The Not Accepted Anywhere album tour was the touring period from 2005 through to 2007 when Welsh rock-band the Automatic promoted their debut album Not Accepted Anywhere. Over the three-year period, the band covered the United Kingdom several times, as well as touring in the United States, Japan, France and the Netherlands.Interview: The Automatic musictowers.com,web.archive.org, August 3, 2006Latest News theautomatic.co.uk, web.archive.org, December 29, 2005The Automatic tour dates theautomatic.co.uk, web.archive.org, December 30, 2005
The band began touring as an opening act for bands such as Goldie Lookin Chain, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks, The Ordinary Boys and Hard Fi in 2005 and early 2006The Automatic @ Bar Pure BBC, February 24, 2006 before appearing third on the bill for the NME 2006 New Music TourNME New Music Tour: Line-up revealed NME, March 14, 2006 and then going on to perform at festivals such as Reading and Leeds, Oxegen, Camden Crawl, Glastonbury, South by Southwest and Warped tour, amongst others.Camden Crawl 2006 Line-up thecamdencrawl.com, December 15, 2010
On tour the band were supported most notably by friends Viva Machine on almost all UK tours, and by Frank Turner, who had just begun as a solo artist – with the Automatic being fans of his former band Million Dead.
Background
Support shows In October through to November 2005 the band supported Goldie Lookin Chain on their UK tour, this tour supported the band's release of debut single "Recover ".Exclusive: The Automatic Plan Easter Release For Debut Album gigwise.com, November 22, 2005 This tour was followed by an intense period in the studio recording their debut album, heading back out in January to support The Kooks on their Inside In/Inside Out tour.The Automatic Support The Kooks On UK Tour gigwise.com, November 25, 2005
Later in 2006 the band also supported Kaiser Chiefs at their performances at the Millennium Square in Leeds, and well as supporting The Ordinary Boys in March.The Ordinary Boys Tour March peterhill.net, March 2006 Cancelled supporting appearances included Kaiser Chiefs European tour in November 2006, and My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade World Tour in 2007.The Automatic Interview designermagazine.tripod.com, December 2006Kaiser Chiefs announce European club tour NME, September 12, 2006
During the band's headline of the NME Indie Rock 2007 Tour the Automatic let The View take the headline position at Carling Academy in their native Glasgow.The View headline Shockwaves NME Awards Indie Tour NME, February 3, 2007
Design and set-up From 2006 onwards – when the band were headlining more and more performances, they began using various backdrops – ranging from simple sheet banners, to the more extravagant video screens. The artwork used was all based around designs made by Dean 'D*Face' Stockton for the album Not Accepted Anywhere, and the singles "Raoul", "Recover" and "Monster", many of these were then animated for performances – such as their 2006 London Forum performance where they used three giant screens, incorporating animations with a live feed of the band performing.Darren Lovvel – Clients darrenlovell.co.uk, July 30, 2010The Automatic on Facebook, January 6, 2010 The Automatic Photo album London Forum October 2006 In 2007 Rock Drops recreated D*Face's Raoul 'Globe' artwork from the re-release of the single – and used throughout tour and festival appearances by the band as a stage banner.Rockdrops rockdrops.com, June 17, 2010
Alex Pennie was often noted by critics for being the band's energetic showman.The Automatic @ Pianos: Go Ahead, Girl. Go Ahead Get Down musicsnobbery.com, March 19, 2007The Automatic Automatic: Double the Name, Double the Fun Spin Magazine, July 27, 2007 On the NME 2007 tour Alex Pennie's stage antics lead to a fans classes getting broken, followed by wrestling a member of the audience who started smoking on stage on the Irish leg of the tour.The Automatic cause havoc on Shockwaves NME Awards indie tour NME, February 2, 2007 Pennie whilst playing at New York's' Bowery Ballroom in July broke his ankle half way through the set, after one of his jumps went wrong – and sat out several songs until "Gold Digger" when he rejoined his band mates for the remainder of the set.
On several occasions the band's cover of Kanye West's "Gold Digger" would involve other musicians and guests, with primary vocalist and bassist Rob playing flute, Jamie Allen; one of the band's technicians would take over bass guitar, whilst Alex Pennie and James Frost split vocals. At Reading and Leeds festivals in 2006 Goldie Lookin Chain joined the band onstage for the track, whilst Viva Machine joined the band onstage wrapped in bandages in ULU, London in July 2006, and on Warped Tour 2007 Newton Faulkner sung and played guitar on the track.The Automatic: ULU, London, Monday July 24 NME, August 11, 2006 On the closing show of the 2007 NME Indie Rock Tour the band's tour manager Mike Doyle sung vocals on the band's cover of Talking Heads song "Life During Wartime".Shockwaves NME Awards Indie Rock Tour ends in style NME, February 24, 2007
Throughout the tour the band requested as part of their rider that venues put together a David Hasselhoff shrine, by October 2006 the band revealed this had been fulfilled by upwards of 20 venues.the automatic interview and live review skiddle.com, October 13, 2006Interview with The Automatic Automatic theywillrockyou.com, June 13, 2007
Concert broadcasts and coverage
BBC 6 Music's Steve Lamacq covered the band's opening night too their October 2006 leg of the album tour – in Exeter's Lemon Grove. Originally the entire 14 song set was broadcastThe Automatic – Lemon Grove, Exeter 2006 BBC, 6 Music, January 21, 2008 with 7 songs made available on BBC Online afterwards.Lamacq In The City, Exeter – October 3 2006 BBC, 6 Music, October 3, 2006 The BBC also covered The Automatic at Reading and Leeds Festivals with broadcasts of "Monster" and "Gold Digger" with Goldie Lookin Chain from the Radio 1/NME Tent.LINE-UP AND ARTISTS: The Automatic BBC Online, August 26, 2006Reading and Leeds 06 Line-up and Artists BBC Online, August 25, 26, 27 2006 A year later at Glastonbury Festival 2007 BBC Three and BBC Online screened much of the band's set.Artists/Line-up – The Automatic BBC Online, Glastonbury Festival 2007, June 2007Glastonbury 2007 Artists BBC Online, Glastonbury Festival 2007, June 2007
MTV featured performances of the band at Oxegen 2006, including "Recover" and "Monster",Full OXEGEN Festival line-up announced RTÉ.ie, June 16, 2006 whilst Channel 4 broadcast performances of "Raoul", "Recover" and "Monster" from T4 on the Beach 2006.T4 on the Beach 2006 The Automatic Channel 4, T4 on the Beach 2006, September 2, 2010 At South by Southwest in Austin, Texas the band's entire set was filmed by Blaze TV,SXSW LIVE Blaze.tv, SXSW Live, September 6, 2010 and later broadcast on Crackle, with "Monster" being made part of the 2007 SXSW DVD.First Ever Filming Of South-by-Southwest Festival Released On DVD starpulse.com, August 27, 2007
GMTV Incident and aftermath
On July 21, 2006 the band made an appearance on GMTV – ITV's breakfast program. The band had been told that they would be playing a track on a morning show "not GMTV, it's something on just after it".The Student Pocket Guide – The Automatic Interview thestudentpocketguide.com, August 29, 2010 With a performance the night before at Bristol's Carling Academy, members of the band decided to stay up all night drinking, until the 6:00 am start at GMTV. The band went on live at around 9:00 am, miming their single "Monster" as GMTV were unwilling for the band to perform live.The Automatic trash GMTV set NME, July 21, 2010 The performance went on to involve guitarist Frost smashing his rented guitar repeatedly onto the floor, before jumping into the drum kit, whilst Pennie walked around with his Alesis Micron keyboard, taking off his trousers and eventually ending up on the floor with Frost, whilst Rob and Iwan continued to mime along to the backing track. During the performance an ITV cameraman received an injury when Frost was destroying his equipment, the cameraman reportedly threatened to sue the band, but later decided not to – saying he was simply pissed off at the time.The Automatic: Interview + Live Review!!! skiddle.com, October 13, 2006
A month before the GMTV incident the band also were forced to mime on Channel 4's T4 on the Beach 2006, which they were unhappy about doing – stating prior to playing "Will we go on drunk? Let's just say there will be some interesting dancing going on as we aren't allowed to plug in our instruments."The Automatic Promise Live TV Appearance To Remember stereoboard.com, June 11, 2006Review: T4 on the Beach 2006 BBC, June 23, 2006
Personnel
Musicians Robin Hawkins – bass guitar, flute, vocals Alex Pennie – synthesizer, percussion, vocals James Frost – guitar, vocals Iwan Griffiths – drums
Additional musicians Jamie Allen – bass guitar during "Gold Digger"
Guest musicians Goldie Lookin Chain – guest vocals on "Gold Digger" at Reading and Leeds festivals 2006 Newton Faulkner – guest vocals and guitar on "Gold Digger" on Vans warped tour 2007 Mike Doyle – guest vocals on "Life During Wartime", NME Indie Rock Tour 2007 Adequate Seven – guest vocals on "Gold Digger" at the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006 Capdown – guest vocals on "Gold Digger" at the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006 Mystery Jets – guest vocals on "Gold Digger" at the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006 Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly – guest vocals and guitar on "Gold Digger" at the Newquay Boardmasters Festival in 2006
Crew Stan Saunders – sound Jamie Allen – engineer Mike Doyle – tour manager Darren Lovell – lighting Peter Hill – engineer/photography James "Jizz" Lawrenson – sound mixer
Reception During their Not Accepted Anywhere tour the band were noted for their energetic live performances, particularly the antics of keyboardist Alex Pennie, whose performances would involve running around the stage with a Cow bell, strangling himself with a microphone, climbing on-top of amps and speakersThe Automatic cause havoc on Shockwaves NME Awards indie tour NME, February 2, 2007The Automatic / Alterkicks / Mumm-Ra – Manchester Academy 1 – 14.10.2006 designermagazine.tripod.com, October 14, 2006
Similarly Robin Monheit of Spin Magazine reviewing the band's New York show in July 2007 wrote "the Bowery Ballroom might not have been packed for last night's Automatic Automatic show, but synth-player/vocalist Alex Pennie performed as if it most definitely was" praising the band's energy.The Automatic Automatic: Double the Name, Double the Fun Spin Magazine, July 27, 2007 "...Pennie, is a sort of wee-sized caged animal, combining his fidgety keyboard fiddling with the most intense punk roars I've heard since At The Drive-In. Throughout the gig, he will run directly into the crowd, shove any and all fans in his way..." wrote themusicslut.com of the band's performance in New York in March 2007The Automatic @ Pianos: Keep Your Eyes Peeled! The Music Slut, March 19, 2007
Critics of the band's live sets were often quick to point out that single "Monster" was best received by audiences at live showsTHE AUTOMATIC, UNIVERSITY GREAT HALL, CARDIFF rocklouder.co.uk (Sonic Publishing), October 31, 2006
Set list