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Variety Playhouse
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Vivarium
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Gothic Theatre
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The Fonda Theatre
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Gang of Four was formed in Leeds in 1976 by bassist Dave Allen, drummer Hugo Burnham, guitarist Andy Gill, and singer Jon King. The band pioneered a style of music that inverted punk's blunt and explosive energies -- favoring tense rhythms, percussive guitars, and lyrics that traded in Marxist theory and situationism. They put every element of the traditional "rock band" format to question, from notions of harmony and rhythm to presentation and performance.
This original lineup of the band released two monumental albums, Entertainment! (1979) and Solid Gold (1981). A third, Songs of the Free (1982), was recorded with bassist Sara Lee replacing Dave Allen. After Songs Of The Free, Burnham departed the band and Andy Gill and Jon King continued on to release Hard in 1983. After this release, the band broke up. In 2004, the original quartet reformed for tour dates and released Return The Gift (2005).
Gill's untimely death in February 2020 was cause for many to once again re-examine the group's catalog and the legacy of these early releases was widely cited. Not only did Gang of Four's music speak to the generation of musicians, activists, writers, and visual artists that emerged in the group's immediate wake, but the generation after that. And the generation after that, even.
In 2021 the band teamed up with indie label super force Matador to release a deluxe, Grammy nominated boxset "Gang of Four 77-81" - a comprehensive and exhaustingly detailed history of the band's music, politics and influence over the period that cemented the band's iconic status.
In the last few years, their songs have continued to resonate with and been sampled by artists far afield from "post-punk," including Run the Jewels ("The Ground Below") and Frank Ocean ("Futura Free"). Now forty years since the original release of Entertainment!, Gang of Four's legacy cannot be overstated.
In 2022, the band reformed with original members King and Burnham joined by Slint guitarist David Pajo and Sara Lee for a hugely successful North American tour playing songs from the critically acclaimed period between1977 - 1983. The band made their long awaited return to their homeland in the autumn of 2023 playing shows across the UK to a generation spanning audience - many seeing the band for the first time.
With more touring planned in 2024 - the gang: Jon King, Hugo Burnham and David Pajo are back and are ready for more.
Saw this band in 1980 and was BLOWN AWAY. After 30 years they still put on a great show. The fact that Toronto was the first show of the tour was evident in a couple of songs that didn't quite hit the mark, and Gill's guitar wasn't loud enough until the encore, but this band still knows how to give it everything they have, and Andy Gill's guitar is still cutting and edgy. Very energetic given their years.
Little spark, no fire - all aged manic gesticulation and posing. Sad. Gills guitar sounded from a church.
Excellent show. The singer is the highlight and he moves around like he's 25 years old. The guitarist is still one of the best there is for symphonic sounds. The two new members are really good, especially the bass player. This band is tight, some of the new material is very good, and their classics blew the roof off of the Phoenix Concert Theatre!
At a usually reliable venue, poor sound - exacerbated in large part to King's shockingly poor use of a mic. For a veteran I could not believe it was him making such an amateur mistake, so must assume major equipment issues on the centre mic. (All others sounded fine.) Perhaps sensitivity set too low? His voice came in and out, often non-existent. Having brought three friends who never knew the band, it was a muddling performance at best the first 30 minutes. Things picked up as the show went on, but poor sound continued to mar what was a good song mix of old and new. (Fruitfly in a Beehive, the first single off new album, destroyed beyond reason.) Finally, the encore produced some old standards and it seemed the greater ebergy fixed the mic issues, and we were treated to three consecutive songs where sound did not fail us. So an average show that would have been rated MUCH higher if not for the sound problems.
It was amazing and sublime. The energy....the array of songs... the drumming, the bass, the vocals... It was the best concert I've seen. EVER
