It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for… taking The Saviors Tour on the road all summer long next year to celebrate 30 years of ‘Dookie,’ 20 years of ‘American Idiot’ + our new album ‘Saviors’!!! https://t.co/e1YhBPEsQ6 fueled by @monsterenergy @monstermusic. pic.twitter.com/6mV5PHCohb

— Green Day (@GreenDay) November 2, 2023

The ‘Saviors‘ tour is set to kick off in Monto Do Gozo, Spain at the O Son Do Camiño festival on 3o May 2024, and will conclude with a huge show at Wembley Stadium, London on 29 June. The tour will see Green Day visit Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Ireland while the British cities of Manchester, London, Glasgow and even the Isle of Wight will also play host to the American pop-punk legends.

The announcement comes only days after the band had teased the possibility of a tour on their webstore, in the form of a banner telling fans to, “Pre-order ‘Saviors’ here for presale access to UK and European 2024 tour dates”. Joining Green Day on their travels are a number of bands that will act as support at different venues, including Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The interrupters, and Maid Of Ace. British fans attending shows at any of the British venues can expect a mega headline show from Green Day, of course, along with performances from Nothing But Thieves and Maid Of Ace.

Saviors is the band’s 14th studio album and will no doubt contain material that will be showcased at the various shows, as will Green Day classics like Basket Case, American Idiot and Welcome To Paradise. A taste of what to come has been offered in the past days, with the band releasing the singles “The American Dream Is Killing Me” on 24 October and “Look Ma, No Brains!” yesterday.

Watch the music video for “Look Ma, No Brains!” below:

Additionally, Green Day have announced two special shows that will take place later next week: in Milan at Magazzini and London at Electric Ballroom on the 7th and 10th respectively of November. Tickets for the London show are by request only and are available here.

See below for tour dates:

30/05/2024 – O Son Do Camiño – Monto Do Gozo
01/06 – Road to Rio Babel – Madrid
05/06 – LDLC Arena – Lyon
07/06 – Rock im Park – Nürburgring
08/06 – Rock am Ring – Nürburgring
10/06 – Waldbühne – Berlin
11/06 – Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld – Hamburg
13/06 – Nova Rock Festival – Nickelsdorf
15/06 – Greenfield Festival – Interlaken
16/06 – I Days – Hippodrome La Maura – Milan
18/06 – Accor Arena – Paris
19/06 – Gelredome – Arnhem
21/06 – Emirates Old Trafford – Manchester
23/06 – Isle of Wight Festival – Isle of Wight
25/06 – Bellahouston Park – Glasgow
27/06 – Marlay Park – Dublin
29/06 – Wembley Stadium – London

Pre-order Saviors here now.

Those who have pre-ordered Saviors can access pre-sale tickets. General sale tickets will be available from Friday 10 November here.

The moment a band turn up with their OWN hearse at our signing session in Liverpool, so we join in to cover Hate To Say I Told You So! pic.twitter.com/7wsOpYGqjH

— The Hives (@TheHives) August 15, 2023

The Hives were due to take part in a signing event at a store on Slater Street, Liverpool on 15 August when Blackburn-based stoner rock band Sky Valley Mistress pulled up in front of the record shop in a hearse (an nod to the band’s album title) and began launching into the Swedish rockers most famous hits. Much to the delighted surprise of the band, as The Hives arrived, the original members joined Sky Valley Mistress for a rendition of what is arguably their biggest hit song.

Released in 2000, “Hate To Say I Told You So” was The Hives’ lead off single for their second studio album, Veni Vidi Vicious and gained the band considerable attention and plaudits. And it was, to the excited crowd on the street, a particular treat to witness frontman Pelle Almqvist share the mic with Sky Valley Mistress singer Kayley ‘Hell Kitten’ Davies just outside of a kebab shop.

Sky Valley Mistress immediately took to social media to share the impromptu performance, saying “thank you to The Hives for coming out with their fans to see our gig outside Jacaranda last night.” The band also shared various images of them posing with the Hives.

The Hives released their latest studio effort only a week ago and is the first release of new material in 11 years. The long gap has not seemed to dent the band’s impact with critics praising the record for retaining its playful, hook filled garage rock sound.

Almqvist, speaking tongue in cheek of the band’s failure to release a mature album, said, “imagine ‘The Hives have been away from 10 years and now they’ve matured.’ It was important to go the opposite way. This has to be fucking stupid and childish, even worse than we’ve been before! The punk songs on this album are almost worse than our first record. ‘The Bomb’ and ‘Trapdoor Solution’ are almost like us reaching the ceiling of it.”

Hailing from Fagersta, Sweden, The Hives came to prominence in the early 2000s, notably after the release of their breakthrough album, Veni Vidi Vicious. Since then, the band has received particular praise for their high-energy live shows that have had many critics citing them as one of the greatest live acts since their arrival onto the scene.

Spanning twelve tracks and coming in at just under 32 minutes, the band’s sixth studio LP boasts all the ingredients of a classic punk record: short but sweet, The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons doesn’t muck about or take itself too seriously, prioritising raw energy over flashy embellishments. This back-to-basics approach is where The Hives’ appeal lies; never ones to shy away from the more wacky aspects of rock, the group have always exhibited a fun-loving attitude their audiences find irresistible.

Listen to “Bogus Operandi“:

The new album, however, comes at a loss: Randy Fitzsimmons, the band’s mysterious fictional mentor and sole songwriter, has apparently died. This new development in the self-scribed Hives backstory sees the limelight-shunning Fitzsimmons helping out beyond the grave, providing the remaining members with demo tapes, fresh suits and a title for the new record.

In honour of his memory, and to celebrate the release of The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, The Hives recently performed a ceremonial gig at London’s Rough Trade East – the iconic independent  record shop and live music venue that has been hosting legendary shows since its 2007 opening – where they gave their sixth member a proper send-off. 

In true Hives fashion, the band pulled up outside the store in a customised hearse – complete with coffin and decorative flowers – in order to pay their respects to a man they claim to owe their entire discography to, before taking to the Rough Trade stage and bashing out their classic concoction of rock and roll swagger. The group then bid their final farewells in similar fashion at Banquet Records a day later. 

Check out The Hive’s unusual Rough Trade East entrance below:

@the.hives chat is this real? have they died? #thehives #thedeathofrandyfitzsimmons #rock #funeral ♬ original sound – monkemanpoo

The Hives first crashed onto the scene during the short-lived garage rock revival of the early 2000s, which saw rough-and-ready guitar bands such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Libertines achieve mainstream success with a gritty, punk-inspired sound. By the time The Hives had landed their first major hit with “Hate To Say I Told You So”, the group had been going for eight years.

Since then, they have sold out stadiums and shared stages with everyone from AC/DC to The Rolling Stones. Spin dubbed The Hives “the best live band on the planet” and Howlin’ Pelle, their lead singer, “one of the greatest frontmen in rock”, while the BBC described them as “a force of nature”.
The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons marks the long-awaited return for a group that has most recently been making waves as the frenetic support act for Arctic Monkeys on their European arena tour.

Next year, The Hives take their own show to 12 cities across the UK and Ireland.
See below for dates:

27/03/2024 – Leeds Academy – Leeds
28/03 – City Hall – Newcastle
29/03 – Rock City – Nottingham
30/03 – The Halls – Wolverhampton
01/04 – Barrowland – Glasgow
02/04 – O2 Academy – Bristol
03/04 – Brighton Dome – Brighton
05/04 – Great Hall – Cardiff
06/04 – Manchester Academy – Manchester
08/04 – Olympia – Dublin
10/04 – The LCR – Norwich
13/04 – Eventim Apollo – London

Get tickets here.

Listen to The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons here.

Tickets for Arctic Monkeys 2023 UK/Ireland tour are set to go on general sale next Friday (September 30) at 9am BST and you can purchase yours here. Though fans can get early access pre-sale tickets at the same time on Thursday (29) by pre-ordering their seventh studio album The Car from here.

Arctic Monkeys announce their 2023 UK & Ireland Tour with special guests @TheHives & @TheMysterines. Tickets go on sale 30 Sept at 9am. Fan pre-sale begins on 29 Sept at 9am. Pre-order ‘The Car’ from the bands webstore to get access. For more info visit https://t.co/6BDFhmmRyS pic.twitter.com/1PdSCBWmsa

— Arctic Monkeys (@ArcticMonkeys) September 23, 2022

These current dates would mean that Arctic Monkeys are still free to headline Glastonbury Festival 2023 on either the Friday (June 23) or Saturday (24). The band first formed back in 2002 have been rumoured to be making a return to Worthy Farm next summer. An unnamed source told the Sun “Alex Turner and the band are coming back to Glastonbury, and this time their set is going to be even bigger and better. The lads have signed on the dotted line and will return to the Pyramid Stage next June.” They are also set to hit the road in late May in support of their latest album, out on October 21, 2022 via Domino. Kicking off at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium on May 29, the run will also include outdoor concerts in Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, Dublin and Glasgow.

Recently (September 22) Arctic Monkeys also performed an intimate gig in Brooklyn, New York. During the special show, the group gave their recent comeback single “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” its live debut, you can view the music video for the track below. They also treated the crowd to a pair of unreleased cuts “Body Paint” and “Mr Schwartz” from their upcoming album as well as “I Ain’t Quite Where I Think I Am”, another new song that was first played last month.

Arctic Monkeys’ 2023 UK/Ireland Tour:

29/05/23 Ashton Gate Stadium – Bristol
31/05 Building Society Arena – Coventry
02/06 Emirates Old Trafford – Manchester
05/06 Riverside Stadium – Middlesbrough
07 /06 Carrow Road Stadium – Norwich
09/06 Hillsborough Park – Sheffield
10/06 Hillsborough Park – Sheffield
12/06 Swansea.com Stadium – Swansea
14/06 The Ageas Bowl – Southampton
16/06 Emirates Stadium – London
17/06 Emirates Stadium – London
20/06 Marlay Park – Dublin
25/06 Bellahouston Park – Glasgow

The wait is over… #ImAlive is out now everywhere https://t.co/7UjhAdMDZapic.twitter.com/QXuzu8nZgv

— The Hives (@TheHives) May 17, 2019

 

The new single “I’m Alive”, produced by Dave Sardy of LCD Soundsystem fame, is believed to be part of a larger album project that is due for 2020. This would be the bands first new LP since 2012’s “Lex Hives”. The band reached fame in the mid 2000s with their brand of upbeat and catchy indie rock. Fans over twitter have been reacting to the news very positively.

THE HIVES ARE MAKING A COMEBACK ON THE 17TH OF MAY, EXCITEMENT LIKE THIS CAN NOT BE CONTAINED

(SORRY ABOUT CAPS LOCK, CAT WALKED ON MY KEYBOARD AND ACCIDENTALLY TURNED IT ON)

— The Geez Knees  (@rhysthomas2312) May 15, 2019

Jesus Christ are The Hives coming back?? I mean that’s exciting as hell but that came the fuck outta nowhere

— Mark Zucchiniberg (@plantfckr) May 16, 2019

Speaking to The NME front man Pelle Almqvist explains “I’m Alive is a song about crawling up from under a rock and obliterating all resistance that sounds like crawling up from under a rock and obliterating all resistance because it is a band crawling up from under a rock and obliterating all resistance. Use it in your own life to help you obliterate your own resistance!”

Speaking back to The NME back in 2017 Almqvist spoke about the challenges facing the band when recording a potential new album. “We have a bunch of songs but we can’t really agree on how to make it an album, or when to make it an album.We have a lot of awesome stuff but it hasn’t been recorded yet.The direction, We can’t really agree. You’d get five different answers from asking five different band members. And that’s what we need to figure out before we make a record because you really need all to love it.”

“You’re stuck with it for the rest of your life, playing those songs.I mean, if you’re lucky enough to have a good record, you’ve got to play those songs forever.We’re playing more shows, and I hope we can all agree on what kind of album to make. Better start making a Hives album. That would be cool. Yeah, because I’m going to make some sort of album this year, I don’t know what it’s going to be. But I need music to come out.”

Switched back on. @TheHives live at #ThirdManRecords tonight. Recorded #directtoacetate and coming to a turntable near you fast as we can press it… pic.twitter.com/HRGwsaOuWL

— Third Man Records (@thirdmanrecords) May 17, 2019