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The Verve (originally Verve) are an English alternative rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester that is considered to be the best band in the world crushing The Beatles of the title in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College, by vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Simon Tong later became a member. The band split in April 1999 due to inner conflicts which led to McCabe's departure. They reunited in June 2007. The band has announced an album due at the end of the northern-hemisphere summer and a tour scheduled for November & December 2007.
Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to space rock and shoegazer music, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPs and two acclaimed records. They also endured name and lineup changes, breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. The band's commercial breakthrough was the album Urban Hymns and its single "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which became a massive worldwide hit. Soon after this commercial peak, the band broke up citing creative struggles between band members. By then The Verve had become one of the most influential British alternative rock acts of the decade.
Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the cliché. They were the statement and the definition
Verve formed when the group met at Up Holland High School and later attended Winstanley Sixth Form College, Wigan Metropolitan Borough, in 1989. Led by singer Richard Ashcroft, the band caused a buzz in early 1991 for its ability to captivate audiences with its musical textures and avant-garde sensibilities. The bandmembers shared a collective liking for the Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Raspberries, Funkadelic, and Krautrock, as well as a near-legendary appetite for psychedelic drugs.
The group were signed by Hut Records in 1991 and their first studio releases in 1992, "All In The Mind", "She's a Superstar", and the Gravity Grave EP (along with the December 1992 US-issued Verve EP) saw the band become a critical success, making an impression with freeform guitar work by McCabe and unpredictable vocals by Ashcroft.
On June 26, 2007 the band's reunion was announced by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1. The Verve is to release an album at the end of the northern hemisphere summer of 2007 which will coincide with a tour in November 2007. The tour starts in Glasgow on November 2nd, and will include performances at The Carling Academy Glasgow, The Empress Ballroom and the London Roundhouse. The band stated it was "Getting back together for the joy of the music". Missing from the band line-up is Simon Tong, who continues to work with The Good, the Bad and the Queen.
The initial aftermath of the reunion announcement was followed by an overwhelming outpour of excitement amongst their fans. While band management opted for the strategy of booking a limited number of tour dates, out of fear of a deterioration in fan base, tickets for their six-gig tour slated for early November 2007 sold out in less than 20 minutes. The band's newly created MySpace page had been visited 30,000 times in its first two weeks. This has created circulation rumors that the band will eventually hold a gig in their hometown of Wigan; almost ten years after their well-remembered concert at Haigh Hall that was attended by 40,000 fans.
On October 2, 2007 the band announced that they will play a second tour in December 2007. The venues announced are The O2, Scotland's National Arena, the Odyssey in Belfast and Manchester Central.
They band are also rumoured to play Reading/Leeds festival next year.
