We are giving away a pair of tickets to Gang Of Four @ Revolution Hall on March 24. To win, comment below on this post why you’d like to attend. Winner will be drawn and emailed March 21.
———————————————
From our sponsors:
w/ Gal Pals
March 24, 2022
Doors 7PM, Show 8PM | $40 | 21+
More info: event.etix.com
Revolution Hall
1300 SE Stark St., Portland, OR
Gang of Four was formed in Leeds in 1976 by bassist Dave Allen, drummer Hugo Burnham, guitarist Andy Gill, and singer Jon King. The band pioneered a style of music that inverted punk’s blunt and explosive energies — favoring tense rhythms, percussive guitars, and lyrics that traded in Marxist theory and situationism. And humour. They put every element of the traditional “rock band” format to question, from notions of harmony and rhythm to presentation and performance.
This original lineup of the band released two monumental albums, Entertainment! (1979) and Solid Gold (1981). A third, Songs of the Free (1982), was recorded with bassist Sara Lee replacing Dave Allen. After Songs Of The Free, Burnham departed the band, and Andy Gill and Jon King continued on to release Hard in 1983. After this release, the band broke up. In 2004, the original quartet reformed for tour dates and released Return The Gift (2005).
Gill’s untimely death in February 2020 was cause for many to once again re-examine the group’s catalog and the legacy of these early releases was widely cited. Not only did Gang of Four’s music speak to the generation of musicians, activists, writers, and visual artists that emerged in the group’s immediate wake, but the generation after that. And the generation after that, even.
In the last few years, their songs have continued to resonate with and been sampled by artists far afield from “post-punk,” including Run the Jewels (“The Ground Below”) and Frank Ocean (“Futura Free”). Forty years since the original release of Entertainment!, Gang of Four’s legacy cannot be overstated.
In 2021 Matador Records released the Gang Of Four: 77-81 limited edition Vinyl and CD boxsets and new reissues of the iconic Entertainment! and Solid Gold albums.