Birmingham celebratory show for The Church in support of Fields of the Nephilim
The Church are enjoying a year of unique hallelujahs in honour of their seminal album Starfish, and an autumn supporting tour will stop off in Birmingham as part of that.
The seminal Aussie group are seeing the LP hit the 30-year mark, and are bringing the party to the Second City's O2 Institute on November 1 as they support American goth rockers Fields Of the Nephilim.
They are also in celebratory mood as they mark the 30th anniversary of their successful record Moonchild.
The list of The Church hits, band and fan favourites is long – Myrhh, which leader Steve Kilbey described in his memoir Something Quite Peculiar as the definitive Church song; Ripple, from the masterful Priest=Aura; almost anything from 1982’s The Blurred Crusade.
Expect songs from Hologram of Baal, itself celebrating its 20th anniversary. And, of course, there’s The Unguarded Moment, the single that launched the band onto world stages on its release in 1981.
But this is not just a nostalgia trip. Last year’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity strengthened the bond, cementing new guitarist Ian Haug’s place with long-time fans, as well as with the rest of the band: singer, bass player and songwriter Kilbey, fellow guitarist Peter Koppes and long-time drummer Tim Powles.
“Ian is a big part of the band now,” Koppes says. “He’s a consummate, intuitive musician with fantastic tones."
Koppes goes on to sum up the band. “Music is like inner space and we’re astronauts,” he says. "It’s a spellbinding thing, it’s hypnotising. That’s why people like it. It takes them into another world and we’re here to open those doors.”
Tickets for the Fields of the Nephilim and The Church gig cost £32.25 and are available here.
