NOT GREAT MEN THE GANG OF FOUR WEB SITE

Gang Of Four - Live

2005: Gang Of Four reform!

The title says it all really. The original Gang Of Four lineup of Dave Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill and Jon King are working together again. The reformed band played their first shows together for over 20 years in the UK in January 2005, and followed this with shows in Europe and the USA later in the year. Any lingering doubts about opportunism, cashing in or selling out should be dismissed immediately - I went to the London gig and it was fantastic.

The 2005 tour was previewed by an article in UK newspaper The Guardian on 7th January 2005. You can read the article here.

This page actually serves a dual purpose. Firstly, to try to provide information about upcoming gigs, and secondly to attempt to build an archive of past live performances. This will never be completed without your help, so if you saw Gang Of Four long ago I'd welcome details.

Forthcoming gigs

This information has come from various sources on the web and so may not be 100% correct; any corrections are welcome. For tickets, a web search for the venue name plus 'Gang Of Four' will usually throw up several possible sources.

• FRI 18th SEPT 2009: Picture House, Edinburgh (UK)
• SAT 19th SEPT 2009: ABC, Glasgow (UK)
• FRI 25th SEPT 2009: The Assembly, Leamington Spa (UK)
• SAT 26th SEPT 2009: The Forum, London (UK)

Gig History

At the moment I don't have sufficient information to put the pre-2005 gig list online - please send me your recollections (with dates!) to help with building this archive.

2005:

• FRI 21st JAN 2005: The Montague Arms, London (UK)
  Secret 'warm up' pub gig. Supported by The Young Knives.
  Set list: What We All Want / Not Great Men / Ether / Why Theory? / Return The Gift / Paralysed / He'd Send In The Army / At Home He's A Tourist / Anthrax / I Parade Myself / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty // We Live As We Dream, Alone / A Hole In The Wallet / Damaged Goods
  Review 1, Review 2, Review 3.
• SUN 23rd JAN 2005: Manchester Academy (UK)
  Supported by The Departure.
  Set list: What We All Want / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / He'd Send In The Army / Return The Gift / At Home He's A Tourist / Anthrax / Why Theory? / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty // We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods / I Found That Essence Rare
  Review.
• MON 24th JAN 2005: Leeds Uni (UK)
  Supported by The Departure / 10,000 Things
  Review 1 (scroll down), Review 2, Review 3.
• TUE 25th JAN 2005: Bristol Academy (UK)
• THU 27th JAN 2005: Birmingham Academy (UK)
• FRI 28th JAN 2005: London Shepherds Bush Empire (UK)
  Supported by The Departure.
  Set list: What We All Want / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / He'd Send In The Army / Return The Gift / At Home He's A Tourist / Anthrax / Why Theory? / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty // We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods // A Hole In The Wallet / I Found That Essence Rare
  Review, comments, photos 1, photos 2.
  You may also like to view Dave Allen's tour diary.
  
  
• SAT 16th APR 2005: Melkweg, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• SUN 17th APR 2005: Hof Ter Lo, Antwerp (Belgium)
  Set list: Return The Gift / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / What We All Want / Anthrax / Why Theory? / At Home He's A Tourist / He'd Send In The Army / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty / We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods / I Found That Essence Rare
  (Thanks to Peter Andersen for supplying this information)
  
  
• SUN 1st MAY 2005: 6th Coachella Music & Arts Festival, Indio, CA (USA)
  Review, Photos.
• MON 2nd MAY 2005: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (USA)
  Supported by Menomena and Radio 4.
• TUE 3rd MAY 2005: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA (USA)
  Supported by Menomena and Radio 4.
• THU 5th MAY 2005: McMenamins Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR (USA)
  Supported by Menomena and Radio 4.
  Set list: Return The Gift / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / What We All Want / Anthrax / Why Theory? / At Home He's A Tourist / He'd Send In The Army / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty // We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods // Natural's Not In It / I Found That Essence Rare
  (Thanks to Peter Andersen for supplying this information).
• FRI 6th MAY 2005: Showbox Showroom & Lounge, Seattle, WA (USA)
• SAT 7th MAY 2005: Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
  Supported by Menomena.
• TUE 10th MAY 2005: The Quest Club/Ascot Jazz Room, Minneapolis, MN (USA)
• WED 11th MAY 2005: Metro - Smart Bar, Chicago, IL (USA)
• THU 12th MAY 2005: Metro - Smart Bar, Chicago, IL (USA)
• FRI 13th MAY 2005: Majestic Theatre, Detroit, MI (USA)
• SAT 14th MAY 2005: The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
  Set list: Return The Gift / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / What We All Want / Anthrax / Why Theory? / At Home He's A Tourist / He'd Send In The Army / Natural's Not In It / To Hell With Poverty // We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods // I Found That Essence Rare // Sweet Jane [Velvets Cover].
  (Thanks to Jim Dooley for supplying this information).
• MON 16th MAY 2005: Avalon, Boston, MA (USA)
  Set list: Intro / Return The Gift / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / What We All Want / Why Theory? / Anthrax / At Home He's A Tourist / He'd Send In The Army / To Hell With Poverty / We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods / I Found That Essence Rare.
  (Thanks to Peter Andersen for supplying this information).
  Set list: Intro / Return The Gift / Not Great Men / Ether / I Parade Myself / Paralysed / What We All Want / Why Theory? / Anthrax / At Home He's A Tourist / He'd Send In The Army / To Hell With Poverty / We Live As We Dream, Alone / Damaged Goods / I Found That Essence Rare.
  (Thanks to Peter Andersen for supplying this information).
  Review.
• TUE 17th MAY 2005: Irving Plaza, New York City, NY (USA)
  Supported by Radio 4.
  Review, Photos 1, Photos 2.
  There was also an after-show private gig at the Tribeca Grand Hotel:
  Photos.
• WED 18th MAY 2005: Irving Plaza, New York City, NY (USA)
• FRI 20th MAY 2005: 9:30 Club, Washington, DC (USA)
• SAT 21st MAY 2005: Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA (USA)
  Supported by Radio 4.
  
  
• Cancelled SUN 18th SEPT 2005: Hamburg (Germany)
• Cancelled MON 19th SEPT 2005: Postbahnhof, Berlin (Germany)
• Cancelled TUE 20th SEPT 2005: Live Music Hall, Köln [Cologne] (Germany)
• Cancelled FRI 23rd SEPT 2005: Trabendo, Paris (France)
  
  
• The above shows were cancelled after Jon King injured his knee. The story, from Hugo:
  
  "Jon hurt his knee on tour in the US in May (...he missed the microwave with the iron pipe and bashed himself...) and exacerbated it in Japan 3 weeks ago in a fit of wild performance abandon. He is not scheduled for immediate surgery... just therapy and resting it, but the rest period enforced by the specialist he saw demands cancellation/postponement of everything up to the Barbican show - which will go ahead. He gives his heart and soul to every performance - he shouldn't have to sacrifice a major joint as well!" [Hugo Burnham, 21st August 2005]
  
  
• SAT 24th SEPT 2005: The Barbican, London (UK)
  Supported by ...?
  Part of the Barbican's 'Don't Look Back' series in which bands play one of their best albums in its entirity, Gang Of Four were scheduled to play 'Entertainment!'. Some of these songs were being played live for the first time in 25 years! In the event, though, they fell one track short ('Contract')...
  Set List: Return The Gift / Ether / 5.45 / Glass / Not Great Men / Anthrax / Natural's Not In It / Damaged Goods / Guns Before Butter / At Home He's A Tourist / I Found That Essence Rare // Paralysed / He'd Send In The Army / To Hell With Poverty // I Parade Myself / What We All Want
  An official live CD was produced for sale after the gig. A few copies may still be available; follow this link.
  
  
• Cancelled? MON 26th SEPT 2005: Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
• Cancelled? TUE 27th SEPT 2005: ABC, Glasgow (UK)
  
  
• THU 29th SEPT 2005: Lupo's At The Strand, Providence, RI (USA)
  (Venue formerly called 'Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel')
• FRI 30th SEPT 2005: Pearl Street, Northampton, MA (USA)
• SAT 1st OCT 2005: 'Across The Narrows Festival', KeySpan Park (Cyclones Stadium), Brooklyn, NY (USA)
  Review, Photos.
• MON 3rd OCT 2005: Theatre Of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA (USA)
• TUE 4th OCT 2005: Mr. Smalls Fun House/Theatre, Millvale (near Pittsburgh), PA (USA)
  Supported by Morningwood, Men Women & Children.
  Preview (which seems to be dated afterwards for some reason!)
  
• WED 5th OCT 2005: Sonar, Baltimore, MD (USA)
• THU 6th OCT 2005: Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC (USA)
• SAT 8th OCT 2005: Earthlink Live, Atlanta, GA (USA)
• MON 10th OCT 2005: House Of Blues, New Orleans, LA (USA)
• TUE 11th OCT 2005: Meridian/Red Room, Houston, TX (USA)
• WED 12th OCT 2005: Emo's, 603 Red River, Austin, TX (USA)
  Moved from La Zona Rosa, Austin.
  Supported by Morningwood, Men Women & Children.
• THU 13th OCT 2005: Gypsy Tea Room/Ballroom, Dallas, TX (USA)
• SAT 15th OCT 2005: Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO (USA)
• SUN 16th OCT 2005: The Great Salt Air Show, Magna, UT (USA)
• Cancelled
  MON 17th OCT 2005: Virgin Megastore, Hollywood Highline, Grand Opening Party, CA (USA)
  Intended lineup was INXS, Gang Of Four and Dredg. In the event the live performances were cancelled due to rain.
• TUE 18th OCT 2005: Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ (USA)
• WED 19th OCT 2005: House Of Blues, San Diego, CA (USA)
• THU 20th OCT 2005: The Avalon (formerly The Palace), Holywood, CA (USA)
• FRI 21st OCT 2005: House Of Blues, Anaheim, CA (USA)