The Almighty – Original Line Up Reformation for Three UK Gigs
Written by Dawn Osborne on February 27, 2023
The original Almighty line up Ricky Warwick, Stumpy Monroe, Floyd London and Andy “Tantrum” McCafferty together will reunite to play three UK gigs to celebrate their 35th Anniversary.
Picture Kevin Dixon
GLASGOW, Barrowlands, Thursday 30th November 2023
MANCHESTER, Academy, Friday 1st December 2023
LONDON, O2 Forum, Saturday 2nd December 2023
BALAAM AND THE ANGEL will be support for all shows.
At a press conference and q and a session today organised at the Soho Sanctum hotel Adam Parsons, manager, introduced the band and confirmed there would be three shows and that would be it, so people should get a ticket early or they run the risk of missing out. There are also no plans currently to record the shows for a live album or DVD, or indeed for posterity.
The band confirmed they had started talking to each other during the Pandemic. Realising they were still mates and given the extensive interest online about a reformation, they wanted to go out in one last short burst to re-live the glory days and ‘have a great night’ together. Floyd said they are aiming to recreate the original chemistry onstage.
They recounted stories of great memories of incredible gigs together, such as their very first gig where they only had four original songs and Kerrang gave them 5/5 in a review, when they supported the Ramones and the crowd’s roar when they came onstage blew the roof off and when Pantera in their early incarnation as a glam band had supported the Almighty in New York. When the band were chatting in the green room before the press conference today they were delighted to find they were chatting and laughing like it was still thirty years ago.
Stumpy confessed he was probably the most rusty having played less than the others recently, but that he had already started preparing to be match fit by the time the gigs come around towards the end of the year. Tantrum added they wanted to do it while they are all still alive, happy and healthy. They will also be taking surviving members of their original road crew along with them.
When they get in a room together to rehearse they thought they would do ‘Free and Easy’ as their first song. They will be playing all their greatest hits, recalling that after one experience years ago where they did not play ‘Wild and Wonderful’ they quickly learned their fans demand to hear all the old favourites. There are no plans at present to start writing together or recording a new studio album. However, the band has seven albums worth of material to choose from following a meteoric rise in the eighties when they were signed with Polydor after their twelfth ever gig.
Ricky Warwick told some very funny anecdotes at his own expense being the modest man he is and so it is well worth checking out the full q and a session to be seen on the Almighty Facebook page.
Tickets go on sale Friday March 3rd at 10am
Glasgow tickets are available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Whilst Manchester & London are from www.myticket.co.uk
Dawn Osborne
