In 1980, Kirk Brandon formed Theatre Of Hate from the ashes of heralded punk band The Pack. Joining Kirk on vocals were notable punk musicians Stan Stammers and Luke Rendall, along with old school friend, Steve Guthrie and Canadian born John “Boy” Lennard, who revolutionised the band’s sound with his haunting sax lines.
Theatre Of Hate’s debut double-A-side single, ‘Legion’/’Original Sin’, topped the independent chart in 1980, and ‘Westworld’, their debut album, produced by Mick Jones from The Clash and released in 1982, held the number one position for 21 weeks. The single taken from the album, ‘Do You Believe In The Westworld?’ has become an anthem and is still widely played in clubs and on international radio, as well as featuring on numerous compilation albums.
Supporting the likes of The Clash & Ian Dury lead to Theatre Of Hate headlining major venues across the UK & Northern Europe.
Theatre Of Hate imploded in 1982, with Kirk taking Stan forward to form Spear Of Destiny, but the band has resurfaced over the years to play some very special shows.
Having been asked by John Curd to join The Damned for a massive show at London’s infamous Roundhouse in December 2014 the band once again joined the fray. A short set of dates around the London anchor show attracted rave reviews, as did a 6 night night sold out run in December 2014.
2015 saw the band play two short jaunts across the UK in April and December both sets of dates wowed large crowds.
During touring in 2014 and 2015, the band constantly recorded at Oxygen Studios in Manchester, the first new studio album in 30+ years ‘Kinshi’ was released on October 14th 2016. The 12 new songs were simply stunning and now in 2018 TOH have been very busy with the album getting label releases in Europe & the USA. Plus now eager fans are awaiting the imminent dropping of ‘Sensou’, which is the first of a planned three 10” vinyl releases from the band.
Shows in the UK, Europe and the USA are already on sale including an early local show at Patterns in Brighton on 9th November 2018, which incidentally is the same date as the release of ‘Sensou’. This newly announced gig comes thirteen months on from their last terrific performance at the venue. The Brighton & Hove News music team were there last time to review it, see what we said by clicking HERE.
Kirk, Stan and John will be joined by current Spear Of Destiny band member Adrian Portas (New Model Army) on guitar and Chris Bell (Hugh Cornwall) on drums to pay homage to the iconic TOH sound.
Snap up your Brighton gig tickets HERE.
For more Theatre Of Hate information, visit:
https://www.kirkbrandon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kirkbrandonofficial
