All five original members of seminal 80s band Spandau Ballet regrouped this afternoon for a rather special press release, introduced by Robert Elms aboard HMS Belfast.
It was 29 years ago, almost to the week, that the band played their fifth ever London gig on the Thames-moored ship, a gig that went down in history as being one of the most notorious scene-setting parties of the era. The band have reunited and today announced dates for a Greatest Hits UK and global tour later this year.
‘The boys are back in town and we can’t wait,’ Tony Hadley addressed the press release today. ‘It’s going to be brilliant, we’re very excited. But it will be very different to how we used to be. Obviously there’ll be all the hits, the nostalgia, but there will also be a new take on what Spandau Ballet are about.’
At the moment the tour will be strictly greatest hits, giving the fans a chance to hear all the old favourites. We’ll have to wait and see whether Spandau will come with any new material in the future.
The band can expect to earn a reported £12m; I guess that’s one way to iron out any old animosity. In the last couple of years, band reunion fever has been rife, with regrouping occurring from across the past decades – everyone from Take That to Led Zeppelin have hooked up again, not forgetting comebacks from Blur, the Police and the Sex Pistols.
All we’re waiting for is The Stone Roses, The Jam and The Smiths to re-find love in 2009. Here’s hoping! Let’s all go back in time.
