Post-punk/industrial/gothic/call-them-what-you-want legends Killing Joke have revealed an extensive 40th Anniversary world tour, under the suitably nihilistic title “Laugh At Your Peril”. The tour marks 12 UK stops taking place next November, concluding at the Roundhouse in London on the 17th.
Accompanying the announcement is the news of an equally exhaustive box set covering every aspect of the groups incredible career, including 16 coloured double vinyl discs (or CDs) with unreleased and alternate mixes, plus 8 new tracks never released in any format, a set of headphones, a signed lyric book and assorted pieces of art.
On the mammoth landmark, leading mind Jaz Coleman says:
Forty years ago this summer I met Big Paul, one year later we released our first EP. Our fortieth anniversary celebrations will therefore be stretched over 2 years and begins with a world tour, parties and talks by Youth and myself, a new magnum opus by Killing Joke, who is, after all this time, recognised as one of the most innovative and influential bands of all time. Love is the law let the festivities begin!
Adding to this, Youth imparts:
Forty years in the wilderness… thought that was supposed to be 40 days. As Jaz reminds me “survival is success” and although the band have never been fiscally fat commercially, it has allowed us to have incredible lives, both individually and collectively and we have created a very rich wealth of uncompromising music. It’s a legacy, that spans 4 decades. 40 years of spine tingling, uncompromising beautiful noise. The band continue to inspire and bludgeon down the bullshit in the world into a white hot, blast furnace dub of unrelenting ion, a rollercoaster, white knuckle punch in the face of beautiful agony/reality and timeless cosmic joy and soul. To commit to the creative beauty and vision you have as an artist, is an almost perverse way to live a life and the cost and consequences are immense, yet this is how we inform ourselves as a society, of what is real and important In a world of fake news and fake emotions… like Shiva dancing the world into existence, we are all simultaneously destroying and creating every moment of our reality. It is not through politics that the world is changed but through Art. Art alone can tell us who we really are, emotionally, intellectually and physically, far better than anything else. That is why we have committed so much, for so long to this one idea – Killing Joke. Thanks to all the fans and gatherers that have ed and ed us in this endless quest.
To be a part of this incredible celebration, check out the list of UK dates below. The 40th Anniversary box sets are available for pre-order now on both vinyl and CD. For any further info, head to the band’s official site.
November
- 2nd – Rock City, Nottingham
- 3rd – O2 Academy, Leeds
- 4th – Northumbria University, Newcastle
- 6th – Barrowland, Glasgow
- 7th – Manchester Academy, Manchester
- 9th – The Institute (The O2), Birmingham
- 10th – O2 Academy, Bristol
- 11th – Guildhall, Southampton
- 13th – Corn Exchange, Cambridge
- 14th – UEA, Norwich
- 16th – O2 Academy, Oxford
- 17th – Roundhouse, London
Tickets go on general sale on Friday 13th April at 10am.
