Photo Credit Richard P Walton 2024
CALAN
CONFIRM FAREWELL UK TOUR
ACCLAIMED ‘POWERHOUSE’ WELSH FOLK ACT DECIDE TO BREAK-UP FOLLOWING
RELEASE OF NEW ALBUM ‘NEFYDD’ & FINAL RUN OF AUTUMN 2024 UK LIVE SHOWS
It’s a story straight out of a nightmare, brought to life by one of the UK’s most captivating independent folk bands for their barnstorming farewell tour which kicks off this Halloween.
Although Cool Cymru quartet Calan have today announced they are to break-up following this tour, the band are set to premiere tracks from their stunning forthcoming final album ‘Nefydd’ (out on 22nd November 2024) at a number of venues across the UK this autumn.
Nefydd (pronounced Nevith and rhyming with ‘with’) was the psychopathic uncle of a young 12th century Welsh princeling named Idwal. Legend has it that he cackled with laughter as he drowned the terrified youngster in a remote Snowdonia pool now named Lake Idwal. It lies just 20 miles south of Bangor in North Wales – and the story goes that, ever since, no birds fly over those cursed waters.
“It’s a legend I’ve grown up with,” says Calan’s fiddle virtuoso Patrick Rimes who was brought up in the village of Bethesda, less than 10 minutes from the lake. “It has a special resonance for me.”
The band’s farewell tour gets underway with a Halloween show in Bangor, North Wales on 31st October and criss-crosses the nation throughout November 2024 – full list of dates;
31 October Bangor Pontio
1 November Bury – The Met
2 November Aberystwyth Arts Centre
3 November Worcester Huntingdon Hall
6 November Nottingham Lakeside Arts
7 November Cardiff – The Gate
8 November Bradford-on-Avon – Wiltshire Music Centre
9 November Abergavenny Borough Theatre
11 November Sheffield – The Greystones
12 November Edinburgh Summerhall
13 November York – The National Centre For Early Music
14 November Skipton Town Hall
15 November Kendal Brewery Arts Centre
16 November Barton-upon-Humber – The Ropewalk
19 November Colchester Arts Centre
20 November Norwich Arts Centre
21 November London – Grand Junction at St Mary Magdelene’s
22 November Stamford Arts Centre
23 November Cardigan Theatr Mwldan
24 November Swansea Taliesin Arts Centre
27 November Poole Lighthouse
28 November Aldershot West End Centre
29 November Brighton Dome
Tickets for all shows are on-sale now via https://www.calan-band.com/
Fans will be able to purchase physical CD copies of new album ‘Nefydd’ at all shows, prior to its official release date (on 22nd November).
Calan have been at the cutting edge of British folk music for almost two decades, building a huge and loyal following with a string of critically-acclaimed albums and relentless touring across the UK, Europe and the USA.
“But everything has its natural life, and now it’s time to leave,” says Calan’s vocalist Bethan Rhiannon. “Every gig in this final outing is going to be a celebration – a tour to end all tours.”
Besides tracks from the new final album, Calan will showcase crowd-pleasers from their huge back catalogue.
“Everyone will have their favourites, but this new album is possibly the best thing we’ve ever done,” says the band’s Celtic and triple harpist Shelley Musker Turner. “There’s certainly a lot to choose from – we’ve had some very busy, super-creative years.”
Calan were formed back in 2006, and since then their inexorable rise has been punctuated with stellar successes. They were voted Best Band at the inaugural Wales Folk Awards; played the Royal Albert Hall, along with Sting, at opera giant Sir Bryn Terfel’s birthday spectacular; and performed with orchestras in Europe, Britain and America. Calan also starred in a globally-streamed online concert for New York’s Metropolitan Opera House and, as recently as this summer, they were chosen to represent the Best of Wales at Llangollen International Festival in a series of concerts also starring Tom Jones and the Manic Street Preachers.
As Calan’s diehard army of fans will know, every gig is an event. Expect stunning virtuosity from fiddle, Welsh bagpipes, guitar, accordion, those Celtic and triple harps… and blindingly fast clogging. Folk Wales magazine calls Calan “a storming juggernaut”. South Wales’s Tredegar House Folk Festival says: “This is powerhouse music to make your heart soar. Standing ovations guaranteed.”
Talking of which… Even after the tour is over there may well be one final huge event on the horizon: the band are in talks over a performance of their own arrangements of traditional Welsh songs with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
“If discussions go as we hope, we’re aiming to record it in very early January for a TV broadcast on St David’s Day, March 1st,” says Calan’s manager Huw Williams. “But first there’s around 2,500 miles of touring to do… and around 50 hours of concerts. Calan are going out in some style.”
Because, eventually, even juggernauts have to stop.
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