Courteeners have announced God Bless The Band – The Very Best Of Courteeners, a brand-new single, and a six-date UK arena tour, all set to celebrate 20 years since the Manchester band’s first ever gig. New single The Luckiest Man Alive is out now.
God Bless The Band is released on Ignition Music on 28th August 2026, timed to coincide with the band’s sold-out homecoming show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park that same weekend. The 20-track collection draws from all seven of the band’s studio albums, from debut St. Jude (2008) through to Pink Cactus Cafe (2024), and features two brand-new tracks, The Luckiest Man Alive and Plus One Forever, both produced by Liam Fray and James Skelly. You can pre-order the album here.
The band will also embark on a six-date UK arena tour this November, with tickets going on general sale Friday 17th April via ticketmaster.co.uk and gigsandtours.com. A pre-sale opens on Wednesday 15th April.
| Date | Venue |
|---|---|
| Fri 6 Nov | Leeds, First Direct Arena |
| Sat 7 Nov | Cardiff, Utilita Arena |
| Fri 13 Nov | Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena |
| Sat 14 Nov | London, Alexandra Palace |
| Fri 20 Nov | Glasgow, OVO Hydro |
| Sat 21 Nov | Birmingham, Utilita Arena |
This follows their acclaimed 2024 arena tour, which included a landmark show at Manchester’s Co-op Live. The live recording from that night is also getting a release this year as a limited-edition vinyl for Record Store Day on 18th April. You can listen here.
Speaking about the release, frontman Liam Fray said: “In October it’s 20 years since our first gig, so with a couple of new songs fresh from the studio, the timing just seemed right for a Best Of. If we mean half as much to people as they have done to us over the years, then we’ve not done too bad. We look forward to seeing you down the front. God Bless The Fans x”
Courteeners will mark the announcement with a special intimate show at Manchester’s Night & Day this Saturday, 11th April. The venue holds a special significance for the band, having hosted some of their earliest performances at the very start of their career. The show also supports small venues and the LIVE Trust, a new funding initiative from LIVE that offers financial support across the grassroots music ecosystem. £1 + VAT from every ticket sold on the arena tour will be donated to the Trust. Jon Collins, CEO of the LIVE Trust, said: “It’s fantastic to see Courteeners supporting the LIVE Trust with a £1 per ticket contribution on their upcoming tour, building on their commitment for the Wythenshawe Park show in August. This donation will directly benefit the full grassroots ecosystem, helping to protect, expand and support grassroots music across the UK.”
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Since releasing St. Jude back in 2008, Courteeners have built one of the most devoted fanbases in British music, racking up over 1 million UK album sales along the way. Their last four albums all charted in the Top 5, and in 2023 a reissue of St. Jude reached No.1, as the band headlined Tramlines, fifteen years after its original release.
God Bless The Band will be available on heavyweight black 2LP, retail-exclusive clear 2LP and CD. Deluxe formats with an additional 11 tracks will be available exclusively from the official Courteeners store, with all orders including a signed print of the album artwork. A limited deluxe box set, capped at 1,000 copies, includes a gold 3LP, 2CD, exclusive cassette, and a 7″ of Not Nineteen Forever, plus an art print and replica concert ticket and AAA pass. Pre-order here.
The band also have a busy summer ahead before the arena tour kicks off, with the following additional shows already announced (all sold out):
- Thu 23 Jul – Stoke-On-Trent, Victoria Hall (sold out)
- Sat 25 Jul – Sheffield, Tramlines (festival headline, sold out)
- Thu 27 Aug – Leicester, O2 Academy (sold out)
- Sat 29 Aug – Manchester, Wythenshawe Park (sold out)
God Bless The Band full track listing:
- Are You In Love With A Notion?
- Cavorting
- Acrylic
- You Overdid It Doll
- Pink Cactus Café
- Summer
- Take Over The World
- Bide Your Time
- Small Bones
- The 17th
- Fallowfield Hillbilly
- That Kiss
- Lose Control
- Modern Love
- Sycophant
- Hanging Off Your Cloud
- The Luckiest Man Alive
- What Took You So Long?
- Not Nineteen Forever
- Plus One Forever
Deluxe formats add: Sweet Surrender, Chipping Away, Smiths Disco, Sunflower, Winter Wonderland, The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home, International (Acoustic), Beautiful Head, More. Again. Forever., 20th Century Boy/Cigarettes & Alcohol (BBC Radio 2 Session, Live At Glastonbury), Here Come The Young Men.
Image credits: Joshua Halling, Dominic Foster (cover art)
In this article: Courteeners, Liam Fray, James Skelly, Not Nineteen Forever, St. Jude, Concrete Love, Mapping the Rendezvous, More. Again. Forever., Pink Cactus Café, Wythenshawe Park, Co-op Live, Tramlines Festival, First Direct Bank Arena, Alexandra Palace, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Echo Arena Liverpool, The OVO Hydro, Arena Birmingham, O2 Academy Leicester, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Liverpool, London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, Ticketmaster, Record Store Day. Generated by Wikidata Schema Link Builder.
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