As if 2022 couldn’t get any stranger, the unthinkable has happened: Suede will be touring North America later this year, their first on these shores in 25 years.
The enduring British band and Britpop kickstarters — begrudgingly known as The London Suede in the United States — have unveiled a 12-date co-headlining tour with the Manic Street Preachers. The joint headlining tour, where the bands will rotate headliner status, stretches across November, beginning November 3 in Vancouver and wrapping November 24 in Toronto. Tickets to all shows go on sale this Friday (September 16) at 10 a.m. local time; the same day Suede release new album Autofiction.
Towards the end of the run, Suede and the Manics play The Orpheum in Boston on November 22. It was in Boston, during a two-night stand at The Paradise Rock Club in May 1997 for the Coming Up Tour, where Suede’s gear was infamously stolen outside the Commonwealth Avenue venue, forcing them to perform acoustic on the second night. They have not returned since.
In fact, Suede have only returned to America once since that time — a one-off 2011 appearance at Coachella. Suede frontman Brett Anderson has long been lukewarm about a return to the States for a variety of reasons, most notably the legal issue surrounding their name (a local lounge singer sued the band in the ’90s; Anderson told me in 2013 the name has “always been the problem for us… that’s a problem, that name, I just can’t be known under that name”).
But with a new album on the way and a pairing with the Manics — revisiting an infamous mid-’90s tour together that was one of the first for Suede guitarist Richard Oakes after replacing the seemingly irreplaceable Bernard Butler, and one of Richey Edwards’ last jaunts with the Manics before disappearing in February ’95 — the opportunity seems to good to pass up.
“I can’t think of a band I’d rather share a stage with than the Manic Street Preachers,” says Anderson in a press release. “They have long been an inspiration to us, and I know there are thousands of Suede fans who feel the same. It’s nearly 30 years since we last played together and I think these shows are going to be something really special.”
Manic Street Preachers add: “We first toured with Suede in 1994 when we played with them all across Europe. Back then, it always felt like both our bands shared a certain kind of kinship, both aesthetically and historically. It still feels that way now, nearly three decades later… This joint tour feels like a fantastic opportunity for both our sets of fans to share an amazing live experience. And to do this in the USA and Canada in 2022 makes it even more special as our tours there are so rare these days. We truly can’t wait.”
Rare, indeed.
Check out all the dates below.
Suede + Manic Street Preachers 2022 North American Tour:
November 3: Vancouver, Canada @ PNE Forum (Suede close)
November 5: Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre (Manic Street Preachers close)
November 7: San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield (Suede close)
November 9: Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues (Manic Street Preachers close)
November 10: Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium (Suede close)
November 13: Austin, TX @ ACL Live At The Moody Theater (Manic Street Preachers close)
November 16: Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater (Suede close)
November 18: Silver Springs, MD @ The Fillmore (Manic Street Preachers close)
November 19: Philadelphia, PA @ The Met (Suede close)
November 21: Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre (Manic Street Preachers close)
November 22: Boston, MA @ The Orpheum (Suede close)
November 24: Toronto, Canada @ Massey Hall (Manic Street Preachers close)
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