Fratellis – Black Session- RFI – Jan. 31, 2007
The Fratellis formed in 2005. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli, bassist and backing vocalist Barry Fratelli, and drummer and backing vocalist Mince Fratelli. Their singles “Chelsea Dagger” and “Whistle for the Choir” were both top ten hits in the UK charts.
They fairly exploded on the scene in 2006, quietly went on hiatus in 2009 and reunited in 2012 for a charity gig with promises of more to come. Between that time they released two successful albums, were deemed “The Best New Band In Britain” by NME and their first single charted at number 19. Not bad for three guys from Glasgow, who named themselves after a fictional crime family from the film The Goonies.
They had gained a reputation early-on for high energy live shows. This one tonight – a radio studio performance with audience for Radio France International for the program Black Session, was recorded during their skyrocketing period, on January 31, 2007, gives a good idea just how high-energy they were/are.
The Fratellis played their first show since 2009 to raise money for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund on 15 June 2012, marking nearly 3 years since they last shared a stage together. They then performed at O2 ABC Glasgow on 26 September 2012 and announced a UK tour in April 2013. During the UK tour, 3 more songs were debuted live; “She’s Not Gone Yet But She’s Leaving”, “Seven Nights Seven Days” and “Whiskey Saga”. The band went on to perform dates in Oxford, Leicester and Sheffield with another date at Loopallu festival, forming a small September tour. During the tour, the band debuted 2 new tracks, “This Old Ghost Town” (previously played by and mainland Europe.
In 2017, the band headlined posts since 30 April, the band confirmed on Instagram that they were in Los Angeles to record their fifth album with Tony Hoffer once again producing.
On 29 September 2017 the band announced the Vicar’s Picnic music festival 14–15 July, as well as the Lindisfarne Festival, which ran 31 August to 3 September.
On 8 May, after hinting through several fifth studio album, In Your Own Sweet Time which was released on 16 March 2018 and followed by with a UK concert tour in March 2018. The album was released on CD, LP, limited edition orange LP and cassette. They also toured the U.S. in late Spring 2018 and early Summer.
After speaking with fans after his solo shows in February 2019, Jon stated that the band were heading to LA in April/May to record their sixth album, once again with Tony Hoffer. On 9 May, the band posted a photo on their social media accounts with the caption “#6”. Jon had stated that the band intended to take most of 2019 off after having an extremely busy 2018, with only a few Fratellis shows played along with two of his own shows for his solo album Bright Night Flowers, which he released in February 2019.
The band then emerged in January 2020, teasing news at the start of the year. This was followed by the announcement on 23 January that their sixth studio album would be titled Half Drunk Under a Full Moon would be released on 8 May 2020, alongside a full UK and US tour in April and June respectively. However, due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the band announced on 8 April that their UK tour would be postponed to October, and on 23 April that the album release would be delayed until 30 October. On 18 May, they announced that their North American tour would be postponed until January 2021. The first song to be released from the album was “Six Days In June”.
In the meantime, have a listen to what you might have missed in 2007.
Related articles
- The Fratellis return to roots with comeback album (dailyrecord.co.uk)
- New UK Tour, New Album – The Fratellis Are Back! (seatgeek.com)
- Earworm: “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis (justwroteablog.com)
