Avail announce reunion show to celebrate ‘Over The James’ anniversary

The punk five-piece will return to the stage in July after over a decade away

Avail have announced their long-awaited return, with the seminal band set to play a special hometown show in honour of the upcoming 21st anniversary of their fourth album ‘Over The James’.

While the punk five-piece, who hail from Richmond, Virginia, have never officially split, they’ve not played live together on stage since October 2007.

Avail – whose current line-up comprises of vocalist Tim Barry, guitarist Joe Banks, bassist Gwomper, drummer Erik Larson and Beau Butler – will reform for a comeback gig later this summer to mark the forthcoming anniversary of the release of ‘Over The James’, which came out in April 1998.

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They’ll perform at the National in Richmond on July 19, with Reagan and Asylum set to support. Tickets for the gig will go on sale on Friday (March 29) from here.

While Barry said that Avail currently have no further plans to tour or record new music, the vocalist told Noisey about what it was like for the band to recently play together for the first time in a number of years.

“We didn’t know if we could play music anymore,” he recalled. “The band, minus me and Beau, got together and practised a few times and didn’t want everyone to come in and stand there with their arms crossed, staring at middle-aged men trying to remember songs they haven’t played in 12 or 13 years.

“So Erik [Larson] called me and said, ‘Come on in whenever you’re ready.’ So I went to Iron Reagan’s practice spot with no rehearsal – I didn’t warm up, I didn’t review the songs, I didn’t know which songs they were gonna play – and I plugged in my microphone. There was not even much talking. They just started. It was a fucking whirlwind. They sounded fucking fantastic. I don’t know how a brain can retain so many stupid fucking lyrics, but I was able to make it through all of the songs, pretty much.”

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