THE THE Announces Full Band Lineup for Upcoming Tour The 2018 Comeback Special

THE THE, one of the most intriguing bands ever to emerge from England, have announced the full band lineup for their first live shows in 16 years, with their first North American concerts in 18 years set for this September.

Alongside singer and songwriter Matt Johnson, the line-up features a member from each of the three previous THE THE world tours: James Eller on bass (representing the 'Versus The World' tour), DC Collard on keyboards (representing the 'Lonely Planet' tour) and Earl Harvin on drums (representing the 'Naked' tour).

They are joined by 'new' member Barrie Cadogan on guitar, who has played with his own band Little Barrie as well as Primal Scream, Edwyn Collins, Thee Hypnotics, Damo Suzuki, Spiritualized and The Chemical Brothers among others.

Talking about the line-up and forthcoming shows, Johnson said, "For this tour I wanted to strip down many of the songs and actually reduce the sonic palette. We won't be using any samplers, click-tracks, sequencers or synthesizers. It's just five musicians performing reinterpretations of my catalogue. The songs are not supposed to be reproductions of the album versions and many of them don't sound like they do on the old recordings."

The "2018 Comeback Special" will also include artistic contributions from a variety of longtime THE THE collaborators, including show designer Kate Wilkins, who worked on the 'Naked' tour in 2000, and audiovisual collage artist Vicki Bennett (aka People Like Us), who has created the kaleidoscopic video installation for the tour.

The start of June this year sees a flurry of activity for the recently reactivated THE THE, not only with a trilogy of sold-out London concerts at The Royal Albert Hall, Brixton Academy and The Troxy, but also the release of their new authorized biography Long Shadows, High Hopes: The Life and Times of Matt Johnson & THE THE by Neil Fraser (out June 7 by Omnibus Press), written with the full cooperation of Johnson who allowed unhindered access to his personal archives, and further screenings of The Inertia Variations documentary at the ICA in London.

THE THE will launch their North American tour September 14 in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre. The nine-date headlining tour will make two stops in the New York area (September 16 at Brooklyn Steel and September 17 at the Beacon Theatre) and then head to Toronto, Detroit and Chicago before reaching Los Angeles for two shows (September 24 at the Ford Theatre and September 25 at the Hollywood Palladium) and wrapping September 27 in San Francisco. Agnes Obel will appear on all dates as a special guest, except the September 16 show at Brooklyn Steel where Elsyian Fields will open and the September 17 gig at the Beacon Theater where XORDOX (aka JG Thirlwell/Foetus), a frequent THE THEcollaborator, will open.

Catch THE THE in North America in the following cities:

DATECITYVENUE

Fri9/14Boston, MAOrpheum

Sun9/16Brooklyn, NYBrooklyn Steel

Mon9/17New York, NYBeacon Theatre

Wed9/19Toronto, ONSony Center for the Arts

Fri9/21Detroit, MIRoyal Oak Music Hall--SOLD OUT

Sat9/22Chicago, ILRiviera Theater--SOLD OUT

Mon9/24Los Angeles, CAJohn Anson Ford Theater--SOLD OUT

Tue9/25Los Angeles, CAPalladium

Thu9/27San Francisco, CAMasonic Auditorium

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