Gang of Four Reunite, Plan January Tour!

-- peepee (citywideva...), November 15th, 2004.

guess i'm not exactly the first to hear

http://webhome.idirect.com/~boweevil/pics/gof.jpeg

Well, they're looking at something.

But, FWIW, I'M TOTALLY PSYCHED! (Imagine Brak screeching that, if you please.)

There will be no new material. However, a planned tribute-style album will see fans like Franz Ferdinand and Hot Hot Heat remixing the original recordings.

Yikes.

Of note to ILMers: Once Gill and Allen had a fist fight after the bassist placed his foot on a monitor, which Gill perceived as "rockist".

anyway this is obviously horrible. Unless all they do is play "I Love a Man in a Uniform" for half an hour and then leave the stage.

x-post

He probably said something like, "Like, dude, you look like a fucking douchebag when you do that. Quit it. And give me a bite of that sandwich, I'm hella hungry."

(I'm askin for trouble aren't I...)

Saw them in Birmingham tonight, rhythm section the best thing, really, King's vocals were rasping a lot and Gill was doing louche speak-y deliveries instead of shouting 'THERE MAY BE OIL' with the required gusto.

They did Damaged Goods at the end and it sounded great even though it was a bit U2, and then they did I Found That Essence Rare and it sounded like shit, and they were only on for 70 minutes and it cost £19.

Also, melodica only made one appearance.

What's this about a new album? http://www.gangoffour.co.uk/

I wonder what their US dates will look like. I figure 5 or 6 shows apart from that Couchella (sp?) thang in CA.

For years promoters and fans have begged them. Now Gang of Four, the definitive punk-funk, post-punk agitators, have finally acquiesced to public demand. They have reformed in their original line-up and this past January they performed a string of UK shows for the first time since 1981 to mass critical acclaim:

“They immediately reclaimed the meticulous ferocity that made the Gang of Four one of postpunk’s most influential bands”. -(New York Times)

“Gang of Four are really rather excellent…(their) music hasn’t aged in the slightest…the likes of ‘Damaged Goods’ and ‘Natural’s Not In It’ are still spikily relevant.” (NME)

“Gang of Four are perhaps the single most compelling case that what followed punk was far more interesting than punk itself.” (Independent On Sunday, ABC)

“they exude intensity and their sound remains one of rock’s strongest flavours” (Mail On Sunday)

The band, icons and inspiration for many of the world's biggest acts (REM, U2, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers), and who perhaps more than any other, serve as direct stylistic antecedents of today’s guitar heroes (step forward Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, The Rapture, Radio 4, Liars et al), have not been seen in this formation since 1981. Jon King (vocals), Andy Gill (guitar and vocals), Dave Allen (bass) and Hugo Burnham (drums) had by then been responsible for 1978’s epochal ‘Damaged Goods’ debut EP, as well as the genre-defining ‘Entertainment’ album (1979) and its follow-up ‘Solid Gold’.

Since then there has never been a time when ‘Natural's Not In It' and ‘Love Like Anthrax’ haven’t sounded like some of the most vital and coldly passionate records ever made, but recently the band who always sounded 20 years ahead of their time have finally found the world catching up and catching on. Consequentially, it is most timely that Andy Gill has come out from behind the producer’s chair of such globe bestriding rock behemoths as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Killing Joke, Futureheads, Michael Hutchence, Bono, Jesus Lizard, to once again strap on his trusty Stratocaster.

Gang of Four have just finished work on a new double disc set which will be released to coincide with US tour dates. More information to follow soon.

We are pleased to announce Gang Of Four US dates!

Gang of Four US Dates
May 1 Coachella
May 2 - San Francisco @ Fillmore
May 3 – San Francisco @ Fillmore
May 5 - Portland @ Roseland
May 6 - Seattle @ Showbox
May 7 - Vancouver @ Commodore
May 10 - Minneapolis @ Quest
May 11 - Chicago @ Metro
May 12 – Chicago @ Metro
May 14 - Toronto @ Phoenix
May 16 - Boston @ Avalon
May 17 – NYC @ Irving Plaza
May 18 – NYC @ Irving Plaza
May 20 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
May 21 – Philadelphia @ tba

"I'm back in business, baby!" (/Costanza)

Around the time of the tour (nothing is firm yet) the band will make their reunion complete with a double-disc set of semi-new music. According to a BBC interview with Andy Gill, one disc will have re-recorded versions of old songs-- "Predominantly from the first three albums"-- while the second will consist of remixes by some of Gang of Four's artistic successors. Of the latter disc, Gill said, "At this point there's Bloc Party are doing one, Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads are having a go at a track, Hot Hot Heat, Massive Attack, and we're gonna be talking to Chili Peppers and REM." (Flea is an avowed fan of Dave Allen's bass stylings, and Michael Stipe was heard to drop an a capella verse from "We Live As We Dream, Alone" on REM's Green tour back in the day.)

Anticipating the massive skepticism which would greet their attempts to revisit history, Gill elaborated somewhat on the concept: "The songs were fantastic, but I think there were some holes in the sound of it. I mean, actually, I think we're doing it even more simply than we did at the time-- there's literally no overdubs."

Good for you Donna!

https://pitchfork.com/news/gang-of-four-announces-2022-north-american-tour/

huh now the songs of the free lineup has reunited, with david pajo replacing gill. apparently they asked allen but he wasn't able to tour

Did the '77-'81 boxset sell enough to guarantee a '82-'83 boxset? Yearning for _Songs of the Free_ and particularly _Hard_, remastered.

Pajo from Slint could be interesting with them.

Is Pajo going for some sort of record for number of bands he can briefly be in? Slint, Tortoise, Zwan, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ...

Was he really in all of those? Haven’t kept up

royal trux, stereolab... the list goes on

though yyys, interpol & royal trux were all just hiring hand touring member stuff. he never recorded with stereolab either

Have he and Paz Lenchantin ever overlapped in a band of had a near miss?

Zwan.

David Pajo just needs to get into Asia and Black Oak Arkansas (both possible) and he would be six degrees separated from pretty much any rock musician ever.

If he was in the Bacon Brothers he'd also be within range of like, Marlon Brando and Alla Nazimova.

He played and got credit on the Royal Trux's "The United States vs One 1974 Cadillac El Dorado Sedan"