The Review Show and other stories

It was a busy weekend for The Durutti Column as it began with Vini and Poppy playing live on The Review Show direct from the BBC's studio in Glasgow. Closing out a show on the theme of personal loss, they played a beautiful Duet With Piano from A Paean To Wilson.

The performance is on the BBC iPlayer until the end of the week and also on YouTube for those locked out of iPlayer delights by geographical restrictions.

Two days later in London Vin and Poppy hooked up with the rest of the band to play a sold-out concert at the Leicester Square Theatre in the heart of London's West End. The core of the performance was yet another reworked version of Paean but this time we were also treated to The Beggar, Sketch For Summer and Jacqueline as an interlude in the middle of the show.

With thanks to Bryn for photography.

A Paean To Wilson Buy It Now with Paypal

A Paean To Wilson live at the Lowry; soundcheck

The new album by The Durutti Column 'A Paean To Wilson' is officially released 24 January 2010 and is available now for 15.00 GBP (including Worldwide P+P) via the Kooky Buy it Now button.

The album is also be on sale via iTunes [UK] and the next opportunity to buy it in person will be at the Leicester Square Theatre in London this Sunday 31 January 2010. Tickets are still available via Ticketline and by calling the Box Office on 0844 847 2475.

Last Sunday's "Movement of the 24th January" gig at the Lowry in Salford was a great success. Stephen Dalton, in The Times, said:

"The late Anthony Wilson, Factory Records founder and notorious Mancunian motormouth, would have turned 60 next month. The virtuoso guitarist Vini Reilly paid understated homage to his old friend, manager and label boss in Salford with a rare live show to launch his latest album, A Paean to Wilson.

A gaunt and sinewy 56-year-old with an unruly orange-tinted mullet hairdo, Reilly could pass for a consumptive cousin of Ronnie Wood. Although portrayed as a fragile and depressive character, he is ironically one of the last original Factory insiders still standing after three decades of untimely deaths and career burn-outs."

Read the full review.

A Paean To Wilson Gig T-Shirts

Tickets are still available for the band's latest gigs at which they will be performing the magnificent work A Paean To Wilson which is released the same day.

The Movement of the 24th January, as it were, takes place at The Lowry in Salford on Sunday 24 January and the following weekend we are back in London at the Leicester Square Theatre on 31 January.

Tickets are still available for both gigs but get in there quick as they are selling fast - see links below.

Brand new "A Paean To Wilson live" t-shirts will be on sale at the gigs courtesy those Kooky Boys. Check out a sample of the imagery to the right - it's based on a painting by Bruce Mitchell's wife Jacqueline and features Tony Wilson and Bruce in silhouette.

Jesca Hoop is now confirmed as support for both gigs.

24 January 2010 - The Lowry, Salford Quays (Box Office: 0870 787 5790) [via Ticketline]

31 January 2010, The Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7B (Box Office: 0844 847 2475) [via Ticketline]

[NB the price in London will be £2 more on the door. Both venues sell tickets at their own box offices with no booking fee if paying in person in cash.]

A Paean To Wilson live competition

There was an overwhelming response to the recent competition to win tickets to see The Durutti Column live on Sunday 24 January and at the Leicester Square Theatre the following week on 31 January (with the added bonus of John Cooper Clarke and Frank Sidebottom on Saturday 30 January). Many thanks to everyone who entered. The lucky winners have been notified.

Meanwhile, Jesca Hoop has been confirmed as the support act for The Lowry.

Tickets for both gigs are still available online from Ticketline or by calling their 0161 832 1111 (24hr credit card hotline).

NB the price in London will be £2 more on the door. Both venues sell tickets at their own box offices with no booking fee if paying in person in cash.

24 January 2010 - The Lowry, Salford Quays (Box Office: 0870 787 5790) [via Ticketline]

31 January 2010, The Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7B (Box Office: 0844 847 2475) [via Ticketline]

Reviews for A Paean To Wilson

Reviews for A Paean To Wilson, which is out on Sunday 24 January 2010, are starting to appear in the major music monthlies. Here's what UNCUT and Q have to say:

Wordless homage to late Factory Records chief

Vini Reilly's Durutti Column were the first band Tony Wilson ever signed to Factory Records, back in early 1978. Their bond was such that, when Wilson was ill in hospital, Reilly sent him new instrumentals to listen to and was at his bedside when he died. This rich and contemplative record is the fruition of that, forsaking traditional song structure for nagging loops, ambient flurries of guitar notes (spilling over into Spanish flamenco on "Quatro"), highly rhythmic percussion and strobing feedback. John Metcalfe's viola, particularly, is mood-perfect. It all ends with Wilson's damning verdict on New Labour. Ever the last word.

****, Rob Hughes, UNCUT 153, Feb 2010

Instrumental tribute to late Factory Records boss

"Championed by Tony Wilson for almost 30 years and present in hospital when the former Factory boss died in 2007, this is Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column's double-CD tribute to his friend and mentor. A sprawling, instrumental affair, it's also boldly eclectic, mixing the delicate acoustic pickings of Catos Revisited with the brooding guitar noise of Requiem and the Marvin Gaye-sampling Brother and The Truth, via new age, ambient textures and beautiful piano piece Anthony [actually on the bonus CD, 2005's Heaven Sent (It Was Called Digital. It Was Heaven Sent), Ed.]. Clocking in at 100 minutes, it might have benefited from some pruning, but this still makes for a fine tribute."

***, Phil Mongredien, Q

Vini Reilly on Marc Riley

The Durutti Column were live in the BBC Manchester studio of Marc Riley tonight and in amongst some lively banter they played three tunes, all from A Paean To Wilson, which is released 24 January:

Or Are You Just A Technician / Chant
Brother
Duet With Piano

The whole programme is available for replay at your leisure over the next week via BBC iPlayer.

In Session for Marc Riley on BBC 6Music

The Durutti Column are confirmed to play a live session for Marc Riley's BBC 6Music show this Thursday 7 January 2010 between 19:00 and 21:00 GMT.