Manchester band Inspiral Carpets have announced their first new tour in seven years - which they say will be a celebration of their music from the past 30 years. The band's last tour was in 2015, but the band went on indefinite hiatus after the sudden death of much-loved bandmate, drummer Craig Gill, the following year.
Now the band say the "time is right" to head back on tour to celebrate their music - while paying tribute to Craig. The new tour will include a big homecoming show at Manchester's Albert Hall on April 1, 2023.
A vital component of the infamous ‘ Madchester’ movement, Inspiral Carpets first formed in Oldham in 1980. Known for hit singles such as This Is How It Feels, Saturn 5 and She Comes in the Fall, they remain much-loved not only in Manchester but across the UK.
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The band last took to the stage together in 2015 at Leeds O2 Academy – a venue they will now return to on Saturday 8th April, 2023. Following the tragic loss of their close friend and drummer Craig a year later, aged 44, they went on an indefinite hiatus.
The band say: "Craig’s death had a profound effect on many people. The outpouring of love from around the world at the time gave some comfort to his family and friends as we all tried to come to terms with what had happened."
On the reformation, the band are keen to emphasise the celebratory nature of the forthcoming live shows, giving fans a chance to sing along to their favourite hits and commemorate the life of Craig.
"We know this will be an emotional journey for a lot of people, not least Craig’s family. We hope you’ll join us as we celebrate some of the music we created, and which has brought so much joy to people over the last 34 years."
The band's keyboardist Clint Boon remains an ever-popular figure on Manchester's music scene as a DJ at club nights and with his shows on radio station XS Manchester. He says: "I spend a lot of time playing other people's records, so it will be nice to go back to our own. To go back to what is the biggest creative chapter of my life."
Clint said it took until now for the band to feel able to get back together, while still grieving the loss of Craig. He said: "This comes after a period where, personally, I thought we wouldn't get back together after losing Craig.
"He passed away in November 2016 and since then there's been no desire to do anything as a band, we've not talked about writing new material or doing new gigs we had just put the band to bed in that respect.
"But now we feel the time is right - it's all about celebration we keep saying that a lot. Celebrating Craig's work, celebrating our back catalogue and celebrating the love.
"It's going to be very emotional not having Craig there with us, but we've got the blessing of his wife and family, we've kept them in the loop. And we feel he will be very much with us.
"One of the best things about this is the fans need it, I'm excited for the fans more than anything. It sounds like a cliche but there's a lot of people who've invested time and money in the band over the years so it's great to be able to get back out there and give them what they want.
"We're celebrating 30-odd years and celebrating with the people who've helped us do it."
Tickets for the new tour go on sale at 10am on Friday 21 st October via www.gigsandtours.com
Full tour dates
March 2023
Thurs 23 Northampton roadmenders
Fri 24 Newcastle Boiler Shop
Sat 25 Oxford Academy
Sun 26 Brighton Concorde 2
Fri 31 Cambridge Junction
April 2023
Sat 1 Manchester Albert Hall
Sun 2 Notts Rescue Rooms
Sat 8 Leeds O2 Academy
Thurs 13 Glasgow SWG3 Galvanisers
Fri 14 Sheffield Leadmill
Sat 15 O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Fri 21 Coventry HMV empire
Sat 22 Frome Cheese & Grain
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