They opened the show with one of the debut tracks “Gene Pool”. Setting the scene for the audience in reassurance that, what they were about to experience, wasn’t like any other of their live shows.

The duo maintained a sturdy setlist throughout. These included their latest releases “Juanita 2022” from last year, “Two Months Off” from 2021 . An appearance from their last studio album DRIFT Series 1 called “Border Country” and a few intricacies from older releases. From their 1999 album Beaucoup Fish the duo played “Cups”, “Jumbo” and “Shudder”. Not to mention the 1994 Dubnobasswithmyheadman playing “Mmm… Skyscraper I Love You”. 

They played golden tracks, and after “Gene Pool” as the intro, they introduced another fresh debut “Strawberry Hotel” as the fifth song, followed by “Denver Luna” as the seventh and “And The Colour Red” as a finishing line for the performance, before their final “Born Slippy” encore.

Their Bristol audience were left buzzing after the show and some consider it to be the best show they’ve attended yet. “Bristol last night was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to” stated a fan. And another “Brizzle last night…if you weren’t there, you missed an absolute treat. Karl and Rick – thank you”.

Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, the members of the band, are a mysterious double. Cheeky teasers in live shows to uproar fans curiosity and anticipation are done to the tee. It feels like they’re about to announce an upcoming tour, which the audience seem quite desperate for. Or they are about to drop a new album release date. Who knows. The suspense is clearly there and is already starting to boil over.

They performed the same show including these four fresh cuts at another recent gig. On March the 20th they showcased another blindingly flavoursome show in London at the Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust.

The British duo have a few shows coming up. Over the pond they will be playing at Coachella on the 15th April, the Warfield in San Francisco on the 21st April, Coachella Weekend 2 on the 22nd April and at Movement Festival in Detroit on the 29th May. Following after they will be making their way back to the UK to play at Junction 2 in London on the 21st July, they will be playing at The Secret Garden Party on the 22nd July and finish off at Lowlands Festival on the 18th August in the Netherlands.

Tickets are here for upcoming shows.

UK Show Dates:

21/07/2023 – Junction 2 – London
22/07 – The Secret Garden Party – Abbots Ripton

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AEG Presents have given the following statement, “Ray-Ban has been a partner of Luno presents All Points East since its launch in 2018 and we’re really pleased to develop our relationship further with these intimate shows this summer. The festival is going to be a huge celebration of music and we’re delighted to have Ray-Ban partner with us again on the West Stage across both weekends.”

The first of the live shows is scheduled to take place on 26th May 2022; Sherelle will kick off the live sessions with a headlining show at Hackney Wick’s Colour Factory. The British DJ will also be joined by Nia Archives, the multi-talented artist who was awarded the Best Producer accolade at this year’s BandLab NME Awards ceremony. Two more artists are also billed to perform at the opening concert, “Almost Blue” singer LCY and Foundation FM will also take to the Hackney stage.

The second gig of the upcoming summer session will take place on 9th June 2022 at Camden’s iconic venue KOKO. Formally known as Camden Palace, the venue will play host to Kenny Beats and his friends. The Berklee College of Music alumni first found success within the EDM group Loudpvck; the American producer and songwriter left to follow a solo career and made a name for himself in the genre of Trap music. British artist Knucks has also been announced to perform alongside Beats; the 27-year-old rapper is set to bring his unique sound to the Camden stage.

The third and final concert is set to be held on 14th July 2022 at Dalston’s multi-arts space Earth. Headlining the series’ concluding show is Self Esteem, otherwise known as Rebecca Lucy Taylor. The Sheffield born artist was previously part of the folk duo Slow Club. The group released their debut album Yeah So in 2009, the album was released on vinyl in 2010 by Moshi Moshi Records in celebration of Record Store Day. The group disbanded in 2017 due to musical differences and Taylor’s solo project Self Esteem was born. Last year the singer released the single “You Forever“, a track taken from her second studio album Prioritise Pleasure. Further acts to perform alongside Self Esteem will soon be announced.

The festival’s upcoming series of spin-off events have promised that the concerts will be organised and produced in an environmentally friendly fashion, a press release confirms the approach, “Each night, BMW will be plugging into All Points East’s sustainability policies, with a fleet of all-electric BMW iX providing artist transportation, actively reducing each event’s carbon footprint.”

Luno presents All Points East festival is set to return to Victoria Park this summer for its 2022 event. Set to take place from 19th-28th August the festival will host a collection of influential headlining acts including two of electronic music’s biggest names; The Chemical Brothers and Kraftwerk are billed to headline APE Presents Field Day on 20th August 2022.

Tickets for Ray-Ban X APE present The Summer Sessions go on sale from 10am 12th May 2022, click here for ticket information.

London listeners will be particularly delighted by news of the live summer show considering all scheduled UK and Ireland tour dates were cancelled in 2020. The loss and lack of their famous live performances led The Flaming Lips to early release new music for the fans, through UK’s Bella Union, on September 11, 2020.

.@theflaminglips are back to tour their impressively beautiful album ‘American Head’. Pushing the boundaries for more than three decades, there’s nothing quite like a #flaminglips show. They’re here on Fri 23 Jul 2021.

On O2? Priority Tickets on sale 10am Wed 14 Oct #o2priority pic.twitter.com/3b0xfbEZqO

— O2 Forum (@O2ForumKTown) October 12, 2020

The new album, titled American Head, has received positive reaction from fans and critics and this is in no doubt because of their return to American rock roots through songs that express nostalgia for the pre-pandemic American dream and moreover for the longing of better days.

While this is The Flaming Lips’ sixteenth studio album, their experimental music and connection to modernity is more prominent then ever and continues to arouse excitement in all generations. The Flaming Lips made their mark on younger generations more recently in the last decade when this quasi-rock band played with Miley Cyrus in 2015 for the co-collaborated album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. Collaboration with Cyrus at the height of her popularity kept The Flaming Lips relevant, just as releasing the wistful utopian album American Head is fitting now for isolated listeners wishing for the return to pre-covid life.

Considering the relevance of their new studio album, as it pertains to Covid-19, frontman Wayne Coyne is eager to perform this album live in the coming year despite continued world-wide safety concerns. Coyne recently discussed his views on scheduling new live-shows during the global pandemic saying in an interview with Brooklyn Vegan, I mean, I’m not suggesting the whole world should do it this way. I’m just saying The Flaming Lips can try it this way, and if you like our music, you can come see us. You’ll have to be in one of these space bubbles, but maybe that’ll be a good thing.

When Coyne uses the phrase ‘space bubbles’ he is not referring to the metaphorical social-distancing bubble coined by the UK’s covid-19 safety guidelines, but rather a large physical blow up bubble that crowd members would enter in order to attend in-person concerts.

 

 

 

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A post shared by Wayne Coyne (@waynecoyne5) on Sep 11, 2020 at 6:47pm PDT

These space bubbles have been used by The Flaming Lips in the past as a show-prop but the Oklahoma rock band is planning to use them for safety at their upcoming home-town show in Oklahoma City. Whether it will be incased in a bubble or not, tickets for the newly announced summer show by The Flaming Lips will go on sale this Friday, October 16th at 10 am.

UK and Ireland tour dates for 2021 are as follows.

Around six months have passed since the venue was shuttered in March, and socially-distanced gigs have been officially allowed since August 15, but The Jazz Cafe has only now found a solution to safely host live music. The club, which celebrates its 30th birthday this year, will soon return to its ‘seven days a week’ schedule with a wide range of artists performing on its intimate stage.

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After 7 long months The Jazz Cafe returns from Friday 18 September with a jam-packed Autumn of exciting shows to choose from, marking the return of live music in London.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Only a limited number of 2, 3, 4 and 6-seater tables available each night.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ A big thanks to everyone who’s supported us through this difficult time – we couldn’t have done it without you!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Link in bio to see what’s coming up.

A post shared by The Jazz Cafe (@thejazzcafe) on Sep 2, 2020 at 3:06am PDT

Ruari Frew, head booker at The Jazz Cafe, confesses that while he is grateful for the support the venue has received, its current reopening plan is not sustainable in the long-term. He said: ‘We’re still a long way off where we need to be, and it will be very difficult to operate financially, but we owe it to all the people who make the live industry tick to give this a go’. 

Frew also highlighted the importance of getting struggling artists safely back on stage: ‘Our world is largely made up of freelancers, many of whom fell through the gaps of any government support. It’s crucial that we get as many people as possible working again in a safe environment’. The Jazz Cafe has served as a launch pad for countless artists over the years; many prominent British musicians such as Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Ed Sheeran performed here before becoming global superstars. 

It’s good to be back! We’re kicking off our opening weekend with firm Jazz Cafe favourite and resident groove-machine Dele Sosimi. He brings his legendary afrobeat party to Camden for two separate shows on Saturday 19 September. Tickets: https://t.co/4RkZHnwhyB pic.twitter.com/2HKmEBK6Vx

— Jazz Cafe (@TheJazzCafe) September 3, 2020

The venue is fortunate in having survived the coronavirus pandemic and being able to reopen; an estimated two thirds of British music venues remain closed due to ‘unviable’ social distancing guidelines. According to its website, The Jazz Cafe’s autumn reopening lineup is as follows:

September

18/09/20 – Sierra Band Present A Night Of Southern Soul
19/09 – Dele Sosimi & Friends
20/09 – Anime Film Scores performed by Piano & String Quintet
21/09 – Anime Film Scores performed by Piano & String Quintet
23/09 – Sierra Band presents Neil Young – After The Goldrush 50th Anniversary
24/09 – Live For Beirut
25/09 – Light of The World
26/09 – Osibisa
27/09 – Sunday Soul
28/09 – Havana Música: A Celebration of Cuban Music With The Latin Bridge
29/09 – James Copus And Joe Downard
30/09 – Cubafrobeat: Cuban-Afrobeat Explosion

October

02/10 – PBUG
03/10 – The Music Of Otis Redding with Reuben Richards And The Jezebel Sexted
04/10 – Beat Of Brazil
08/10 – Lola Young
09/10 – Tony Momrelle
10/10 – Cuban Independence Day With Sambroso Afro-Cuban All Stars
13/10 – The Howl & The Hum
14/10 – Fela Kuti’s Birthday With Bukky Leo & Black Egypt
15/10 – Balcony + Tayo Sound
16/10 – Jay Phelps’ Afro Cuban All Stars / Pyjaen Play Roy Hargrove
17/10 – Etta Bond
19/10 – A Night Of Whitney
20/10 – Loathe
21/10 – Howie Payne

You can purchase tickets to see these performances here.

These two shows mark the only occasions that the band will perform in the country. Tickets are available now from here. Their current line up consists of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.

The band’s full run of shows is listed below. The tour sees them begin on May 20 in Portugal and conclude on June 27 in Ireland.

May

20/5/20 –  Lisbon Passeio Maritimo De Algés, Portugal.
23/5 – Seville Estadio Benito Villamarin, Spain.
26/5 – Munich Olympiastadion, Germany.
29/5 – London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
30/5 – London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.

June

2/6 – Hamburg Volksparkstadion, Germany.
6/6 – Solvesborg Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden.
9/6 – Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria.
12/6 – Firenze Firenze Rocks Festival, Italy.
14/6 – Berne Stade de Suisse. Switzerland.
17/6 – Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland.
19/6 – Prague Letnany Airport, Czech Republic.
21/6 – Landgraaf Pinkpop Festival, Holland.
27/6 – Dublin Marlay Park Concert Series, Ireland.

Earlier in the year, McKagan appeared to confirm a new album was in the works following the band’s reunion in 2016. According to McKagan, he has listened to demo recordings produced by Rose, and speaking to Trunk Nation Radio, said:

“There’s never been a direct schedule on how we do things. I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has, really cool stuff he’s been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities of that, of course.”

McKagan played down any hopes, however, of new music arriving anytime soon, saying, “I don’t mean to get anybody rabid. Our day will happen when it happens, that’s for sure.”

In an NME article from February, Slash said, “Basically, the only real answer to give is we’re hoping to put a new record out, and we’ll just see what happens when it happens.”