On 12th July, Mike + The Mechanics played a show in Dresden and we had the chance to attend the soundcheck and to do interviews with all members of the band before and after the show. The full interview will by online soon, but we think you want to know the important news:
Tour 2012:
All members see the 2012 as an improvement. The length of the show was often critizied by fans, yet all members feel the length is right for this type of show. All are very pleased with the acoustic section. Also, Mike described the 2012 live version of Silent Running as the best one the Mechanics ever did. Regarding the "drummer situation", Mike and Gary explained that the Mechanics tour collides with another of Gary job, which is the Tom Jones tour. For this reason, Gary and Ben Scott play both tours, while Gary tries to play the "more important" shows during both tours.
Living Years 25:
There will be an Anniversary edition of the Living Years album (as previously reported, see here). The album will be remastered, but in Stereo only. Mike said he found eight "B-sides", one is called One By One with both Pauls singing. Seven of these tracks were never released (the song Too Many Friends was released as a real B-Sides back then), some of them even not finished and Mike wants to put them on an extra disc for the anniversary release. The band has also rerecorded a version of The Living Years with Andrew singing and a new choir section, recorded in South Africa recently. Further possible tracks for the bonus tracks are live versions of some tracks, either old or new ones.
Tour 2013
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Living Years, the band will hit the road again next year. The Living Years anniversary tour will feature many songs from that album. Also, the band wants to try new things, which is the reason why an acoustic section was added this year and a few tracks were "tested" during the first few shows of the 2012 tour (such as I Get The Feeling and The Way You Look At Me).
New album
Mike, Tim and Andrew said they are willing to write more songs and have already started writing together again (especially Mike and Andrew). There are no specific plans as to when new material will be released but all of them want to continue with this line up. "It would be foolish not to write new stuff", says Tim.
Other projects
Roachford will be on solo-tour again towards the end of this year, Tim Howar will be part of another West End show in London and is also working on a solo album. Mike ist busy with the Living Years rerelease. Luke Joby is writing and recording with different musicians, one of them is Harry Rutherford and he is also credited on Emili Sandé's recent album, which just ent platinum in the UK. Gary is busy with session work besides touring and Anthony Drennan did a tour with Chris Rea this year and is recording stuff for films and TV shows.
The full interview and a show report (plus huge image gallery) will be available shortly. Watch this space and Facebook for further notification.
Double-CD with both, Scratch My Back and ... And I'll Scratch Yours in digipak format
Package with live 2CD/DVD and new Stiltskin album. Available also as MP3 album.
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