Tag Archives: Stephen Mallinder

On Tour – Cabaret Voltaire

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Cabaret Voltaire in rehersal room

from the press release. Photo credits Peter Hill (above), Leon Chew (Cabaret Voltaire, below), Teri Varhol (Gazelle Twin)

Following their return to Sheffield at the weekend for a sold-out Sensoria Festival performance, Stephen ‘Mal’ Mallinder and Chris Watson have announced details of their Final UK Tour, starting on 10 October 2026 at Birmingham Town Hall and finishing at the Sheffield Octagon on 25 October, with Gazelle Twin confirmed as special guest across all the dates. 

Pre-sale opens at 10am GMT on 30 October, followed by general sale at 10am GMT on Friday 31 October. Buy HERE, except Sheffield, available HERE

The announcement follows news of this year’s highly anticipated sold-out tour, which marks 50 years since the live launch of one of Britain’s most influential electronic bands, Cabaret Voltaire, at the Sheffield Students Union Refectory on 13 May 1975.

Talking about the newly announced dates, Stephen Mallinder says: “What a wonderful opportunity to go round the block one more time and share that with one of the most unique and spectacular artists we know. The connective tissue between ourselves, our history, and the world Gazelle Twin now conjures up, will be out there and shared with people. It seems like a special, magical moment.”

Composer, producer, and performance artist Elizabeth Bernholz, aka Gazelle Twin, will be special guest across the tour: “Pinch me. Go on. I’m feeling excessively lucky at the prospect of touring with Cabaret Voltaire in 2026. They are electronic music pioneers, but also the loveliest, kindest folk in music that I could ever hope to share the stage with.”

The current tour continues next month, with supports confirmed: dark experimental pop musician, producer and performer Greta Caroll aka CURRENTMOODGIRL will perform at Glasgow’s SWG3 Warehouse; bass-pushing experimentalist and member of Afro-Futurist performance collective Brownton Abbey, I Am Fya, will support at Manchester Gorilla; engineer turned artistic world builder, Gareth Smith, brings Vanishing’s evocative music and resonant lyrics to Birmingham’s Xoyo; Soborgnost, lo-fi dubwave dancepunk mutation from Jim Osman, will join the bill at London’s ICA, and Alexander Tucker’s electronic guise, MICROCORPS, brings heavy mutant techno modular systems to Brighton’s ACCA.

CABARET VOLTAIRE LIVE – 2025

17 Nov – Glasgow, SWG3 Warehouse w/ CURRENTMOODGIRL – SOLD OUT

18 Nov – Manchester, Gorilla w/ I Am Fya – SOLD OUT

19 Nov – Birmingham, Xoyo w/ Vanishing – SOLD OUT

21 Nov – London, ICA w/ Soborgnost – SOLD OUT

22 November – Brighton, ACCA w/ MICROCORPS – SOLD OUT

CABARET VOLTAIRE LIVE – 2026

21 Feb – Norwich, Synth East Festival

10 October – Birmingham Town Hall w/ Gazelle Twin

11 October – Liverpool Arts Club w/ Gazelle Twin

13 October – Nottingham Rock City w/ Gazelle Twin

14 October – Cardiff Tramshed w/ Gazelle Twin

15 October – Bath Forum w/ Gazelle Twin

17 October – Newcastle Boiler Shop w/ Gazelle Twin

18 October – Glasgow Barrowland w/ Gazelle Twin

19 October – Manchester Albert Hall w/ Gazelle Twin

21 October – Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion w/ Gazelle Twin

22 October – London Roundhouse w/ Gazelle Twin

25 October – Sheffield Octagon w/ Gazelle Twin

Published post no.2,701 – Tuesday 28 October 2025

Switched On – Creep Show: Yawning Abyss (Bella Union)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The second album from Creep Show follows five years after their debut – in which time a great deal has changed. The line-up remains the same, with John Grant the charismatic vocalist to beats and soundscapes fashioned by Wrangler – who are synth and electronics wizard Benge (Ben Edwards), Cabaret Voltaire frontman Stephen Mallinder and Phil Winter, creator of many weird and wonderful sounds for Tunng. Their 2018 debut, Mr Dynamite, is described by the four protagonists as ‘a fairground ride into the dark corners of a world that was on the brink of being blitzed in a blender’.

With so much source material for the follow-up, Yawning Abyss would seem to be all about the impending disasters seemingly awaiting the world, as well as the one big disaster – Covid – which has been with us during the period of composition.

And yet, the quartet make room for optimism. Mallinder and Grant headed to Iceland to make some unfiltered vocals, while Winter and Edwards were given the task of bringing it all together for the final cut.

What’s the music like?

Creep Show make some incredibly varied music! At times this album feels like a reflection of the times in which we live, being wildly unpreditable and disfunctional, but then at other turns with an elegance and poise that shows the craft with which it was made.

The two immediate stand-out tracks are Moneyback, with a brilliant couplet from John Grant (“You want your money back? I don’t think so!”) and then the madcap Yahtzee!, which pretty much sums up the state of play in the media at the moment! Sitting on the more elegant side is Bungalow with a mellifluous and stately vocal, while Stephen Mallinder excels up front on Matinee.

Does it all work?

It does – assuming you have the bandwidth to accommodate the wide range of styles on offer!

Is it recommended?

Yes. While sometimes far from easy listening, Yawning Abyss is very much an album for our times.

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