Cabaret Voltaire will perform live for the first time in nearly 22 years this August when the group — “a lineup now consisting solely of machines, multi-screen projections and Richard H. Kirk” — plays a set at the Berlin Atonal Festival that will exclusively feature new material and “no nostalgia,” Mute Records announced this week.
The Aug. 23 performance is being billed as Cabaret Voltaire’s first since November 1992. According to Mute, it “promises to be something relevant for the first Cabaret Voltaire outing of the 21st Century.”
The extremely rare live performance follows a burst of Cabaret Voltaire archival activity over the past year, with the release of a remastered vinyl reissue of 1981’s Red Mecca; the box set #8385 (Collected Works 1983-1985), which comprised a total of 10 CDs, DVDs and vinyl records; and, most recently, the #7885 (Electropunk to Technopop 1978-1985) compilation.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- New releases: Cabaret Voltaire, Peter Gabriel, Slint, The Gun Club
- Cabaret Voltaire reissuing ‘Red Mecca’ on vinyl; giant box set, new comp on way
I remember seeing Cabaret Voltaire in 1991 at the Ritz in NYC. They opened for Einsturzede Neubauten. Was a great show. I wonder what the show will be like without Stephen?
I promise to not attend any shows should he tour then….
Then I predict extremely low attendance then. Nothing wrong with playin’ new stuff but I hate these kinds of announcements. Good luck with that.
Richard H. Kirk solo performing only new material? How can this be touted as a Cabaret Voltaire?
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RHK’s explanation on The Quietus in 2010 best addresses this:
“When you say ‘revive the name’ I don’t know what kind of rumours or theories are going around about that but just to make everything completely clear: there used to be three people in Cabaret Voltaire. One of them [Chris Watson] left in 1981 and the other one [Stephen Malinder] left in 1993 leaving me with the option to carry the project on, which is something that I have thought about quite a bit.”
I personally prefer the “no nostalgia” to the greatest hits packages that occur on most reunion packages. We’re talking about the guy behind Sweet Exorcist and Sandoz here. There are very few duds in his body of work.
Thanks steinomite, my response to him would be to tour under his own name and play new stuff only, which is not from any of of the groups he listed. This is just using a known name to rope in people to listen to his new stuff. He can spin this any way he wants.
yeah, i don’t see how this is cabaret voltaire, unless he later releases this new material under that name.
to me, it’s richard kirk playing live, thats it.
Yah….Not Cabaret Voltaire if Stephen is absent.
Just saying…