| Concert Tour Name: | This Is a Fix album tour |
| Artist: | The Automatic |
| Album: | This Is a Fix |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Start Date: | April 2008 |
| End Date: | December 2008 |
| Last Tour: | Not Accepted Anywhere album tour (2005–07) |
| This Tour: | This Is a Fix album tour (2008) |
| Next Tour: | Tear the Signs Down album tour (2009–10) |
The This Is a Fix album tour was the 2008 tour surrounding the release of Welsh band the Automatic's second album This Is a Fix.[1] The first leg of the tour was played at smaller clubs and venues around the United Kingdom, whilst later dates were at some of the countries larger venues.[2]
The band's first tour with new guitarist Paul Mullen involved touring some of the smaller less-known venues and clubs of the United Kingdom. The tour involved the band playing a 50/50 split of old and new material. Many of the songs played on the first album were chosen by the band's fans who set up a poll on their forum.[3] By the time the band began touring "By My Side", "Recover" and "That's What She Said" were all favoured by fans, many of the b-sides were also requested. During performances, synthesizer and keyboard duties would be split between Frost and Mullen.[4] The performances at The Blake Theatre in Monmouth on 28 March, Central Station in Wrexham on 29 March, The Galleri in Caernarfon on 30 March, Brycheiniog Theatre in Brecon 31 March 2008 were all rescheduled after the band required further time to rehearse their new and old songs.[5] [6] On 17 April 2008, NME announced the band would be playing "One of their first shows without keyboardist Alex Pennie".[7] The band performed at the UK release show for the video game Rock Band, the gig was held in a secret location in London.[8] The band headlined the Rock Against Racism Left Field stage with Frank Turner, Kate Nash, Dirty Pretty Things, British Sea Power among other bands performing on the stage over the weekend.[9] The band had to pull out of the small festival after T4 on the Beach rehearsal took place on this date, the band apologised on their website saying; "Due to promotional demands we've had to pull out of the Midsommer Norton show on 19 July. We're really sorry to everyone with tickets who was looking forward to the show but we'll be out on tour again soon". Having a strong love for Irish trio Ash, one of the Automatic's main influences have also, and during earlier days of the band's career they would cover Ash single "Kung Fu" from the album 1977, in June 2007 the Automatic were invited for drinks after their show together at Hull University Summer Ball,[10] later in 2008 at Cardiff Big Weekend Ash dedicated the track "Oh Yeah" to the band, who had played earlier that day.[11] Photographer Peter Hill performed bass guitar for the first time with the band during the band's performance of "This Is a Fix" which sees singer Rob play synth instead of bass. Originally the tour was scheduled to take place in from 14 June 2008 to 24 June 2008 however due to the recording of the album it was pushed back to September.[12]
For the club tour the band asked fans to vote for tracks that they wanted to hear from previous album Not Accepted Anywhere, ultimately "That's What She Said", "By My Side", "Lost at Home", "Recover", "Raoul", "On the Campaign Trail" and "Monster" made the setlist for various legs of the tour.[13]
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening Act(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club tour | ||||
| April 2008 | Exeter | England | Cavern2 | Viva Machine |
| 3 April 2008 | Gloucester | Arts Centre | ||
| 5 April 2008 | Northampton | Soundhaus | ||
| 6 April 2008 | Stoke | Sugarmill | ||
| 7 April 2008 | York | Fibbers | ||
| 8 April 2008 | Liverpool | Academy | ||
| 10 April 2008 | Dundee | Scotland | Doghouse | |
| 11 April 2008 | Inverness | Raigmore | ||
| 12 April 2008 | Aberdeen | Cafe Drummond | ||
| 14 April 2008 | Leeds | England | Cockpit | |
| 15 April 2008 | Hull | The Welly | ||
| 16 April 2008 | Tamworth | The Palace | ||
| 18 April 2008 | Middlesbrough | Cornerhouse (Sumo) | ||
| 19 April 2008 | Leicester | Charlotte | ||
| 20 April 2008 | Norwich | Arts Centre | Viva Machine Canterbury | |
| 21 April 2008 | Hitchin | Club 85 | ||
| 23 April 2008 | Brighton | Audio | ||
| 24 April 2008 | Southend | Chinnerys | ||
| 26 April 2008 | Portsmouth | Wedgewood Rooms | ||
| 28 April 2008 | Plymouth | White Rabbit | Viva Machine | |
| 29 April 2008 | Cardiff | Wales | The Point | Viva Machine Attack Attack |
| 10 May 2008 | Monmouth | Blake Theatre | Viva Machine Dandelion Killers Autopilots | |
| 11 May 2008 | Caernarfon | Galleri | ||
| 12 May 2008 | Brecon | Brycheiniog | ||
| 29 May 2008 | Wrexham | Central Station | ||
| 25 April 2008 | London | England | KOKO | Viva Machine |
| 13 May 2008 | Secret central London location | The Courteeners The Whip | ||
| Festivals | ||||
| 17 May 2008 | Brighton | England | The Great Escape Festival | |
| 28 June 2008 | Glastonbury | Glastonbury Festival | ||
| 20 July 2008 | Norton | Midsommer Norton | ||
| 20 July 2008 | Weston-super-Mare | T4 on the Beach | ||
| 2 August 2008 | Cardiff | Wales | Cardiff Big Weekend | |
| 5 August 2008 | Ibiza | Spain | Ibiza Rocks | |
| 12 August 2008 | Hoxton | England | Atticus Live[14] | |
| 13 August 2008 | Avenches | Switzerland | Rock Oz'Arenes | |
| 14 August 2008 | Gampel | Gampel Open Air Festival | ||
| 21 August 2008 | Pontypridd | Wales | Pontypridd Muni Arts Centre\ | |
| 23 August 2008[15] | Reading | England | Reading Festival | |
| 24 August 2008 | Leeds | Leeds Festival | ||
| 26 August 2008 | London | HMV | ||
| 30 August 2008 | Yorkshire | Bingley Music Live | ||
| 6 September 2008 | Cheshire | Frodsham Music Festival | ||
| Release tour | ||||
| 27 September 2008 | Glasgow | Scotland | University of Strathclyde | Operahouse Dinosaur Pile-Up |
| 28 September 2008 | Oxford | England | Oxford Academy | |
| 29 September 2008 | Birmingham | Birmingham Academy | ||
| 1 October 2008 | Newcastle | University | ||
| 2 October 2008 | Manchester | Academy 2 | ||
| 3 October 2008 | Glasgow | Scotland | Glasgow Garage | |
| 4 October 2008 | Nottingham | England | Rescue Rooms | Everything Everything Astro Firs |
| 6 October 2008 | Sheffield | Academy | ||
| 7 October 2008 | Bristol | Trinity | ||
| 8 October 2008 | London | Scala | ||
| 10 October 2008[16] | Liverpool | Barfly | Iglu And Hartly | |
| uLive tour | ||||
| 2 November 2008 | Preston | England | 53 Degrees | Nick Harrison |
| 3 November 2008 | Liverpool | Stanley Theatre | ||
| 4 November 2008 | Swansea | Sin City | ||
| 6 November 2008 | Bath | Students Union, Elements | ||
| 7 November 2008 | Coventry | University of Warwick | ||
| 8 November 2008 | Guildford | Rubix | ||
| 10 November 2008 | Norwich | The Waterfront | ||
| 11 November 2008 | Essex | Students Union | ||
| 12 November 2008 | Uxbridge | Brunel Students Union | ||
| 13 November 2008 | High Wycombe | Students Union | ||
| 15 November 2008 | Hatfield | Hertfordshire Students Union | ||
| 16 November 2008 | Leeds | University Union | ||
| 17 November 2008 | Hull | University Union | ||
| 19 November 2008 | Bournemouth | The Old Fire Station | ||
| 20 November 2008 | Reading | Students Union | ||
| 21 November 2008 | Derby | Union | ||
| 8 December 2008 | Manchester | Academy 1 | XFM Christmas Winter Wonderland[17] | |
| 20 December 2008 | Birmingham | Birmingham Asylum | ||