The Enemy are an English rock band formed in Coventry in 2006, signed to Warner Music Group (UK). In June 2007, The Enemy played twice at Glastonbury Festival, played the 'Guardian lounge' on Saturday and the much larger 'Other Stage' on Sunday. They also headlined on the Saturday night of T In The Park in the 'Futures' tent on the 7th July. On July 16, 2007 the band's debut album: We'll Live and Die in These Towns went straight to Number 1 in the UK Albums chart on release.
History
The Enemy met their original manager John Dawkins under the Coventry City crest of the Ricoh Arena after a game between Coventry and Celtic for the Richard Shaw Testimonial. John had spoken to Watts at length about the band and had put them into the studio with untapped, up-and-coming producer, Matt Terry in Vada Studios, Stratford. Terry called Dawkins mid-session to express his excitement about the band; Dawkins received their demo tracks and promptly booked gigs for the band and became their manager. After approximately ten gigs, Dawkins sought the assistance of Grand Union Management, which quickly moved things forward.
In 2006 the band were the opening act at Coventry's Godiva Festival, and again played the event in July 2007 as second headliners beneath the Super Furry Animals the weekend in which their debut album went straight to number 1. On the back of their first appearance at Godiva, they were the first signing on the legendary Stiff Records label in 20 years; the band claimed that they'd signed a deal with Stiff. Some claim that this is a lie, however several singles have been released on special edition Stiff records - (they signed with Warner Records - who own Stiff - in early 2007).
They first gained acclaim when they were mentioned in NME as the act most likely to "break your windows" for 2007. Drummer Liam Watts is from the Keresley/Holbrooks area of Coventry. Bass player Andrew Hopkins is from the Eastern Green area of Coventry where he attended the Eastern Green Junior primary school and singer guitarist Tom Clarke is from the Castle Bromwich area of nearby Solihull and used to attend Park Hall School. All 3 members of the band studied music at Warwickshire College in Royal Leamington Spa.
They supported The Fratellis, Kasabian, Ash and Manic Street Preachers on their UK tours. The band also supported Stereophonics on their November 2007 UK Tour.
Their single, "Away From Here" entered the charts at number 8 and its follow-up "Had Enough" entered the charts at number 5, reaching no. 4, their highest placing to date.
Building on their rapid success, The Enemy collaborated with NME on the 2007 Rock 'N' Roll Riot Tour, during September and October 2007. Friend of the band, rapper Lethal Bizzle, and The Wombats supported the band.
In August 2007 The Enemy supported The Rolling Stones on the last date of their European tour at the O2 Arena in London. The band played a fully electric gig with Dirty Pretty Things to a selection of inmates at HMP Pentonville to raise awareness of the problem of suicides in young males. Tom was quoted as saying that it was a real privilege to work for such a worthy cause.
In September 2007 The Enemy played the Jersey Live Festival along with The Fratellis and The Twang. The band were told that they'd never play the festival again after they burnt out a cabin on the site (supposedly 'an accident').
In October 2007, they won best new act at the Q Awards, and gave the award to a young fan who had been crushed at the front of their gig in Manchester.
In January 2008, The Enemy won the XFM award "Best British Debut Album Of 2007" with "We'll Live And Die In These Towns", the Xfm New Music Awards were held at Camden's KOKO venue.
In February 2008 they won the NME award for Best New Band.
March 2008 saw the band started production on their second album and playing six nights in a row at the London Astoria.
April 2008 saw the band play ath Coventry's Ricoh Arean, with both nights selling out.