Swans have just announced the final three shows as part of their current tour promoting their 2016 album, The Glowing Man. Both the album and tour are the last to feature the current lineup, which consists of Michael Gira, Norman Westberg, Christoph Hahn, Phil Puelo, Christopher Pravdica and Paul Wallfisch.
The shows will occur at the venue Warsaw in Brooklyn on November 2, 3, and 4. The November 2 show will feature Carla Bozulich, the November 3 show features Anna Von HaussWolff, and the last show on November 3 is set to feature ADULT, which had Michael Gira featured on their most recent album, Detroit House Guests.
In a statement released along with the show announcement, Michael Gira said, “There will be no other East Coast shows surrounding this last stand, and this is it. Finished.” He also emphasized that the shows would occur in New York because that was where the band originated.
The decision for the current lineup to dissolve came amicably and simply as the right time for the members to move forward. In a Vanity Fair interview from 2016, Gira stated, “As a band—as a classic formation ‘band’ where it’s the same members all the time—it’s kind of running its course. And I think we all agree.”
Michael Gira formed the band as an experimental rock/no wave band in the early ‘80s. The band took a hiatus from 1997 to 2010, but has since held the same lineup and released four albums that have each received critical acclaim. All Swan records have been released through the label that Gira owns himself, Young God Records. Their latest album, The Glowing Man, is number 14 in the Swans complete discography, and it was released in June 2016. The album received high ratings from practically every review source, including Spin, The A.V. Club and Metacritic.
Gira has said that he will still continue to release music under the Swans name with a variety of different supporting musicians. “ I have little idea what shape the sound will take, which is a good thing. Touring will definitely be less extensive, I’m certain of that! Whatever the future holds, I’ll miss this particular locus of human and musical potential immensely,” Gira stated in 2016 via the Young God Records website.
From the start, Swans made their name in the New York no wave scene, and grew to incorporate many other experimental genres. Gira has stated in the past that the name Swans was chosen to accurately describe the band’s sound as majestic and beautiful, yet with an ugly temperament.
The three-day pass to attend each of Swans’ final shows is already sold out, but individual show tickets are available for purchase online.
Read our review on The Glowing Man, and be sure to watch Swans’ 2016 Atlanta show featuring an appearance by original member Jarboe. You can also watch Swans perform “The Man Who Refused to Be Happy,” off of The Glowing Man, live in Brighton.
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