The Minnows, an indie-rock band from Belfast, have announced their first live shows in over 11 years. The band confirmed that they will make their long-awaited return to the live stage with two headline shows. Their most recent live performance as a full band was a sold-out show at The Belfast Barge in November 2011.

The first show will take place on April 22 at The Black Box in Belfast, followed by Sandino's in Derry, on May 13. Both shows will feature special guests, with Kieran Sherry on stage in Belfast and the duo Polar Bolero on stage in Derry.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that we have two live shows in the coming months," the lead singer Michael Rafferty told Hot Press.

The band had previously hinted that they might never perform live again.

"That thought process started to slowly change as a result of Covid-19," their official announcement states. During this period, the band released their thrid album Californian Roppy.

“To be honest, we had no intention of playing live again, preferring to use our time to write and record instead," Rafferty explains. "But then we released our Californian Poppy album during lockdown and it all started to change after that.

“The incredible reaction to the album took us by surprise and we were inundated with social media requests to play live,“ he further states. But eventually, the requests started to wear us down and we were thinking ‘what if…’ which gradually turned into ‘maybe we could… or should.'

“So now we’ve decided to give people what they want with a couple of live dates, and the response so far has been fantastic,” he added.

 

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The first 'comeback' gig at The Black Box in Belfast is already almost sold out. The Sandino's show in Derry a month later is also selling well.

“It’s been a long time coming but we’re sure it will be worth the wait,” said Raff, “but we would urge people to get their tickets as soon as possible as we’ll likely be putting up the SOLD OUT sign soon, and there’s nothing we can do after that.“

“It’s funny how it’s all gone full circle and from feeling pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, we’re now really excited by it," the continues. "I think we’ve all realised that life is short so we’re thrilled to be back doing what we love most – playing music – and we can’t wait to take the stage again.”

The Minnows are Michael Rafferty, Paul Maynes, Kevin Carson, and Stephen O'Sullivan. They were previously known as Tiberius' Minnows and became well-known with the release of their debut single 'Time Flies' on the Good Vibrations label.

At the shows, fans can expect to hear many hits from the band – as well as new songs from the Californian Poppy album.

Tickets for the gig can be found here.

 

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