Spiderbait have announced a seven-gig run of national tour dates, during which they’ll highlight tracks led by one of the band’s two frontpeople, Janet English.
Dubbed their ‘Tour In The Key Of J’, the stint comes in support of Spiderbait’s new compilation album, ‘Sounds In The Key Of J’, which landed today (April 8) via Universal.
The album sports 33 songs with English at the helm, drawing from all seven of the band’s studio albums as well as various B-sides and rarities. One of those, ‘My Car’s A UFO’, was shared last month as Spiderbait’s first single in nine years.
A music video for the track, directed by Jesse Richards, was also shared today – take a look at that below:
Following sets at this year’s Groovin The Moo festival – set to hit Maitland, Canberra and Bendigo this month – Spiderbait’s ‘Tour In The Key Of J’ will kick off in Tasmania, where they’ll play the Albert Hall in Launceston and Hobart’s Uni Bar on June 3 and 4, respectively. They’ll head to Sydney next, before taking to stages in Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle and Adelaide.
Tickets for the run go on sale at 9am AEST on Thursday April 21, with a pre-sale running from the same time on Thursday April 14. Tickets for Adelaide and Groovin The Moo are available here, with all others from Spiderbait’s website.
Speaking on the tour, drummer and co-frontperson Mark ‘Kram’ Maher said: “Janet’s songs are special. And over the past 30 years she’s written so many beautiful ones, but also others that hit you like a lighting bolt. ‘The Key Of J’ tour will be a unique show, like nothing we’ve done before – it’ll be us celebrating Janet’s work in Spiderbait.
“We can’t wait for this tour to start and to perform so many of her songs live – for me personally, it’ll be very moving, and to quote Janet directly… fucken awesome!”
English herself explained that she was initially hesitant on the idea for the compilation and tour, but eventually came around, joking that she “kinda said ‘OK’ to shut [Kram] up”. She continued: “It’s been a tough few years and music really got me through the lockdowns. I still can’t quite believe we’ll be out touring again soon and for the ‘Tour In The Key Of J’, I’m super humbled and slightly terrified.
“I’ve missed that energy and that connection live music makes, being part of that exchange is one of the most amazing privileges.”
Spiderbait’s last full-length effort was their eponymous seventh album in 2013. That record also ended a nine-year drought of new music, with its predecessor, ‘Tonight Alright’, landing in 2004.
Last September, Kram dedicated a cover of the Neighbours theme song – reinvented as a “religious hymn” – to Guy Sebastian, following Sebastian’s controversy over an industry-wide campaign for COVID-19 vaccination.
Spiderbait’s ‘Tour In The Key Of J’ dates are:
JUNE
Friday 3 – Launceston, Albert Hall
Saturday 4 – Hobart, Uni Bar
JULY
Friday 8 – Sydney, Metro Theatre
Friday 15 – Melbourne, Northcote Theatre
AUGUST
Friday 5 – Brisbane, Princess Theatre
Friday 19 – Fremantle, Metropolis
Saturday 20 – Adelaide, Hindley St Music Hall