The Courteeners biography
By October 2008 the band set off on a sell out tour of major venues across the UK including two nights at both Manchester Apollo, and London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. A first taste of Arena shows came with their December 2008 support slot on the Stereophonics' Decade In The Sun Tour. This saw them appear at huge venues such Manchester's MEN Arena, London's O2 Arena, and Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
December 2008 saw the band crowned inaugural winners of the Guardian's First British Album Award beating off strong competition from Glasvegas, Duffy, Adele, and Noah & The Whale. The award was voted for by members of the public and Guardian journalists. St. Jude clinched a mammoth 53% of the public vote.
Morrissey has mentioned his love for the Courteeners on numerous occasions. After seeing the Courteeners in Camden, Morrissey played their song "What Took You So Long" on American radio station KRCW, where he heaped praise on the band saying that "Every song was very strong and full of hooks and full of dynamics and I thought, 'this is great' and that so many groups in England, they're hyped and they're huge and they're all over the press and they don't really actually have any songs, they don't really have anything to offer ... but it's different with The Courteeners, they actually do have very good, strong songs." Morrissey added to his praise that "I think they will make it here in the US and I think you'll come across them."17 On 30 December it was announced that the Courteeners would be joining Morrissey on his American tour in Spring in support of his new album Years of Refusal.
In March 2009 the band made their US debut with a headline show at New York's Mercury Lounge, followed by a month touring the States as special guests of Morrissey on his 'Tour Of Refusal'. Over 18 dates included appearances at New York's famous Carnegie Hall, the Dallas Palladium and Albuquerque's Sunshine Theater. They completed their tour of America at the 2009 Coachella Festival in Indio, California performing on the Festival's Main Stage along with Paul McCartney, Morrissey, and Franz Ferdinand.
In the UK the band played the 2009 Reading/Leeds Festival on the Main Stage along with Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, and Ian Brown. They also appeared at the 2009 T In The Park Festival as second headliners in the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent.
The band's second album Falcon was confirmed for release on 22 February 2010. This was preceded by a single "You Overdid It Doll" on February 15, 2010. The album was recorded at ICP Studios in Belgium and produced by Ed Buller (White Lies, Pulp, Suede). The album was well received by the British music press with NME awarding the album 8/10 and both Mojo & Q Magazines giving the album 4-star reviews.
Many songs from the band's second album including "The Opener", "You Overdid It Doll", and "Take Over The World" made their live debuts at two UK shows in December 2009. The first at Warrington Parr Hall was followed by a sold-out headline homecoming show at the 10,000-capacity Manchester Central - formerly known as Manchester GMEX. Tickets for the show sold out within a week.
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