Gang Of Four Announce 2022 North American Tour
Gang Of Four have announced a North American tour for 2022, with former Slint bassist David Pajo joining the band on guitar.
Set to kick off next March, the outing will see the group perform live for the first time since the death of Andy Gill in February 2020.
The new touring line-up includes founding members Jon King and Hugo Burnham, though bassist Dave Allen will not appear at the shows due to personal reasons. However, a press release states that the musician “remains an essential and vital part of the band”. Former Gang Of Four bassist Sara Lee has returned to the group in his place.
Pajo, who has also performed with Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, confirmed with “tremendous excitement, humility [and] gratitude” that he would be playing with his “lifelong heroes” Gang Of Four at next year’s gigs.
“Pinch-me-I’m-dreaming!” he added. “I really cannot even begin to tell you how overjoyed I am to play music with Hugo, Jon, and Sara.. for you! So I’ll stop here. Please come celebrate with us in 2022.”
Gang Of Four’s upcoming US tour will draw on material from their ’77-81’ box set of early material, which came out last December. The collection boasts a double LP of the “never officially released” ‘Live at American Indian Center 1980’ as well as remastered versions of ‘Entertainment!’ (1979) and ‘Solid Gold’ (1981).
Gang of Four influenced a number of successful alternative rock acts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe cites Gang of Four as one of his band’s chief influences; Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers has stated that Gang of Four were the single most important influence on his band’s early music. Kurt Cobain stated that Nirvana started as “a Gang of Four and Scratch Acid ripoff”.
From the 2000s, the band enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, initially due to the emergence of new post-punk revival bands such as Clinic, Liars, The Rapture, Neils Children, and Radio 4, and then the rise of Franz Ferdinand, We Are Scientists, and Bloc Party.
You can check out Gang Of Four tour info here.
Gang Of Four 2022 North American Tour Dates
Show date and time: March 1 – March 25, 2022
Show location: Varsity, Minneapolis, MN – Fortune Sound Club, Vancouver, BC
