ASH, the "ultimate singles band", will be celebrating their twentieth anniversary in North Yorkshire at Galtres Festival, headlining Saturday night on the main Duke Stage.
With 18 top-40 singles behind them, including Shining Light and Burn Baby Burn, the Irish rock group have lost none of the energy that saw them debut on Top Of The Pops whilst awaiting their ‘A’ level results and since notch up five studio albums (and a mini-album) together.ASH will be supported on Saturday 25 August at Galtres by the Guillemots. Other headliners include the Buzzcocks, Adam Ant, Billy Bragg, Ocean Colour Scene (acoustic), Seth Lakeman, and The Men They Couldn't Hang.
The three-piece ASH, who are filling the Galtres slot taken last year by The Charlatans, turned their back on the traditional route of recording an album every couple of years and set up their own studio and label, Atomic Heart Records. This newfound freedom enabled the band to record and release songs at will. Thus was born the A-Z Series – a collection of 26 songs released fortnightly for an entire year.
2011 saw Charlotte Hatherley return for a one-off tour of the “Free All Angels” album to much acclaim, and a Galtres appearance by Charlotte is looking likely. 2012 sees the 20th anniversary of the band, with the Galtres Festival show being part of the celebrations. "This is a great and much-anticipated booking for us," said festival director James Houston. "ASH are a fabulous live band will no go down a storm on Saturday night. This announcement is the last of our major headliners, which together form an eclectic mix of very fine musicians and top stars. It's shaping up to be the best Galtres Festival yet."
Martin Stephenson (The Daintees), Mark Morriss (The Bluetones) and Chris Helme (The Seahorses) are among the other artists playing this year's festival, which now into its eight year has become one of the top family festivals in the country. Set in a beautiful hilltop location overlooking the Vale of York, this is one event not to be missed.
Published on 11 May 2012 by Wayne Feltham
