Welsh rockers Stereophonics are set to re-visit their first two albums with a pair of special shows.
Stereophonics arrived just as the flames of Britpop were dying down. Mixing classic 70s rock influences with a hefty dose of punk energy, the band sounded like a re-vamped version of Thin Lizzy.
Small town boys writing about small town life, their opening blast of material retains a marked innocence. ‘Word Gets Around’ and ‘Performance And Cocktails’ are still much loved by fans, with Stereophonics due to return to their roots with a pair of unusual shows.
Taking place on October 17th and 18th, the Welsh rockers will play their first two albums in full. One album per night, the group will rampage through early material alongside other tracks from the period.
The shows are to coincide with a new re-issue. Both ‘Word Gets Around’ and ‘Performance And Cocktails’ are due to be given expanded 2-CD and 3-CD re-issues, containing bonus tracks ranging from B-sides to rarities and early demos.
The deluxe 3-CD version will contain all the bonus music as well as a book based on notebooks kept by singer Kelly Jones. Alongside this the new edition will contain handwritten lyrics and never before published photos.
The shows come as the band mourn original drummer Stuart Cable. A founder member of Stereophonics, Cable played on both their opening albums but left the group after a fall out with Kelly Jones.
The two soon patched things up, and when Stuart Cable sadly died earlier this summer the frontman gave an emotional eulogy at his funeral.
Speaking about the forthcoming shows, Kelly Jones said: “It’s over ten years since the first two albums were released. Listening back to them and all the b-sides and live tracks brought back a lot of memories.”
“It’s taken over a year to find and compile all the tracks, pictures and notebooks, Stuart’s passing in June has made the whole experience more poignant. To celebrate the albums we will be playing two nights at Hammersmith Apollo playing every track and a selection of B-sides, something we have never done in a live experience. There’s a lot to learn but it’s gonna be rocking!”
Stereophonics are set to play the following shows:
October
17 London Hammersmith Apollo (Word Gets Around)
18 London Hammersmith Apollo (Performance & Cocktails)
