When: 7.30pm on Thursday 23 February 2012
Where: The Deaf Institute, 135 Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HE

We’re delighted to be working with Hey! Manchester favourites Allo Darlin’ for the first time!

Allo Darlin‘ are many things. They can turn a room in a famous punk venue into a joyous, jumping, sweaty, pop-mosh pit. Or bring a room of 500 to hushed silence with the few strums of a ukulele and a love song about cooking. Coming very much from a DIY approach, they inspire true dedication from their fans, many of whom will travel hundreds of miles to see them.

In their brief lifetime they have toured the USA four times, sold out tours across the UK and embarked on an epic five-week European tour. They have played the End of the Road festival twice and recently headlined a packed-out Scala in London for their label Fortuna POP!’s 15th Anniversary celebrations. The band have also been strongly supported by BBC 6music, recording several sessions including one at the BBC’s prestigious Maida Vale Studios.

Their self-titled debut was released to universal acclaim in 2010 with plaudits including being named No. 2 record of the year by eMusic and a glowing 1200-word essay by legendary Go-Between Mr Robert Forster in the Australian critical magazine, The Monthly.

Despite all the activity, Allo Darlin’ have found time to write songs for their follow-up album which was recorded at different stages during the year and slated to come out in the spring. Their new record Europe is very different from their first as the world has changed a lot since their debut in 2009. There have been riots in the streets of London and there is a sense that people are unhappy, so a carefree album didn’t seem appropriate. Singer Elizabeth Morris says: ‘I wanted to make beautiful songs and end up with a beautiful album, not necessarily an album with four singles… I suppose the songs have an awareness of a darker place but end up coming out the other side. We wanted to make the best album we possibly could and I think we’ve ended up with that.’

Live, the London-based four-piece – led by Australian ukulele-toting songbird Elizabeth Morris, with guitarist Paul Rains, Bill Botting on the bass and Michael Collins on drums – create perfect, sophisticated pop gems and know how to put on a joyous, effervescent, fun-filled show.

‘Terrific, witty and heartfelt, like a less moody Belle & Sebastian‘ – The New York Times

This Many Boyfriends are an indie pop band from the North. They bonded over a shared love of playing pop music far too loud in rooms far too small. They have been through more lineup changes than The Fall before settling on the current one: Richard on lead vocals, Tom on bass guitar, Laura on drums and Dan on lead guitar. Now on Angular Records (home of Art Brut and Bloc Party amongst others), the band released single Young Lovers Go Pop! last year and received press and plays galore from NME, The Guardian and 6 Music. Their next single is to be released in February. Listen out for it.

Standard Fare complete this exciting bill. There’s always gonna come a time when we don’t know the answers – always gonna come a time when we should just go dancing. So come dancing. So come dancing with Standard Fare. They’ve got a new album out too, Out of Sight, Out of Town. Always a joy to watch live, with more of the dancing and singing along bits.

This show is a co-promotion with Underachievers. It is part of Creative Tourist’s Boutique Weekender: a one-off weekend of specially selected events for your delight and delectation.

Tickets are available from the bar, Common (both no booking fee), Piccadilly Records, Vinyl Exchange, Seetickets.com, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

Attend on: Facebook | Last.fm

We’re also promoting Allo Darlin’s show at the Fleece in Bristol on Tuesday 28 February and at the Haunt in Brighton on Saturday 3 March.