compilation

'Fans Only' Sleeve


Belle and Sebastian's "Fans Only" retrospective DVD compilation will be released by Jeepster Recordings in the UK/Europe on October 20th 2003, catalogue number JPRDVD001.

The DVD is a record of the development of Belle & Sebastian during their time with Jeepster, from '...Sinister' to 'Storytelling'. Featuring videos, live performances, interviews, out-takes, tv appearances, early documentary footage, exclusive material and behind the scenes insights into the evolution of the band. It was compiled by Glasgow-based film maker Blair Young and the band over the last 8 months and will now only be released on DVD, and not VHS too as originally decided.

For details of your distributor of the DVD please visit the *new* Jeepster website.

Details regarding the first single to be taken from "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" coming soon.


New single!

Belle and Sebastian release "Step Into My Office, Baby" as a single through Rough Trade Records on November 17th 2003. It features two new songs as b-sides - "Love On The March" and "Desperation Made A Fool Of Me. Hopefully by now you will have seen the video to "Step Into My Office, Baby" either on the telly or streamed online like on this page . The video was written and directed by Graham Linehan (who was one-half of the writers for "Father Ted" and "Black Books") and features Richard in amusingly compromising situations as an office worker! The single will be released on 7", enhanced CD featuring the video and DVD single.


Rough Trade 25th Anniversary album

Belle & Sebastian have contributed a track to the forthcoming Rough Trade 25th Anniversary album "Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before…" and have recorded a fabulous cover of the Young Marble Giants track "Final Day". The Anniversary album is released by RT UK on October 20th and RT USA on October 7th and is only £5 / $9.98 - what a bargain!! The record also features covers of old RT artists songs by current RT artists including our mates The Tyde (covering Galaxie 500), Adam Green (YMG too), British Sea Power (also Galaxie 500) and The Delays (Mazzy Star).


Dear Catastrophe Waitress album promo nights & Uni lunchtime playbacks in the UK

We've been busy coming up with new and exciting ways for you to enjoy the record. Unfortunately all the following events are UK based, but if you're planning anything in your home town, let me know and we'll tell everyone about it!

At the following club nights, selected tracks from the new album will be played and there will also be giveaways of the record and other promo bits and bobs on the night too. Click here for a list of the clubs and dates.

Also, at the following Universitys, during the week of October 6th the album will be played during lunchtimes @ the Uni, so go take a listen at Edinburgh University, London ULU, Newcastle University, Leeds Metropolitan, Manchester Metropolitan, Cardiff University, Liverpool University, Norwich UEA, Glasgow University and Bristol University.


Concerts

Details of all Belle & Sebastian's confirmed forthcoming shows with ticket information are listed below. As soon as any further gigs are confirmed, they will appear here, and the details will be announced to the mailing list.

We are pleased to announce the following confirmed tour dates for Belle & Sebastian for the rest of 2003.



October 2003 (Click on the name of the city for ticket details)

October 26th Atlanta GA The Tabernacle - Also playing are special guests Slumber Party
October 27th Durham NC Carolina Theatre - Also playing are special guests Slumber Party
October 28th Washington DC 9.30 Club - Also playing are special guests Slumber Party
October 30th Chicago, IL Congress Theatre - Also playing are special guests The Hidden Cameras
October 31st St. Paul, MN Fitzgerald Theatre - Also playing are special guests The Hidden Cameras


November 2003 (Click on the name of the city for ticket details)

November 2nd Austin, TX The Backyard - Also playing are special guests Spoon
November 4th Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 5th St. Louis, MO The Pageant - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 6th Columbus, OH Mershon Auditorium - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 7th Detroit, MI State Theatre - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 8th Toronto, ON Massey Hall - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 10th & 11th New York, NY Town Hall - Also playing on the 10th are special guests Rasputina
November 12th Northampton, MA Calvin Theatre - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 13th Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre - Also playing are special guests Rasputina
November 14th Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre - Also playing are special guests Rasputina


December 2003 (Click on the name of the city for ticket details)


All UK tickets are £16.00 each except for London which are £17.50 each.

The Bradford show originally scheduled for December 12th has been cancelled due to venue problems. A show in Sheffield has been organised for December 2nd and all tickets originally purchased for the Bradford show are valid for the Sheffield show. The Liverpool show has been moved from December 2nd to December 12th to allow for the above change, and all tickets purchased for the orginal Liverpool show are valid for the rescheduled date. Sorry for the inconvenience!

December 2nd Sheffield, England City Hall
December 3rd, 4th & 5th London, England Astoria
December 7th Bath, England Pavilion
December 8th Brighton, England Pavilion
December 9th Norwich, England UEA
December 11th Newcastle, England Northumbria University
December 12th Liverpool, England Royal Court Theatre
December 14th Edinburgh, Scotland Usher Hall



New album from Isobel

Isobel Campbell has asked us to tell you about her new album which is being released in October too. It will come out on Instinct Records in the U.S.A. on October 7th and in the UK/Europe on Snowstorm Records on October 27th. You can find out more information about the new album by visiting Bel's US publicists pages at Sacks Co.


Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York Treasure Hunts!

All the treasure has been won! Congrats to Adam & Shonni in NY, Mandy, Crystal & Esther in LA and i think it's Kevin in SF - Kevin, please email me asap as your voice message on my mobile was really soft!

A very big THANK YOU must go out to Joseph and Rebecca, Deborah and Solomon, Rachel and Peter, Andrew @ The Onion, Garrett @ The SF Weekly and John @ The LA Weekly for their help with setting up the Hunts.

Esther - one of the LA winners - wrote a wee story about her teams endeavours and eventual winnings, here it is:-

So, I read about the treasure hunt on the B&S website, and I told Mandy about it. So then when we got the e-mail that it was going on, we were sooo excited. But it was on Thursday, and I had to work in San Diego, and I was being a total brat and I wanted them to wait for me to start the hunt. I didn't think we'd win anyway, and I just really wanted to do it because it sounded fun. But we decided I'd just join them when I got there. Mandy and Crystal ran over on Thursday morning to get an LA Weekly as soon as they were delivered. And I was totally upset because I still had to work on Thursday, and I didn't want to miss the whole treasure hunt. So I was in San Diego working and they were in LA. I left work as soon as I could and drove up, and I kept calling them during the drive up to see how the hunt was going and to hear clues and stuff. I wasn't any help though. It was crazy, because it turned out that all the clues were at places where we hang out, so it wasn't that hard to figure out the riddles. The treasure hunt was totally designed for kids like us. Mandy told me they couldn't find the clue near the Knitting Factory, and they were about to leave, but she decided to go over and get this Mogwai poster off the wall, and while she was doing that they ended up finding the letter. They figured out four of them by themselves, and they used the internet to help with two of them. So then Mandy and Crystal figured out all six clues but they couldn't unscramble the word to figure out where the treasure was. They ended up giving up, and Crystal decided to drive down to San Diego to visit a friend. Mandy had to go pick up her purse that she left at a coffee shop. And I was still stuck in four hours of traffic. So me and Crystal were talking on the phone and she told me what the letters were. And I thought there was no way I would be able to unscramble it without paper or something to write the letters down. But it totally hit me when I was on the phone with Crystal. So I was like AHHH!!!! IT'S IGUANA!!!! So we decided it was probably at this vintage store called Iguana. So we tried calling Mandy but she wasn't home. And Crystal and I were stuck in traffic and couldn't go. It was sooo horrible, we totally didn't think we'd be able to get to the store in time. But I guess Mandy got home and heard all the messages we left on her machine. So she was so excited she drove over to the store without calling anyone. So when I got to LA, I decided to drive over to Iguana before I went home, but I totally thought someone else would have gotten the treasure already. We had unscrambled the word like an hour before I got there. So Mandy called me as soon as I got to the store. and I was all nervous and told her I was just parking and I was about to go inside. And she was like....oh someone already won. So I asked when and she said at 5:00, and I was sooooo sad because we had figured out wayyy before that. And then she was like....it was me. I won. :) Mandy was totally sneaky. So yeah. our treasure hunt experience was all frantic and alllll over the place. hehe. and i'm glad I at least figured out the last part, so I got to participate.. ohhhh and I'm totally superstitious, but the address of that store is 14422, and my address is 12244, so I was like heyyyyy we haaave to win.

Roy Moller - single launch

We've got a new item in the online shop too, a 7" by Stevie's mate Roy Moller and we're selling these on behalf of Félicité. Here's what Tom who runs the label has to say about the record:

"For every one who wondered who "Roy Walker" (a new Belle & Sebastian track) is, this is the answer: It's Roy Moller! He recorded his stunning debut single for the German label Félicité and produced it together with Stevie Jackson, who plays - like on "Legal Man" - the Sitar. They were supported by an Glasgow all star band of Bob Kildea, Gary Thom, Bill Wright and Brian McNeil. The tracks are "Maximum Smile" backed with "David Niven" and it's on white, heavy vinyl and is very limited, to only 700 numbered copies worldwide. Please visit Roy's lovely website and the Félicité website, both of where you can find more information on Roy."


Help please!!!

We need your help collating information for our new website which is to be launched later on in the summer. We're looking for images from posters and flyers for tours, gig tickets as well as the setlists and support band details from all the shows over the years.

If you have any of these items, can you please scan them and email the images as either .jpgs or .gifs to us here. They don't need to be huge files, so try to keep them decent size. If i need it bigger than what you have sent then i will contact you. For the setlists, just text in the body of email will suffice.

Hope you can help out - thanks in advance!



Another Interview with Stuart

Here's a link to an interview Stuart did (whilst driving!) recently for Tasty fanzine.


Belle & Sebastian support Concern & The Sunday Herald's Appeal for Africa

Thanks to everyone who made it along to the Concern Concert for Africa show. We helped to raise £50,000 for Concern's appeal to help the famine in Africa, and the broadcast on STV/Grampian should have hopefully raised even more for the cause. Stuart did an interview on BBC Scotland with Janice Forsyth the morning before the show, and Janice kindly donated her original copy of "Tigermilk" complete with invitation tickets to the launch party for us to auction to raise money for Concern. We've also got some mementos from the show, AAA passes, a t-shirt, posters etc. and the record has been signed by the band too, so when we get it organised, you can start placing bids on the package. If you want to donate to Concern's appeal to raise funds for those in Africa, you can either donate via their website here or by calling Concern on 0800 410 510. This is a UK only free telephone number.


BBC Interview with Stuart

Here's a link to an interview Stuart did recently for the BBC. He did point out that he's not responsible for the last two lines of the piece.


Chris' DJ-ing in Glasgow

Chris has a permanant slot with DJ Hush Puppy at the Sound Museum @ CCA Bar on Sauchiehall Street on Friday's from 9pm til 1am and at the Soul Cellar on Sundays 8pm-12pm at Brunswick Cellars, Sauchiehall Street.

In addition to that he is presenting "An Evening of Romantic Music" tomorrow night, February 11th 2003 at Brel in Ashton Lane, Glasgow. Head along with your amour from 9pm til 1am, it's part of the Glasgow City of Love events.


Bit of fun

We discovered this recently while reviewing footage to be included on the DVD/VHS compilation. It shows Allen Johnston, the bands drum tech, moonwalking onstage during one of the US shows 2002 and we thought you might like to take a peek at it by clicking here. There is sound too so make sure your speakers are on ... thanks to Mark Trayner, Hammond man extraordinaire for the footage!
P.S. Allen plays drums in a band called My Legendary Girlfriend - go take a look at their website and listen to some of their tunes here.


Record Contract

We are delighted to announce that on Friday July 12th 2002, we signed a new four-album worldwide deal with Rough Trade Records. Thank you very much to all the support Jeepster and Matador have given us over the years.

The band are currently writing and recording their 5th album proper.