The infamous Gang Of Four are touring the UK at the end of this month and into October and BSM will be attending the Manchester show on 4 October.
After having recently The band recently re-issued some of their early works on vinyl and CD including their debut album Entertainment (1979) and follow up record Solid Gold (1981).
Gang of Four was formed in Leeds in 1976 by bassist Dave Allen, drummer Hugo Burnham, guitarist Andy Gill, and singer Jon King. The band pioneered a style of music that inverted punk’s blunt and explosive energies — favouring tense rhythms, percussive guitars, and lyrics that traded in Marxist theory and situationism. They put every element of the traditional “rock band” format to question, from notions of harmony and rhythm to presentation and performance. This original line-up of the band released two monumental albums, Entertainment! (1979) and Solid Gold (1981). A third, Songs of the Free (1982), was recorded with bassist Sara Lee replacing Dave Allen. After Songs Of The Free, Burnham departed the band and Andy Gill and Jon King continued on to release Hard in 1983. After this release, the band broke up. In 2004, the original quartet reformed for tour dates and released Return The Gift (2005).
Gill’s untimely death in February 2020 was cause for many to once again re-examine the group’s catalogue and the legacy of these early releases was widely cited. Not only did Gang of Four’s music speak to the generation of musicians, activists, writers, and visual artists that emerged in the group’s immediate wake, but the generation after that. And the generation after that, even. The touring line up consists of guitarist David Pajo, drummer Hugo Burnham, bassist Sara Lee and singer Jon King.
Full list of dates:
30th September – Leeds O2 Academy
1st October – Edinburgh O2 Academy
2nd October – Newcastle Boiler Shop
4th October – Manchester O2 Ritz
5th October – Birmingham O2 Institute
6th October – London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
7th October – Bristol O2 Academy
