Courteeners are celebrating their 20th anniversary with their first ‘best of’ compilation ‘God Bless The Band’, launched with the reflective single ‘The Luckiest Man Alive’ and details of a 2026 UK arena tour.
Arriving via Ignition Music on Friday August 28 – ahead of their huge sold-out homecoming show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park – ‘God Bless The Band’ comes taken from a lyric in ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ and captures a curated run of the indie veterans’ cuts from their seminal 2008 debut ‘St Jude‘ through to 2024’s acclaimed ‘Pink Cactus Café‘. The collection comes topped with two new songs, ‘Plus One Forever’ and the guitar pop euphoria of new single ‘The Luckiest Man Alive’, both produced by frontman Liam Fray and The Coral legend James Skelly.
“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,” said Fray. “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”
As well as an intimate launch gig returning to Manchester’s beloved Night & Day on Saturday (April 11), the band have also announced a UK arena tour for November, with £1 + VAT from every ticket sold being donated to the newly launched LIVE Trust as part of their levy programme to support grassroots venues and artists.
“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,” said Jon Collins, CEO of the LIVE Trust. “This donation will directly benefit the full grassroots ecosystem – from venues and artists to promoters and festivals – helping to protect, expand and support grassroots music across the UK.”
Check out full tour dates and ticket details below. Support at the arena shows comes from The Lathums.
Courteeners announce their new ‘best of’ album, ‘God Bless The Band’
Beyond ‘Not Nineteen Forever’ sitting as a 21st Century guitar anthem, Courteeners have sold over 1million albums in the UK with the last four charting in the top five and their debut ‘St. Jude’ reaching Number One 15 years after its initial release.
Looking back on the band’s long success and address misconceptions about the band, Fray told NME in 2020: “I felt like they came for us with pitchforks on the first record because they built us up so much. It was always going to be difficult to live up to the hype. The first record was well-received by fans but not critics, so then you second-guess everything. If there was no one at the shows then we would have packed it in, but there were loads of people at the shows. I’d much rather appeal to these thousand fans than these six critics.”
“Broadsheet journalists went for us, but maybe the band wasn’t for broadsheet journalists. It was for the 18-year-old kids at indie discos..”
He added: “We still get treated as if it is still 2007. Musically we’ve changed, I’m a 34-year-old man now, I’m not a 21-year-old kid getting off his head six days out of seven.”
‘God Bless The Band’ will be available on heavyweight black double LP, retail-exclusive clear double LP and CD, while deluxe formats, with an additional 11 tracks, will be available exclusively on Courteeners’ official store. Pre-order it here, and check out the full tracklist below.
The ‘God Bless The Band’ track list is:
‘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 album formats include:
‘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’
As well as their previously announced July and August shows in Stoke-On-Trent and Leicester alongside headlining Tramlines in Sheffield and Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park, Courteeners will be performing across UK arenas in November. Pre-sale tickets go on sale Wednesday April 15 before a general sale on Friday April 17. Visit here for tickets and more information, and check out full dates below.
Courteeners’ 2026 UK arena tour dates are:
NOVEMBER
Friday 6 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
Saturday 7 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena
Friday 13 – Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
Saturday 14 – London, Alexandra Palace
Friday 20 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
Saturday 21 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
As part of Record Store Day 2026 on Saturday (April 11), Courteeners will be releasing ‘Live In Manchester’ album recorded at their 2024 Co-Op Live show on vinyl. Check out the full list of releases here.
You can view the original article HERE.
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