Luke Haines

Having experienced the extreme highs and lows of the Britpop era with his Mercury-nominated band The Auteurs, Luke Haines is certainly well qualified to write a controversial memoir about the period. In his book Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall (2009), Luke labels Oasis a ‘comedy band’ and The Verve ‘useless prog rockers’, but is also refreshingly honest and insightful when discussing his own band’s troubles and fall from the limelight.

Now a critically acclaimed solo artist, Luke has undergone a series of musical incarnations since the heady days of Britpop, first with The Auteurs and then Black Box Recorder, before going solo as Baader Meinhof. The release of the albums Luke Haines is Dead (2005) and 21st Century Man (2009) then saw him return to the playing under the more conventional name of …Luke Haines.

His witty and uncompromising songwriting has been described as “baring more teeth” than that of his old Britpop contemporaries. Music OMH recently declared that he “ranks amongst the UK’s most important songwriters, with a body of work comparable to that of Elvis Costello.” Luke will be treating us to both a reading from his book, as well as a live performance of some of his recent songs.

www.lukehaines.co.uk

“Unapologetic, caustic but somehow loveable…you know he’d wince at the suggestion, but the world is better off with such a wilful refusenik.”
BBC Music Review

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