DODGY
'Water Under The Bridge - 2007 Tour'
"I'm made up that we're doing this tour, I chose to leave Dodgy at a time when many thought I was mad .... Perhaps I was mad. But i'm not now." Nigel Clark
The 'Mighty Dodgy Vibe' returns! In November this year Nigel Clark, Andy Miller and Mathew Priest will take to the stage together again for the first time in almost a decade.
Over Dodgy's six-year rise to fame they released three albums and 12 Top 40 singles, including 3 Top 10s and the Top 5 hit 'Good Enough', still a staple of Radio playlists. In 1996 Dodgy sold out the Brixton Academy for two nights in a row and were awarded an unprecedented 90-minute Saturday evening slot on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival.
The English trio began their climb to fame in 1992, releasing three singles on their own Bostin Records label. Later that year they signed to A&M Records, around the same time as they inked a publishing deal after two A&R men battled for their signatures in a pub video football competition. The partnership with A&M generated three albums of sparkling indie pop, The Dodgy Album (1993), Homegrown (1994) and Free Peace Sweet (1996), selling over a million copies worldwide.
In the intervening years the three members of Dodgy haven't been idol: Nigel built a recording studio in the Midlands where he records his own material and nurtures young local talent, Mathew drums with a number of bands including Electric Soft Parade, Yellow Moon Band and Ian McNabb and manages acts such as Misty's Big Adventure, and Andy has become a total guitar barbarian playing and writing for his own group Hey Gravity.
Live performance was always integral to the Dodgy experience. When the band first formed they started the Dodgy Club so that once a month they were guaranteed a sold out gig. A dedicated touring band - in one year early on their career they played almost 300 shows - Dodgy built a devoted and loyal fan base, and tried to involve their audience in a live experience that was more than just watching a group over the rim of a pint glass. Their positive attitude and summery songs made Dodgy the perfect festival band, and it was such a natural habitat for the trio that in 1996 they conceived their very own Big Top Tour.
It was the desire to return to this festival vibe that was a strong contributing factor to the band's reunion, playing songs such as Staying Out For The Summer, So Let Me Go Far, Making The Most Of, Lovebirds, Water Under The Bridge, CSN&Y cover Find The Cost Of Freedom, In A Room and the epic Grassman. The pull is so strong that even original keyboard player Richard Payne is flying back from his new home in Australia especially for the tour.

• Indie