Hot on the heels of their live debut (in front of an actual audience), that being 3 shows in the round set over a space of about 15 hours last Friday/Saturday, the critical reception was almost as positive as the complete amazement from fans. The 3 90-minute shows seemed to give a great idea of what exactly it is The Smile are offering us; after months of confusion and particularly vague announcements. Now, the group have taken their legitimacy to the next level by announcing a series of tour dates in the UK and across the EU, including a myriad of festival appearances. See here for more details on The Smile’s tour dates.
We’re playing European dates in May, June & July. Tickets go on sale this Friday 4th February at 10am GMT. Subscribers to The Smile mailing list will have access to a pre-sale on Wednesday, Feb 2nd at 10am GMT. Sign up at https://t.co/CgAsAoRACQ pic.twitter.com/aTUuM8YI6l
— The Smile (@thesmiletheband) February 1, 2022
Beginning in Croatia in mid-May, the opening months of the tour see the group playing some decent-sized venues. Appearances in Austria, Germany, and Sweden all take place before the 4 announced UK shows – 2 at London’s Roundhouse, 1 at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, and 1 at Manchester’s Albert Hall; unfortunately for anyone in Wales or Ireland. The tour will also see the likes of Spain’s Primavera Sound Festival, Poland’s Open’er Festival, and Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival to mention a few. The final date will be one to look for if you get the opportunity through, the Teatro Antico di Taormina in Italy is an ancient Greek theatre dating back to the 3rd century. The perfect backdrop for Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner. Wherever you may choose to see them, what we are still waiting on is album details. But with the various livestreams put out already… it’s not too hard to find the music anymore. Below, for example, see a Joe Jackson cover the band played at 2 of the 3 debut live shows.
If you’re unfortunate enough to not be able to attend any of these dates, here’s a brief rundown of some key moments from the debut shows I believe you should still be aware of. It’ll either spur you on to get to a show, spoil the experience for you so you don’t even have to go anymore or just sit there idle and we can all move on. Jonny Greenwood playing a harp and synthesizer at the same time, Greenwood also playing the bass guitar with a violin bow (very cool), a rather dramatic telling of William Blake’s ‘The Smile’ from none other than Cillian Murphy, an updated version of ‘lost’ Radiohead track ‘Skirting on the Surface’ that I’m pretty sure ended up being played in 15/16 for any of you nerds, and (of course) anything else Jonny Greenwood did. Absolutely worth a go if, of course, you have a choice.
See below the few UK dates for The Smile:
29/05/22 – Roundhouse – London – Roundhouse
30/05 – Roundhouse – London
01/06 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh
02/06 – Albert Hall – Manchester
