Aberdeen indie legends The Little Kick are set to jet out to Spain for a headline show in Mallorca.
But before that show in the Balearic Islands the highly acclaimed four piece will play an emotional homecoming show at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.
It is nearly a decade since The Little Kicks headlined the Granite City venue where they were regular performers in their early years.
The Little Kicks will headline The Lemon Tree on Saturday, July 22 with a bumper support line-up of The Capollos, Rival Saints and Ross Dillan.
Singer Steven Milne has promised a summer party as The Little Kicks will play tracks from recent album People Need Love and favourites from their career.
Steven said: “We thought it would be great to have a summer party at The Lemon Tree.
“It is such a special venue, there’s just something about it.
“The first time we played The Lemon Tree was in 2009 when we had enough of a following to justify moving up to that level.
“We launched album Shake Off Your Troubles there in 2017 but that was in the theatre space upstairs.
“We’ve not had a gig in The Lemon Tree’s lounge since we did one for our previous bass player leaving in 2014.
“That’s a long time ago and we can’t wait to finally play there again.
“Our album was released in September last year so people have had a chance to get to know the songs.
“They can come along and hear the guts of the new album and some old stuff as well in a summer party.”
Newburgh, Glasgow… Mallorca
The Little Kicks released fifth studio album People Need Love to critical acclaim on September 30 last year.
Renowned for their outstanding live performances the band will also headline the Teatre Lloseta in Palma De Mallorca on Saturday, October 7.
The Little Kicks will top the bill at the “Pecan Pie” event on the Spanish island that also includes performances from The Ripples and David Goodman.
Steven said: “There’s a promoter in Mallorca who runs a nightclub called The Long Fade Out and is a big fan of the band.
“He got in touch before Covid and wanted to bring us over.
“But we were in that limbo where we didn’t have the album finished.
“Then Covid happened.
“Once things were opening up he got in contact again.
“He does five concerts a year but is stopping at the end of this year.
“For his last concert we are booked to play because he always wanted to take us over.
“He said he has already shifted a lot of tickets and there is a lot of excitement about it.
“To play somewhere so far from home and have so many people into our music will be special.
“The concert will be in a theatre which looks amazing.
“They are supplying a lot of the gear and we are flying over with minimal stuff.
“I like idea if you were to put our 2023 tour dates on a poster it would be Newburgh, Glasgow, Mallorca.
“There’s something funny about that.”
‘Terrifying’ BBC live session
The Little Kicks will also play Edinburgh’s Summerhall on Thursday, August 24 in support of Withered Hand.
In June last year the band released single Ruminations, their first music in five years.
The single was accompanied by a video shot at Aberdeen’s iconic Bon Accord Baths.
It was an early taster of album People Need Love.
Last November the band performed a Quay Session live from the BBC Scotland television studios at Pacific Quay, Glasgow.
Steven said: “Roddy Hart has been a big support and really understood the album.
“When we played the Quay Session the album had been out for a month and you could tell Roddy had really listened to it.
“So when we had a conversation it felt really natural.
“But playing live on radio is terrifying. You are in the basement and Roddy Hart is up top so you can’t see him.
“You are talking but just concentrating on not swearing and not making a mistake.
“We were on tour at the time and thought we were sounding good but you never really know as we were trying new songs and new things on stage.
“Then when we listened back to that session the day after on IPlayer I thought it sounded pretty good so we can relax.
“If you can do four songs live on the BBC and not make a mistake then you don’t need to worry about the next gig.”
Vital support from the BBC
The Little Kicks have received airplay on BBC Radio 1 (Greg James), BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne & Nemone) and BBC Radio Scotland.
As well as Roddy Hart they have performed live sessions for the Vic Galloway, Ricky Ross and Janice Forsyth shows.
Steven said: “The BBC support has been really important to us and we are really thankful to Roddy in particular for sharing our music.”