Due to popular demand Skunk Anansie have confirmed a UK date for their 2014 acoustic tour. Following the release of their critically acclaimed album/DVD "An Acoustic Skunk Anansie Live In London" the band will return to the capital for their only 2014 UK show. This very special event will take place at Hackney Empire, March 25th.
The acoustic tour follows their acclaimed performance at Belgravia's storied Cadogan Hall, home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where Skunk Anansie served up beautifully re-imagined versions of some of their best-loved songs before an enrapt audience of 900 fans. Tickets for the event sold out within hours of going on sale and having seen the finished results it’s easy to see why.
An Acoustic Skunk Anansie is an intimate portrait of a band boldly toying with convention and their own illustrious history, it's a timely reminder that, even as Skunk Anansie approach their 20th anniversary as a band, the Londoners retain the power to provoke and surprise.
"It was really special," says Skin. "It showcased a whole new side to the band. When you strip everything back a lot of the beauty and vulnerability and menace of the songs shines through in totally new ways, the nuances of the writing really comes through. And people were really listening, really concentrating, instead of jumping up and down and stagediving as is the norm at our concerts. Even though most of the audience had probably seen us play before, at some points it must have been as if they were hearing the band for the very first time."
Drawing upon material from all five of Skunk Anansie's studio albums (plus the 'Smashes And Trashes' compilation, released in 2009 to celebrate the band's return from a nine year hiatus), 'An Acoustic Skunk Anansie - Live In London' is an astonishing document of the night. From bruised and beautiful set opener 'Brazen (Weep)' through to the funky, Zeppelin-esque stomp of 'Charlie Big Potato' which brought the evening to a euphoric climax, it's a unique snapshot of an iconic band performing at the peak of their powers. The album also sees the band serve up a spine-tingling take on Paul Weller's 'You Do Something To Me' (a highlight of The Modfather's acclaimed 'Stanley Road' collection) which proves beautifully suited to Skin's honeyed vocals.
By turns haunting, vulnerable, confrontational and menacing, the band's takes of love and loss, recrimination and revenge are reframed in startling, stark new forms, distilled down to their purest essence.
The late Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard once opined that all the best songwriting could be summarised as 'three chords and the truth': re-contextualised here in acoustic form, Skunk Anansie's open-hearted anthems have never sounded more powerful or affecting.
This new intimate show at Hackney Empire is confirmed as the bands only UK date this year:
Tuesday 25th March London Hackney Empire
Tickets go on onsale 10am Friday 31st January.
