Twenty-four years is a long time to wait for a band to cross the pond, but Britpop royalty Gene are finally making it happen. The group has just added a November 13th show at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles to their first North American tour since the early 2000s, and they’re stacking the run with a Darker Waves Festival appearance the very next night.
This whole reunion kicked off when the band got back together to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album, ‘Olympian’ — a record that’s only grown in stature since its 1995 release. Original lineup Martin Rossiter, Matt James, Steve Mason, and Kevin Miles hadn’t shared a stage since their 2004 farewell show in London, but after a nudge from Creation Records founder Alan McGee, the four reconnected and the chemistry came right back.
“All four of us met up, probably for the first time since our last gig (in 2004), and it immediately felt just like it had always been. We were always very self-depreciating as a group and the banter quickly kicked back in. After a few quips barked across the pub table we relaxed and we all laughed a lot. Straightaway it felt like we were a band again.“
— Matt James
Martin Rossiter is equally fired up about getting back on stage, joking about the prospect of shaking things up one more time:
“Within five minutes, the conversations between the four of us had reached the point of, ‘how do we make this brilliant?’ So that drive is still there, the dynamic was still there and so I started daydreaming about what it would be like to waggle my – slightly larger – ass on the stage one more time.”
A Legacy Worth the Wait
For anyone who needs a refresher: Gene formed in 1993, dropped their debut single For The Dead on a label literally created for it, and watched it sell out its limited run of 1,994 copies in two days. ‘Olympian’ followed in 1995, packed with singles like Sleep Well Tonight and Haunted By You, and cracked the UK Top 10. NME loved it so much they went back and revised their original review years later — a rare move that says a lot about how the record’s reputation only deepened with time.
The band kept the momentum going through the rest of the ’90s and early 2000s with ‘Drawn To The Deep End’, ‘Revelations’, and ‘Libertine’, building a reputation as one of the era’s most reliable live acts before calling it quits at London’s Astoria in December 2004 — at the absolute peak of their powers.
The Comeback Is Already Documented
Before this tour even kicked off, Gene gave fans a proper victory lap: a live album, ‘Apollo’, is out now, capturing their triumphant return at a sold-out Hammersmith Apollo in London last October. Over 5,000 fans showed up and sang their hearts out, and the record — mixed by longtime sound engineer Snake Newton — captures all of it, from the hits to the deep cuts and rarities the band dusted off just for the occasion.
‘Apollo’ track list
- London, Can You Wait?
- Be My Light, Be My Guide
- We Could Be Kings
- Where Are They Now?
- Truth Rest Your Head
- Your Love It Lies
- Longsleeves For The Summer
- Sleep Well Tonight
- Save Me I’m Yours
- O Lover
- Speak To Me Someone
- A Car That Sped
- Walking In The Shallows
- Haunted By You
- Olympian
- For The Dead
- Sick, Sober & Sorry
- Fighting Fit
- I Can’t Help Myself
- Who Said This Was The End?
Live Dates
Jun 26 — Southampton, UK — The Brook
Jun 27 — Newport, UK — Corn Exchange
Jun 28 — Lancaster, UK — Kanteena
Sep 25 — Valencia, ES — Visorfest
Oct 9 — London, UK — The Roundhouse
Oct 10 — London, UK — The Roundhouse
Nov 12 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
Nov 13 — Los Angeles, CA — Regent Theater
Nov 14 — Huntington Beach, CA — Darker Waves Festival
Nov 16 — Chicago, IL — Bottom Lounge
Nov 17 — Toronto, ON — Danforth Music Hall
Nov 19 — Washington, D.C. — Howard Theatre
Nov 20 — New York, NY — Sony Hall
Tickets are available now through individual venues and at geneofficial.com.
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