Wheatus – new band portrait © Max Skaff 2023
WHEATUS
NEW YORK’S ORIGINAL ‘TEENAGE DIRTBAGS’ SET TO KICK-OFF
THEIR EXTENSIVE AUTUMN 2023 UK & IRISH TOUR
BAND ADD EXTRA DATES AND UPGRADE VENUES AS MANY SHOWS COMPLETELY SELL-OUT –
FIRST SHOWS ON THESE SHORES IN MORE THAN FOUR YEARS
+ SPECIAL EXPANDED 20-TRACK EDITION OF BAND’S DEBUT ALBUM ‘WHEATUS’
WILL BE RELEASED ON 1st DECEMBER 2023
It’s hard to believe it’s now well over 20 years since Wheatus released their million-selling eponymously titled debut album as well as their still ubiquitous single “Teenage Dirtbag”. Yes, that’s right – “Dirtbag” is no longer a teenager. In honour of this milestone, Wheatus will release a new specially expanded 20-track edition of their now classic debut long-player ‘Wheatus’ on 1st December 2023.
And to further celebrate the debut album’s imminent expanded release, the much-loved New York act have just added extra shows (as well as upgrading a number of venues due to demand) to their fast-selling autumn 2023 UK & Irish headline tour.
Pandemics notwithstanding, the six-piece have kept busy these past few years with a seemingly endless run of shows across the globe, but this new autumn 2023 run of dates will be Wheatus’ first gigs on our shores in more than four years.
Commenting on the new UK & Irish tour, Wheatus frontman Brendan B Brown says, “We toured the UK, Ireland and Europe eighteen years in a row from 2001-2019, some years more than once. The pandemic has paused that tradition since 2020. This opportunity to return is more precious to us than all the other years combined and we’re gonna throw the kitchen sink at it”.
Last few remaining tickets for the following UK & Irish live shows are on-sale now via https://wheatus.com/shows
14 September Stockport Glitch *NEW DATE*
15 September Manchester Gorilla *SOLD OUT*
16 September Mexborough Imperial Music Venue *SOLD OUT*
17 September Leeds Brudenell Social Club *SOLD OUT*
18 September York – The Crescent *SOLD OUT*
19 September Nottingham Rescue Rooms
21 September Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill
22 September Blackpool – The Waterloo Music Bar *SOLD OUT*
23 September Newcastle – The Grove
24 September Aberdeen – The Tunnels *SOLD OUT*
26 September Tarbert Village Hall *SOLD OUT*
27 September Glasgow Saint Luke’s *VENUE UPGRADED DUE TO DEMAND*
28 September Dunfermline PJ Molloys *SOLD OUT*
29 September Buckley – The Tivoli Venue
30 September Hull – The Welly *VENUE UPGRADED DUE TO DEMAND*
1 October Leicester – The Soundhouse *SOLD OUT*
3 October Bridgwater – The Palace Theatre
4 October Cardiff – The Globe *SOLD OUT*
5 October Portsmouth Moonshine
6 October Newton Abbot – The Jolly Farmer *NEW DATE*
7 October Perranporth – The Watering Hole
8 October Falmouth Princess Pavilion
10 October Milton Keynes – The Craufurd Arms *SOLD OUT*
11 October Gloucester Guildhall
12 October Grimsby Docks Academy *SOLD OUT*
13 October Stoke On Trent – The Sugarmill
14 October Hertford Corn Exchange *SOLD OUT*
15 October Bristol Thekla
17 October Margate Olby’s Creative Hub
18 October Southend Chinnery’s
19 October Worthing – The Factory Live
20 October London – The Garage
21 October Guildford – The Boileroom *SOLD OUT*
22 October Swansea – The Bunkhouse *SOLD OUT*
24 October Belfast Limelight *VENUE UPGRADED DUE TO DEMAND*
25 October Killarney – Gleneagle INEC Club *NEW SHOW*
26 October Cork – Cyprus Avenue *NEW SHOW*
27 October Galway – Monroes *NEW SHOW*
28 October Castlederg – The Townhouse Venue *NEW SHOW*
29 October Dublin – Whelan’s *NEW SHOW*
31 October Lincoln – The Drill *NEW SHOW*
2 November Rossendale – St. Mary’s Chambers *SOLD OUT*
3 November Huddersfield – The Parish *NEW SHOW*
4 November Corby – The Clubhouse *NEW SHOW*
5 November Cambridge – Junction *NEW SHOW*
6 November Norwich – Epic Studios *NEW SHOW*
7 November Royal Tunbridge Wells – The Forum *SOLD OUT*
The brilliant promo video for “Teenage Dirtbag,” featuring clips of Mena Suvari & Jason Biggs from the 2000 teen rom-com movie ‘Loser’, is fast closing in on an incredible 250million views.
The fiercely independent New York act has now released six studio albums and two live albums across their career. Talking of the new 20-track expanded version of debut album ‘Wheatus’, Brendan B Brown says, “We found demos of ten more songs from throughout the band’s history that had such an album-one vibe that they never made it onto our more recent records. So now we’re giving them a proper chance to be heard. The new twenty-song expanded version of the album will feature the originally conceived tracklisting and sequence, plus the extra ten songs that have finally found a home on a record.”
The past twelve months have seen Wheatus explode back into the mainstream with the “Teenage Dirtbag photos” TikTok trend going hugely viral across social media, with more than two billion views in less than a month. The song has been shared and celebrated recently by Lil Nas X, Madonna, Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, Chevy Chase, Jon Bon Jovi, Victoria Beckham, Alice Cooper, Millie Bobby Brown, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brooke Shields, Mark Ruffalo, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Heidi Klum, Mark Ronson, LL Cool J, Tony Hawk, Sammy Hagar, Nick Kroll, Lupita Nyong’o, Machine Gun Kelly, Anderson Paak, Jessica Alba, Mick Fleetwood, Sheryl Crow, Chris Pratt and Jamie Lee Curtis, amongst countless others all pushing the hashtag #teenagedirtbag
Against all odds, this newfound frenzy around the now 23-year-old anthem has led the band to recently perform on some of the most prestigious stages of their career: they’ve supported Everclear, Hoobastank, Living Colour, Phantom Planet, The Wallflowers, Eve 6 and Dashboard Confessional at various dates around the United States, as well as performing at high-profile American music festivals such as Audacy Beach Festival (also featuring Muse, Jack White, The 1975, Machine Gun Kelly, etc.), Adjacent Festival (also featuring Blink-182, Coheed & Cambria, Turnstile, Jimmy Eat World, with Wheatus taking the stage just before Paramore), and the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball (where Brendan sang “Teenage Dirtbag” at Madison Square Garden alongside rising pop star Jax).
Wheatus were also the surprise musical guests on the 2023 series finale of ITV’s Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway – filmed live at Universal Studios Orlando & watched by millions.
And if all that wasn’t enough, a brand new remix of “Teenage Dirtbag” was used as part of an enormous marketing campaign to promote Season 2 of the hugely popular Disney Freeform/Hulu series ‘Cruel Summer.’
As the band rightly conclude, “Teenage years may be fleeting, but it seems ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ is for life!”
Wheatus are;
Brendan B Brown / Guitar & Vocals
Matthew Milligan / Bass
Brandon Ticer / Keyboards
KC Marotta / Drums
Joey Slater / Backing Vocals
Gabrielle Sterbenz / Backing Vocals
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