Spandau Ballet reforming!

[hibgal]

It's true! :faint1:

Reformation Tour - UK Tour & World Tour Press Release
25 Mar 2009

http://www.spandauballet.com/uploads/123798649880868/resize_200_400.jpg

The Band Who Invented A Decade Set Sail Again – UK Tour & World Tour

One the most successful and influential British bands of all time return this year.

All five original members of the seminal 1980s band Spandau Ballet got together for the first time in 20 years today to announce the first dates of a world tour, taking in UK and Irish arenas from October.

Tony Hadley, John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman made the announcement aboard the HMS Belfast, the world famous British battleship on the banks of the River Thames and the scene of a legendary and notorious Spandau gig in 1979, from which they first set off on their global adventures.

Only London’s in-crowd supposedly knew where the show was back then, but 1000s more turned up, even rowing from the Tower of London to try to board the ship.

They blew the electrics and their travelling retinue of London fashionistas and freaks brought debauchery to the historic naval vessel.

From their synth pop and dance pioneering early singles To Cut A Long Story Short and Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On), to the globe trotting smashes True and Gold, Spandau will be playing the hits once again. With 25 million record sales, 6 multi platinum albums and 23 hit singles to choose from, this is one of the most eagerly awaited REFORMATIONs of the decade.

Emerging from Soho’s ultra hip Blitz Club in 1979 during another economic depression, Spandau formed at school in North London before becoming the hottest unsigned band on the planet. From underground, fashion and music obsessed working class Londoners, to global superstars, the band set the pace, the styles and the sound of the 1980s.

Not only did their albums sell by the millions, but their look and style impacted on the fashion world and beyond. They created their own style, combining creativity with entrepreneurship and the ‘can do’ spirit of early 80s youth at a time of crisis and upheaval eerily reminiscent of 2009. Spandau Ballet are both commercially and culturally enormous.

Today, they set sail form HMS Belfast once again, armed with another ticket to the world.

Dates:
October 2009:
13th – The O2 Dublin
14th – Odyssey Arena, Belfast
16th – Sheffield Arena
17th – Glasgow SECC
20th – London O2 Arena
24th – Birmingham
26th – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
28th – Manchester MEN Arena

http://www.spandauballet.com/

[Clark Kent]

I'm a Spandau Ballet fan. I have a lot of their albums but I'm not sure if I like this reunion. There are things that should just be let alone. I'll try and get a tickets anyway.

[FPSHOT]

Interesting !!!

[oldbeatlechick]

There are things that should just be let alone. I'll try and get a tickets anyway.

I agree with you Clark but I will also see if there are tickets in this area!

[hibgal]

Here's more on the reunion, this time from BBC

Spandau re-form for a world tour
Published: 2009/03/25 16:24:28 GMT

Link to video (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7963949.stm)

Eighties pop group Spandau Ballet have put aside years of bad blood and court battles for a comeback tour.

The band will begin a world tour in the autumn, announcing an initial eight dates across Ireland and the UK, starting in Dublin on 13 October.

All five original members of the band, who had hits like Gold and True, got together publicly for the first time since they split in 1989.

A battle over songwriting royalties ended up in the High Court in 1999.

Singer Tony Hadley did not speak to brothers Gary and Martin Kemp for a number of years - but they have now set aside their differences.

SPANDAU BALLET'S BIGGEST HITS

•True (1983) - number 1
•Gold (1983) - number 2
•Chant No 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (1981) - number 3
•Only When You Leave (1984) - number 3
•To Cut a Long Story Short (1980) - number 5

Journalists at a press conference on HMS Belfast in London, the scene of a landmark early gig in 1980, were told there had been a gradual reconciliation between the bandmates over the last 18 months.

Gary Kemp, the group's songwriter and guitarist, explained: "This is my other family really and I just missed them for the last 20 years.

"I wanted to get together just to have a chat about all those great experiences we had. To be able to make some new experiences is a really great opportunity and that's what we plan to do."

Kemp's bassist brother Martin - also known to EastEnders fans as club owner Steve Owen - added: "Families go through terrible times sometimes and they argue.

"But in the end we've got back together - which is the main thing."

Hadley said they had buried the hatchet after "the realisation that time is a great healer".

"We all realised how powerful the band were, the songs, and what we did as a band in the '80s," he said.

"We first met in the pub, had a few beers, the stories came up and the anecdotes and we just realised that we're great mates."

Spandau Ballet had their first hit in November 1980 with To Cut A Long Story Short. They went on to release six studio albums and had 10 UK top 10 singles, topping the charts with True in 1983.

The world tour will focus on greatest hits, but if it goes well they will consider writing new material together, the band said.

After the band split up, Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble sued Gary Kemp for a share of songwriting royalties.

After winning, Kemp described the High Court battle as "like walking away from a car crash - you're glad to be alive but mortified and shocked by the wreckage".

Until now, it had been feared that the band's relationships were permanently damaged.

As recently as 2007, Hadley was quoted in The Daily Express as saying: "I know you should never say never, and bands in the past have said hell would freeze over before they got back together, but in our case I think hell is frozen and we still wouldn't do it."

Since the split, the Kemp brothers have moved into acting, with starring roles in 1990 film The Krays. Hadley won ITV reality show Reborn In The USA in 2003 and appeared in the West End musical Chicago in 2007.

Spandau Ballet are the latest in a series of groups to reunite - Take That and the Police have both staged successful comeback tours in recent years and Blur are reforming for a series of gigs this summer.

Tickets for Spandau Ballet's first eight dates are on sale now through the band's website, and will go on general sale at 0900 GMT on Saturday.

Story from BBC NEWS: Link to article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/7958814.stm)

© BBC MMIX

[hibgal]

'Just like old times' say Spandau

By Ian Youngs
Music reporter, BBC News
Published: 2009/03/25 19:57:50 GMT

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45601000/jpg/_45601208_007070338-1.jpg

"Before anyone asks, we're not wearing kilts, frilly shirts, my mum's blouse or anything else like that."

Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley is on stage with his four bandmates for the first time in 20 years, talking about their reunion.

As well as being big news for 1980s pop fans, the band's world tour also marks one of the most unlikely comebacks in music.

After making their name in a flamboyant haze of new romantic costumes and new wave pop at the start of the decade, they hit global stardom with the slick, saxed-up soul of True and Gold in 1983.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45599000/jpg/_45599735_000548702-1.jpg

Following their split in 1989, fans thought the chances of a Spandau Ballet reunion were as likely as frilly shirts, tartan trousers and bushy mullets making a comeback.

It is dark suits all round these days, but the five bandmates are together again - acting like old chums with little sign of the acrimony and animosity that once tore them apart.

Gary Kemp, the band's guitarist and creative force, explains how the reconciliation came about. "About three years ago, I remixed the 1986 live show [DVD]," he says. "I sat there watching it and I couldn't believe how exciting it was.

"I thought - I want to be back up there! This is really good!" The sour feelings that followed their split meant the fivesome had "all been in denial about the band for so long", he adds.

Relations had been severed when Kemp was sued by Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble for a share of songwriting profits in a bitter case that ended up in the High Court in 1999.

At the time, Kemp said the action had "besmirched the history of the band I was proud of" and the aftermath of his eventual victory was "like walking away from a car crash - you're glad to be alive but mortified and shocked by the wreckage". He then threatened Hadley, Norman and Keeble with court action for billing themselves as "ex-Spandau Ballet" when they went back on the road as a trio.

“ John and I were like two heralds on a battlefield saying 'enough is enough - maybe there's something more here than just fighting' ” Gary Kemp

The apparent breakdown led Hadley to say in 2003: "I never want to see those people again. I want to walk away from that side of my life."

But after Gary Kemp felt the urge to return to the stage, he spoke to brother Martin, the band's bassist, and called Norman.

"I hadn't spoken to Steve for a long time - seen him across a courtroom but that was all," Gary Kemp recalls. "We had lunch together but it wasn't right for John and Tony at that point.

"And then about a year ago, John and I were like two heralds on a battlefield saying: 'Enough is enough. Maybe there's something more here than just fighting.'"

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45601000/jpg/_45601961_000555382-1.jpg

The five eventually met in a pub - and, they say, it was just like old times.

"We got together, had a few beers, stories came up, the anecdotes, all the old jokes sounded as funny as they did 20 years ago, and we just realised that we're great mates," says Hadley.

He reveals: "We've had a rehearsal, which sounded $1m." Whether the reunion will be worth that much to the band is not known.

But the prospect of a large cheque cannot have harmed the case for a comeback - especially for the trio that lost the court action, who were then left with £400,000 legal bills and struggled to build solo careers.

"It was good fun," Norman says of the rehearsal.

"We connected again back in that place in the early '80s when we were really good mates, really good buddies, and all the problems that we'd been going through in the last 20 years became irrelevant."

So, one reporter wants to know, how will the royalties be split this time?

"Ooh, contentious!" says Gary Kemp in mock horror. "A private matter, I think."

Then Hadley butts in: "Gary's giving them all to me."

Nice try, Tony, but a press conference joke is probably not a binding agreement.

Reunion gamble

In 1986, the year of their last hit, Spandau Ballet commanded five nights at Wembley Arena. This time, in London, they will recapture old glories with one night at the O2, and the prospect of more if ticket sales go well.

Money-spinning, nostalgia-inducing reunions are big business among fans keen to recapture their youth.

Duran Duran's original line-up returned with five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena in 2004, while The Police and Genesis filled stadiums.

Take That's reformation has been one of the biggest success stories in music in recent years - but their chart rivals East 17 and New Kids on the Block were met with tepid receptions.

As one of the archetypal '80s bands, Spandau Ballet are big enough and have been away for long enough to pull in the crowds for a while - with or without the frilly shirts.

Story from BBC NEWS: Link to article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/7964180.stm)

© BBC MMIX

[hibgal]

Maybe something for you to check out, OBC?

Spandau add London date to tour
Published: 2009/03/27 14:39:37 GMT

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45600000/jpg/_45600518_007070012-1.jpg

Eighties pop group Spandau Ballet have added one more date to the London leg of their world tour after tickets for the first sold out in 20 minutes.

The band, who will kick off their reunion tour in October, initially announced eight dates across Ireland and the UK, starting off in Dublin.

They will now play an extra date at the O2 Arena on 21 October.

"There's been a phenomenal response to the tour going on sale," the band's guitar player Gary Kemp said.

"It's even more special that our hometown gig has sold out and we are adding an extra date. We can't wait to see everybody there," he added.

All five original members of the band, who had hits including Gold and True, got together earlier this week publicly for the first time since they split in 1989.

A battle over songwriting royalties ended up in the High Court in 1999.

SPANDAU BALLET'S BIGGEST HITS

•True (1983) - number 1
•Gold (1983) - number 2
•Chant No 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (1981) - number 3
•Only When You Leave (1984) - number 3
•To Cut a Long Story Short (1980) - number 5

Singer Tony Hadley did not speak to brothers Gary and Martin Kemp for a number of years - but they have now set aside their differences.

Spandau Ballet had their first hit in November 1980 with To Cut A Long Story Short. They went on to release six studio albums and had 10 UK top 10 singles, topping the charts with True in 1983.

The world tour will focus on greatest hits, but if it goes well they will consider writing new material together, the band said.

After the band split up, Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble sued Gary Kemp for a share of songwriting royalties.

Spandau Ballet are the latest in a series of groups to reunite - Take That and the Police have both staged successful comeback tours in recent years and Blur are reforming for a series of gigs this summer.

Story from BBC NEWS: Link to article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/7968410.stm)

© BBC MMIX

[oldbeatlechick]

Here is the Liverpool echo arena write up with the ticket prices in the link, also fab clips at the bottom of the page on the link too!

All five original members of the seminal 1980s band Spandau Ballet are back together for the first time in 20 years and heading out on a world tour - which will include the Echo Arena Liverpool on 29 October 2009.

Tony Hadley, John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp and Steve Norman recently announced their comeback aboard the HMS Belfast, the world famous British battleship on the banks of the River Thames and the scene of a legendary and notorious Spandau gig in 1980, from which they first set off on their global adventures.

Only London’s in-crowd supposedly knew where the show was back then, but 1000s more turned up, even rowing from the Tower of London to try to board the ship.

They blew the electrics and their travelling retinue of London fashionistas and freaks brought debauchery to the historic naval vessel.

From their synth pop and dance pioneering early singles To Cut A Long Story Short and Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On), to the globe trotting smashes True and Gold, Spandau will be playing the hits once again. With 25 million record sales, 6 multi-platinum albums and 23 hit singles to choose from, this is one of the most eagerly awaited reformations of the decade.

Emerging from Soho’s ultra hip Blitz Club in 1979 during another economic depression, Spandau formed at school in North London before becoming the hottest unsigned band on the planet. From underground, fashion and music obsessed working class Londoners, to global superstars, the band set the pace, the styles and the sound of the 1980s.

Not only did their albums sell by the millions, but their look and style impacted on the fashion world and beyond. They created their own style, combining creativity with entrepreneurship and the ‘can do’ spirit of early 80s youth at a time of crisis and upheaval eerily reminiscent of 2009. Spandau Ballet are both commercially and culturally enormous.



http://www.accliverpool.com/whatson/spandau_ballet.asp

[hibgal]

Once More - New album from Spandau Ballet to be released October 19. Unfortunately, only two new songs on it, Once More and Love Is All. Sure hoped for more but Once More is a nice song, Steve's sax is better than ever and Tony is in great voice! Listen to Once More here! (http://www.spandauballet.com/) There's a nice video interview on Amazon UK here! (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-More-Spandau-Ballet/dp/B002Q8GZ62/)