More about: The Streets
It will be the first time that The Streets have performed live in seven years and Mike Skinner's promising some decent afterparties
The Streets have reformed for a greatest hits tour called The Darker The Shadow The Brighter Light, with tour dates across the UK in April 2018.
They kick off in their native Birmingham on 19 April, then hit, Glasgow, Leeds, and Manchester before ending with a double bill in Brixton Academy. See full details below.
Mike Skinner, who formed the group in 1994, has kept busy with DJ sets in recent years, but the craving for a full Streets show has always been there among fans, of which there are many very passionate ones:
I'll sell my own sisters to get tickets to the streets new tour, I don't care
— Luke Quinlan (@lukequinlan_) October 9, 2017
The streets announcing a tour what a day to be alive
— brenDON (@brenavfc1994) October 9, 2017
The fact that this show comes so long after they last played live (seven years!) means the thirst is definitely there. The atmosphere in the venues will be more palpable than ever because The Streets influence has spread to the extent they're now readily appreciated as one of the most essential bands of the noughties.
Ultimately, it's the first two album's that are the band's most fruitful period, and what people are going to want to hear most. Original Pirate Material, released in 2002, spawned some classics with Mike Skinner's poetic meditations on the most banal side of Blair's Britain and was readily devoured by music fanatics glued to their couches with MTV2.
A Grand Came For Free comes next and eschews the difficult second album rule. The highlights from it are 'Dry Your Eyes' out which went to number one and remains one of their most distinct, unique and beguiling tracks; 'Blinded By The Lights', which was brutally honest in a way that so much other pop music wouldn't dare be; and the more light-hearted 'Fit Don't You Know It' which is unfogettable once you've heard it.
The band also have tracks from Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, Everything is Borrowed, Computers and Blues to work into their set when they play shows next year.
Of the reformation, Mike Skinner says: "I've missed tour buses very much. Which is the least of the reasons why I have decided to tour The Streets again. The other thing I’ve missed is trying to think up what I’m going to say in the gap between the songs. When you DJ they tell you that you don’t need a tour bus and you don’t need to think up things to say between the songs. But seriously, it’s been long enough. With my Tonga parties, the new rap and grime MC’s I have been producing and the DJing, I have been living with music since making The Streets for nearly as long as I made The Streets. I’m not the guy smoking in the car anymore though, I have become the guy in the club, so I hope I will be excused for putting on after parties in nightclubs after every show”.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, 9am. Check here for details
19 April Birmingham O2 Academy
20 April Glasgow O2 Academy
21 April Manchester O2 Apollo
23 April Leeds O2 Academy
25 April London O2 Academy Brixton
26 April London O2 Academy Brixton
27 April London 02 Academy Brixton* extra date added
In 1994 whilst working in fast food restaurants to support himself, Mike Skinner forms The Streets alongside Johnny Drum Machine and Kevin Mark Trail...
The Streets first single 'Has It Come To This' is released in 2000 by the Locked On label, home to The Artful Dodger. A marked success, the track reaches number 18 alongside a remixes from Hospital Records' High Contrast.
In 2002 'Original Pirate Material' was released recieving critical acclaim across the board from critics and fans. The Streets are then nominated for the Mercury Prize alongside Best Album, Best Urban Act, Best Breakthrough Artist and Best British Male Artist at the 2002 Brit Awards.
In 2004 The Streets released 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' which reached the number one spot, with 'Fit But You Know It' following closely at number four in the singles chart. A concept album dictating the rise and fall of a relationship alongside losing and then finding a grand, it is perhaps the The Streets' seminal album.
'Dry Your Eyes Mate' from the second album debuts at the top of the UK charts with it's reflection on the more sensitive side of male emotion.
'Blinded By The Lights' is also released in 2004, becoming for many the bands anthem, reflecting a brutal honesty not often seen in chart topping material.
'The Hardest Way To make An Easy Living' is released in 2006, dictating Skinner's difficulty in coming to terms with his new found fame. 'When You Wasn't Famous' the first single, breached the top ten amidst speculation of whether the song was about Cheryl Cole or Rachel Stevens.
'Everything Is Borrowed' is released by The Streets in 2008 reflecting a more positive sound that muses rather than dwells around current events.
In 2001 The Streets released 'Computers And Blues' billed as thei last album, alongside a mixtape 'Cyberspace And Reds'. The art work was shot at the UEA ziggurats, reflecting the original cover of 'Original Pirate Material'.
The Streets join The Queens Of The Stone Age on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury.
Following the release of their last album the band headline NME stage at Reading Festival alongside 2 Many DJ's, this was largely speculated to be their last gig.
The Streets headline the Relentless Freeze festival at Battersea power station alongside Groove Armada.
On the 26th of November at The Big Reunion Festival in Skegness the iconic band played their final gig, in a celebration of a lucrative career in music spanning a decade.
More about: The Streets
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