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The infamous NME Awards Tour is back for 2012 and ready to showcase the year’s most exciting emerging music talent. Renowned for giving the freshest new acts their first taste of national notoriety – past alumni include Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Florence & The Machine, Crystal Castles and The Vaccines – 2012’s line-up captures the spirit of 2011 and sets the agenda for an explosive forthcoming year of music.

Running throughout February, the NME Awards Tour kicks off in Glasgow (8th) and visits 12 venues across the UK, bringing the very best in new music directly to music fans, ending with a show-stopping finale in London (25th).

NME editor Krissi Murison says: “As far as NME Awards Tour line-ups go, it’s difficult to imagine one more exciting than this or more representative of the cutting edge sounds that will define 2012. Every week in NME we bang on about how brilliant these bands are, and this is an amazing opportunity to see them all on the same bill. Two Door Cinema Club are one of the most exciting live bands in the world right now, Metronomy recorded arguably the album of the year, Tribes are the future of British indie music and Azealia Banks is, well, pretty much the most exciting new act on the planet. It’s going to be a good one…”

Having quietly become one of the UK’s best loved bands, Two Door Cinema Club will headline the hotly anticipated annual tour. Since releasing their debut album ‘Tourist History’ in March 2010, Two Door Cinema Club have rapidly become one of the biggest new success stories in UK music. After selling out headline tours in the UK, US, Europe, Australia, Asia, Japan and South America, playing two successive sold out nights at O₂ Shepherds Bush Empire and selling out the O₂ Academy Brixton in under four hours, the band have deservedly earned both a devoted word-of-mouth live following and huge critical acclaim.

Two Door Cinema Club say: "It feels great to be headlining the NME Tour and be amongst what feels like a great line-up as well. We had a taste of the tour when we did the local support slots when the Tour came to Ireland with the Maccabees when we were pretty much just starting out as a band. We feel a real sense of achievement to have made it this far and be one among the incredible list of headliners on the NME Awards Tour."

Hailing from the tiny, bohemian market town of Totnes in Devon, Metronomy join the line-up this year. One of the most expansive and visionary pop bands in the country, Metronomy will be supplying the NME Awards Tour with proof that it’s possible for electronic bands to put on a show as authentic as any rock band.

Metronomy say: "It's pretty exciting to be part of a travelling tour, a bit like a circus or something. It's been a while since we did a tour this long with the same bands for the whole thing, so hopefully there will be some camaraderie between the bands. Failing that there should be some incredibly violent 'beefs' which will make for good reading in the magazine."

London quartet Tribes have gone from prodigious debutant slots opening for their idols The Pixies, to relentless grassroots grafting of the UK dives, to being lauded ‘the future of rock ‘n’ roll’ by the Mystery Jets.

Tribes say: “We're really f***ing excited to be going on the NME Tour. We're really happy to be part of it, considering the history of the tour, and the fact the likes of The Vaccines and The Horrors have done it before. Hopefully there'll be some good after parties too – we're all about the partying.”

New York producer/MC Azealia Banks, who has been steadily perfecting her craft and making a name for herself, has bagged the coveted opening slot for the NME Awards Tour 2012. Since her first steps as a child in off-broadway theatre productions to her training at La Guardia High School of Performing Arts – a breeding ground for stars – Azealia Banks’ seasoned bars and angelic voice give everybody a reason to rewind that track.

Azealia Banks says: “I've been reading NME since I was old enough to ride the trains, where I’d buy it on newsstands... it's almost surreal that I’ve been selected to participate in this tour... it's such an honour.”

Tickets for the NME Awards Tour 2012 will be available on pre-sale exclusively through www.NME.com from 9am on Wednesday 9th November. They will then be on general release via Gigs and Tours and Ticketmaster on Friday 11th November.

Visit www.NME.com for more details.

Tag your tweets with ♯nmeawards to join the conversation.

NME Awards Tour Dates 2012:

08 Feb Glasgow O₂ Academy

09 Feb Newcastle O₂ Academy

10 Feb Manchester Academy

11 Feb Manchester Academy

14 Feb Nottingham Rock City

15 Feb Leeds O₂ Academy

17 Feb Norwich UEA

18 Feb Birmingham O₂ Academy

19 Feb Cardiff University 

20 Feb Bristol O₂ Academy

22 Feb Bournemouth O₂ Academy

23 Feb Brighton Dome

25 Feb London O₂ Academy Brixton

Ticket Info:

NME pre-sale - on sale 9am on 9th November

www.NME.com/tickets  or 0844 858 6765

Two Door Cinema Club - on sale 9am on 9th November

http://www.artistticket.com/

General release – on sale from 9am on 11th November

www.gigsandtours.com  / www.ticketmaster.co.uk

24hr CC hotline 0844 811 0051 / 0844 826 2826

An SJM Concerts presentation in association with DF Concerts and Metropolis Music

All tickets include a 50p donation to Teenage Cancer Trust

(Registered charity 1062559 in England & Wales, SC039757 in Scotland)

Tickets prices start from £19.10 plus a 50p charity donation to Teenage Cancer Trust.

Prices are subject to booking fees.

For press enquiries please contact:

Anna Foster, Group Head of PR anna_foster@ipcmedia.com , 020 314 85406 / 07896 103474

Ben Bolton, Communications Executive ben_bolton@ipcmedia.com / 020 3148 5405

Links:

Two Door Cinema Club

http://twodoorcinemaclub.com/

http://www.facebook.com/twodoorcinemaclub

http://twitter.com/#!/tdcinemaclub

Metronomy

www.metronomy.co.uk

Tribes

http://tribesband.com/

http://www.facebook.com/tribesband

http://twitter.com/#!/tribesband

Azealia Banks

http://azealiabanks.com/
http://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS
http://www.facebook.com/azealiabanksmusic

About Teenage Cancer Trust

Every day in the UK, six young people are told they have cancer. Usually placed on a children’s ward or with elderly patients, young people often feel extremely isolated whilst being treated for cancer. Teenage Cancer Trust believes young people shouldn’t stop being teenagers just because they have cancer. So the charity builds units in NHS hospitals that offer young people specialist care, bringing them together so they can support each other in an environment suited to their needs. As well as specialist units, Teenage Cancer Trust also funds a number of services all with the same goal – to help young people fight cancer. These include clinical and research staff, an education programme for schools, family support networks and an annual conference for young cancer patients. There are now currently 17 of these units across the country. The charity plans to build a further 16 so that all young people needing hospital treatment for cancer across the UK have access to the dedicated, specialist support they provide. For more information on Teenage Cancer Trust visit www.teenagecancertrust.org   Registered charity, no. 1062559