Following a recent tour of America, as well as tours last year supporting The Damned and Stiff Little Fingers, legendary Punk pioneer TV Smith returns to Manchester for a solo acoustic gig at The Castle.  As lead singer and frontman of The Adverts, Smith was very much at the heart of the original UK Punk rebellion along with other bands of the time such as the Clash, the Sex Pistols and The Damned. Following the release of 2 groundbreaking albums (Crossing The Red Sea with The Adverts, and The Cast of Thousands) and classic singles including Gary Gilmore’s Eyes and One Chord Wonders, the Adverts split. TV went on to further success with TV Smiths Explorers before embarking on a solo career which has seen him release 14 albums (most recently A Diffrnt World with Richard Strange) and continue to tour relentlessly (often performing well over 100 gigs each year). Known for his powerful live performances; his well-crafted songwriting and hard-hitting lyrics; TV Smith remains the embodiment of a truly independent force to be reckoned with.

Support comes from The Harveys. Hailing from Manchester, in a previous incarnation as Harvey’s Rabbit, the band toured with The Fall; performed sessions for John Peel, released an album “A New Spiritual Vacuum” on Rotator records, along with a much-lauded version of the Robert Forster song “Is This What You Call Change?” Since their re-emergence as The Harveys, they have released a number of singles on The German Shepherd label, and established themselves as a powerful live band, recently performing with the likes of The Monochrome Set; Richard Strange, and The Distractions.

Manchester’s own legendary wordsmith Ian Fourcandles opens the evening with a spoken word performance. Also known as Ian “Moet” Moss, he has been recording and performing hard hitting music for a number of decades, notably with The Hamsters and his recent band Fourcandles. The well-known and respected Manchester great has also been proving himself as an interesting and knowledgeable music writer with the recent release of his 2 books.