(Picture: María José Govea)
Arcade Fire will play their first London gig since 2018 at the long-awaited reopening night of KOKO in north London.
The Canadian indie rock titans will come to the legendary Camden venue on April 29, in support of their forthcoming album WE.
It will be the first show to take place at KOKO since it shut in March 2019, undergoing a three-year, £70m restoration in the meantime.
Tickets for the Arcade Fire gig will go on sale from midday on April 21, available both at livenation.co.uk and koko.seetickets.com. Pre-sale access to tickets will be available for fans who pre-order WE on any format from the official Arcade Fire UK store.
The band will be the first of three acts to play KOKO’s reopening weekend, with Ibiza favourite Luciano dropping in for an extended set on April 30, while UK rap star Central Cee delivering two gigs in one day, on May 1.
The Arcade Fire show will also be livestreamed on the Amazon Music UK Twitch channel, for fans who aren’t able to make the night in person.
Jorja Smith, Honey Dijon, Lianne La Havas, Chase and Status, Gabriels, Moses Sumney and Todd Terje are among the other acts confirmed to play KOKO’s upcoming season.
Arcade Fire have so far teed up the release of WE, due out May 6, with a double lead single, The Lightning I, II. The band also made a triumphant return with a surprise run of gigs at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom last month.
The Standard spoke to KOKO’s CEO Olly Bengough about the restoration project — and the many obstacles they had to overcome, pandemic and otherwise — back in October.
The full opening line-up of gigs at KOKO is below. Head to koko.com for more information.
29 April Arcade Fire
30 April KOKO Electronic: Luciano
1st May Central Cee
9 May Lianne La Havas - SOLD OUT
10 May Lianne La Havas - SOLD OUT
11 May Lianne La Havas - SOLD OUT
6 May Parra for Cuva
6 May KOKO Electronic: 2ManyDJs, Breakbot & Irfane
7 May KOKO Electronic: Jayda G, Jamie 3:26, Jaguar, Ruby Savage
8 May Portico Quartet
12 May Chase & Status
13 May Peter Doherty
13 May KOKO Electronic: Special Guest TBA, Optimo, India Jordan, Ceri
14 May Worldwide Awards
15 May Mulatu Astatke
18 May Zak Abel
19 May Honey Dijon
20 May DJ Seinfeld - SOLD OUT
20 May KOKO Electronic: Eats Everything, Very Special Guest, Ewan McVicor, Syreeta
21 May KOKO Electronic: 10 Year Of Hot Since 82 - Hot Since 82 Originals Only Set
22 May Vance Joy - SOLD OUT
23 May Kim Gordon
25 May KNUCKS - SOLD OUT
26 May Jorja Smith and FAMM - SOLD OUT
27 May Hania Rani
27 May KOKO Electronic: Steel City Showcase - Mall Grab, Kettama, Chloe Robinson
28 May KOKO Electronic: Kerri Chandler, CC:Disco!, Helena Star
29 May King Promise
31 May Amaarae
1 June Patrice Rushen
4 June KOKO Electronic: Skream (Open To Close)
5 June DJ Shadow
10 June KOKO Electronic: Very Special Guest, Batu, Crystalmess
14 June Remi Wolf
15 June PC Music
16 June Omar Apollo
17 June TEMS - SOLD OUT
21 June Gabriels
22 June TEMS - SOLD OUT
28 June Moses Sumney
2 July KOKO Electronic: Todd Terje, Young Marco, Lone (Live), Vale Budino
3 July The Beat
6 July Cory Henry
8 July Shkoon
11 July Flume
12 July Flume
20 July Yola
29 July KOKO Electronic: Moses Boyd DJ B2B DJ LAG, Novelist, Scratcha DVA (Amapiano Set), Charisse C
3 Aug DIIV
30 Aug Tank and the Bangas
21 Sept Babeheaven
22 Sept Overmono
30 Sept Obongjayar
19 Oct Let’s Eat Grandma
20 Oct Cassia
3 Nov GoGo Penguin
7 Nov Dylan
11 Nov Stone Foundation
13 Nov Ibeyi
15 Nov Anais Mitchell
16 Nov Bob Moses
18 Nov The Selector
