Those indefatigable art-punk prime movers Pere Ubu have announced yet another tour of the USA—this one on the heels of a European tour that reunited them with their early guitarist Tom Herman. The tours mark the release of two box sets, Elitism For The People 1975-1978 and Architecture Of Language 1979-1982, which between them collect Ubu’s first five LPS, their early singles, and a 1977 live set at Max’s Kansas City, covering both the Tom Herman era and the brief and experimentally fertile period where the band was joined by Red Krayola guitarist Mayo Thompson and X__X/Feelies/Golden Palominos drummer Anton Fier.
Herman won’t be playing on the US tour—the guitar spot will be filled by Ubu ringleader David Thomas’ old Rocket From the Tombs bandmate Gary Siperko. This could be because an Ubu tour a few years ago was very nearly derailed by an absurd situation wherein US Customs & Immigration and the American Federation of Musicians blocked a visa to the band’s guitarist Keith Moliné, an Englishman, in what basically amounted to a bafflingly petty extortion scheme. But whatever the reason, Siperko joins the band’s usual lineup of Thomas, bassist Michele Temple, drummer Steve Mehlman, and synthesist Robert Wheeler.
Though this tour focuses on early material and its European leg featured the band’s early guitarist, Ubu are being careful to stress that this neither a reunion nor a hits tour, with Thomas offering the proclamation “We don’t promote chaos, we preserve it. Now more than ever—just like Nixon said—you need the sort of utterly gratuitous mess that only men of conviction can provide.”
DM reached out to drummer Mehlman to see how the European tour went, and what he anticipated for the North American jaunt’s lineup:
Even though the songs are familiar, we get to throw some our stink on them and things always change when it’s live. It becomes something else. It came together to be really tight and we played longer sets. The audiences were fucking great—on several nights, the crowd went for three encores!
With regards to line up, it’s well known that Pere Ubu is made up of many musicians. Some come in on one thing and others come in on another, but all bring something unique. It’s about what happens when we’re on stage, I think the results speak for themselves, no matter who is involved. I think Pere Ubu is pretty unusual in that regard, but here we are, 40 years later (20 for me) and gaining steam.
THU 6/16 Lee’s Palace, Toronto, Canada
FRI 6/17 Marble Bar, Detroit, MI
SAT 6/18 Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
SUN 6/19 Zanzabar, Louisville, KY
MON 6/20 Exit/In, Nashville, TN
FRI 6/24 Rock & Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
SAT 6/25 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PA
MON 6/27 The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA
TUE 6/28 Fete Lounge, Providence, RI
WED 6/29 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
FRI 7/01 Club Café, Pittsburgh, PA
SAT 7/02 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
It’s tempting to speculate that the last gig could well include Tom Herman, as it’s the band’s homecoming show, but no announcement regarding that possibility has been made. If it happens, kindly remember that we called it.
Here’s a GREAT new clip of Thomas discussing Ubu’s relationship with its live audience, cut with footage of the band as it’s currently constituted preforming the excellent and definitive early song “Non-Alignment Pact.”
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Pere Ubu is like a cup!’ insists David Thomas
‘Irene:’ New Pere Ubu video is eerie and gorgeous
Seminal art-punks X__X cover Albert Ayler’s ‘Ghosts’: A DM premiere
Whining Maggots: Members of the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu covering Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and the Beatles!