The Courteeners admit they had butterflies the size of pigeons when they walked out on their first arena stage.

The Mancunian foursome may be a band who have prided themselves on constantly upping the ante and achieving ever greater goals – but walking out in front of 10,000 fans who've paid to see you is still a major lump-in-the-throat moment.

"That was completely surreal," says drummer and founder Courteener Michael Campbell, remembering the group's triumphant homecoming gig at the prestigious G-Mex arena last year.

" Everything we've ever done has been a progression – whether it was playing our first headline show in a pub, or a uni or a city hall.

"But to play a massive, huge place like the G-Mex was still quite a 'woah' moment. The fact that it sold out in three or four days was even more special for us because we were thinking ' will it sell or won't it sell? Will anyone come out to see us or will it be really embarrassing?'

"Luckily they turned out in massive numbers and it reaffirmed everything we felt about the band. If we were worried about coming back with a second album, that laid all those fears to rest.

"I must admit, though, when we turned up for the sound check and it was just us in this vast aircraft hanger of a building, we did look at each other and say 'what on Earth are we doing here?'"

However, once the lights were turned down and the amps turned up – the flying rat-sized butterflies were battered in to submission by epic quantities of surging adrenaline.

"It was phenomenal," says Michael. "We couldn't even see to the back of the crowd – which was probably a blessing in disguise. The best thing was that it just felt right. It felt like we were supposed to be there."

The venue may not be quite as epic when the quartet arrive at Hull University Union later this month, but the band says they are looking forward to returning to a city that "embraced us and gave us a great response, even when nobody knew who we were".

The band, who have been lauded by no less a musical icon than Morrissey, will be playing material from their new album, Falcon, as well as old favourites from the gold-selling breakthrough record St Judes.

The band's Hull date was originally planned to be the first date of the quartet's forthcoming tour – but a last minute invitation to join a BBC live music event at the O2 Arena, in London, means that the gig has been pushed back to Monday, March 29.

"I think it's going to be the last date of the tour rather than the first," says Michael. "What it does mean is we'll have 18 or 19 gigs to prepare for Hull – so we should be on fire by then.

"The album has actually been finished since September so we've just been hanging around waiting for everyone else to do their bits – which is really frustrating when all you really want to do is get out there and play the new songs.

"Getting on the road is the best part of the year for us – we're just revving up for it now.

"But we're really happy with the record. It's everything we wanted it to be. It's moved on since St Jude but I think people will appreciate the changes."

* The Courteeners play Asylum, University Of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, on Monday, March 29, at 8pm.

Entry costs £16. To book call (01482) 466264.