Black Country, New Road have announced their first tour dates with their new line-up – see the full list of dates below.
Back in February, the band’s founding vocalist and guitarist Isaac Wood announced his departure just days before they released their second album, ‘Ants From Up There’.
In a statement alongside news of Wood’s departure, the remaining six members revealed that they would be continuing as a band, and have now shared full details of a 2022 tour featuring all new music.
“We’re incredibly pleased to announce our touring dates for 2022,” they told fans on social media. “We’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve been working on with you. The six of us will be performing a set of brand new music,” they added, confirming that no music from ‘Ants From Up There’ or debut album ‘For The First Time’ would be played.
They added: “Although the majority of our performances will be at festivals, we’ve arranged a short run of smaller shows around the UK in May to debut and road-test this new material. We hope to see as many of you as we can over the summer.”
See the dates, which include slots at London’s Visions Festival, Green Man festival in Wales and a May UK headline tour, below. Tickets go on sale here on Thursday, April 7 at 10am BST.
MAY 2022
19 – Brighton, Patterns
20 – Manchester, YES (Pink Room)
21 – Bristol, Strange Brew
22 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
23 – Glasgow, King Tut’s
26-28 – Germany, Immergut Festival
JUNE 2022
3 – France, Levitation Festival
4 – Barcelona, Primavera Sound
5 – Switzerland, Bad Bonn Kilbi
10-12 – Oxfordshire, Kite Festival
17-19 – Lithuania, 8 Festival
JULY 2022
7-9 – Slovakia, Pohoda Festival
13-17 – Belgium, Dour Festival
16 – Latvia, Positivus Festival
23 – London, Visions Festival
AUGUST 2022
5-6 – Czech Republic, Beseda U Bigbitu
11 – Sweden, Way Out West Festival
15 – Switzerland, Winterthurer MusikFestwochen
18-21 – Wales, Green Man Festival
28 – Scotland, Connect Festival
SEPTEMBER 2022
2-5 – Netherlands, Into The Great Wide Open Festival
Although the majority of our performances will be at festivals, we’ve arranged a short run of smaller shows around the UK in May to debut and road-test this new material.
We hope to see as many of you as we can over the summer…………………………………— BlackCountry,NewRoad (@BCNRband) April 6, 2022
The remaining members of Black Country, New Road recently discussed the departure of Wood in a new interview and how it will change the band moving forward.
“I have bad news which is that I have been feeling sad and afraid too,” Wood wrote in a statement. “And I have tried to make this not true but it is the kind of sad and afraid feeling that makes it hard to play guitar and sing at the same time.
“To be clear: this is completely in spite of six of the greatest people I know, who were and are wonderful in a sparkling way. If you are reading this maybe you would have seen some of that. It has been a great pleasure and I would like to say the words ‘Thank You’ to everyone.”
In an interview with Rough Trade, drummer Charlie Wayne acknowledged that losing their singer was “a big thing” and that Wood had had a “massive” influence on the band.
“But if Black Country New Road had rested solely on the merits of one person then we would have ended the band with Isaac leaving,” Wayne said. “But because it’s doesn’t, we haven’t. In very tangible ways the band sounds pretty similar. The songs are definitely different and we are exploring spaces we have never been to before, but we are the same musicians playing our instruments.”
Giving ‘Ants From Up There’ a five-star review, NME wrote: “It’s strange to think that had Nervous Conditions – the experimental post-punk group from whose ashes Black Country formed – not imploded, we may never have seen Wood emerge from the shadows to take up the mic front and centre and become a generational storyteller.
“The record’s music and messages seem feel doubly vital in the wake of frontman’s announcement and immediate departure, meaning ‘Ants From Up There’ may be his footnote as well as the band’s masterpiece.”
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