Idlewild bassist goes

Idlewild bassist Bob Fairfoull has officially left the band, just before the start of a European tour, including a series of gigs with Coldplay. No official statement just yet, except that the gigs won’t be affected and that bass technician Alex Grant will step in for warm up dates in Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham and Bangor. The NME reckon an official statement will be made today – perhaps it has been made compulsory for former Food Records bands to lose guitarists this year now that Graham Coxon has quit label mates Blur!