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The oldest bands still touring today

5 January 2024, 11:43

Which of the longest-serving rock 'n' roll acts have dates on the calendar for this year? And who can we reasonably expect to see in 2024?

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In rock 'n' roll there's no retirement age... in fact there are a great many bands that are continuing to play some 40 or 50 years after their first hit.

But who is the oldest? In reverse order, then. here are some of the most experienced bands you'll be able to see performing soon...

Pixies: established 1986

After a hiatus between 1991 and 2004, the Boston alternative rock legends are now a touring force to be reckoned with and will be touring their third and fourth albums (Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde) in the UK and Europe in March 2024.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - established 1983

The LA rockers began their career as Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters Of Mayhem almost forty years ago, which is incredible considering the ups and downs they've had over the years. The Chilis continue their tour dates in support of their Return Of The Dream Canteen album into 2024. with North American shows right up to the end of July.

Metallica - established 1981

The hardcore metal pioneers were back in 2023 with a new album 72 Seasons, and an itinerary that sees them back in Europe in June 2024, ending up in Mexico in September.

Plus there's all that nice publicity from their track Master Of Puppets being used in the last series of Stranger Things .

New Order: established 1980

The Mancunian masters of electronica date back, of course, to their time as Joy Division and before that, as the short-lived punk act Warsaw, who formed in 1976 after seeing the Sex Pistols play live. In their post-Ian Curtis incarnation, they first performed as New Order in July 1980. The band will play Cardiff and Manchester in August 2024.

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Depeche Mode: established 1980

Now down to founder members Dave Gahan and Martin Gore after the death of Andrew Fletcher in 2022, the Mode released their fifteenth album, Memento Mori, in March 2023. Their world tour starts its fourth leg on 22nd January 2024 at The O2 in London and winds up in Germany in April.

Madness: established 1979

The veteran British ska band have had the occasional hiatus over the past 40 years, but they began officially trading under the Madness name back in August 1979 with the single The Prince. They have a busy summer ahead with shows at Lytham Festival and Margate Summer Series on the 2024 calendar.

U2 - established 1978

Before they were U2 they were Feeback and The Hype, but for four decades Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Junior have been playing together. The band - minus Mullen, who is recovering from surgery - have been enjoying a residency in Las Vegas, where you can hear their album Achtung Baby in full. The dates run until the beginning of March 2024.

Soft Cell - established 1978

Marc Almond and Dave Ball said they were playing their last show together in 2018, but the synthpop legends are still at it, heading off on The 80s Cruise in February 2024 and playing festival dates in America, Brazil and Spain in the summer.

Def Leppard - established 1977

The British metal legends have 2023 all mapped out - an enormous stadium tour of Europe and South America with Motley Crue, over 40 years since they began their life in downtown Sheffield. Their "Summer Stadium" Tour kicks off in St Louis on 6th July and ends in Denver on 8th September.

The Human League: established 1977

The pioneering electronic futurists from Sheffield will be taking their Generations Tour on the road in Europe in November 2024, ending with a show at London's Wembley OVO Arena on 14th December.

Buzzcocks: established 1976

Steve Diggle is the sole original member of the Manchester punks, but they'll be heading out on tour in the UK in March and April 2024.

The B52s: established 1976

Original members Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland have a Las Vegas residency set to run until 20th April 2024. They're saying this is their farewell tour!

Iron Maiden - established 1975

The metal legends have been doing their unique thing since the mid-70s and we can't ever believe they'll call it a day - their Future Past tour heads to Australia in September 2024, then moves on to North America and finally South America, ending at the start of December.

Blondie: established 1974

Guitarist Chris Stein met singer Deborah Harry in a band called The Stilettos in 1973, but formed their own band, called Blondie, in October 1974. 2023 has seen the band play London's Crystal Palace Bowl with fellow traveller Iggy Pop and a well-received set at Glastonbury. 2024 sees the band play Cruel World festival in California in May, followed by some outdoor shows in the UK and Ireland with Sting in June!

Devo: established 1973

Despite the ongoing threat of "devolution", Akron, Ohio's quirkiest proponents of art rock have claimed they're on their farewell tour - they will appear at the Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Las Vegas with Madness and the Descendents in May 2024.

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Eagles: established 1971

There have been numerous line-up changes and the loss of founding member Glenn Frey in 2016, but The Eagles headlined British Summer Time in Hyde Park in June 2022, with Don Henley and Joe Walsh still present and correct. Their Long Goodbye Tour, with guests Steely Dan, winds up Charlotte North Carolina on 16th March 2024.

Kool And The Gang: established 1964

The Gang may have changed a bit over the years, but Robert "Kool" Bell continues to take the band's huge funk and R&B tunes around the world, with shows in Las Vegas planned for October 2024.

The Rolling Stones: established 1962

Having picked themselves up after the death of the great Charlie Watts, AND celebrated the release of a Number 1 album in 2023's Hackney Diamonds, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood have lined up dates in North America and Canada, starting at Houston, Texas on 28th April and ending at Santa Clara, California on 17th July 2024. After that, who knows...?

The Beach Boys - established 1961

Death, illness and mental health issues haven’t soured the American Dream and surf seems to be continually up for this legendary act. Veteran member Mike Love is working his way around the world with his own line-up, taking them on tour until "The Malt Shop Memories Cruise" in Florida in October 2024.

The Zombies: established 1961

Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone first met at school in 1961 and were best known for their hits She's Not There and Time Of The Season in the 60s. Despite "fake Zombies" acts touring in the 70s and 80s, the duo reunited at the turn of the Century and they'll be attending the On The Blue Cruise in March 2024 - 63 years down the line! That's followed by a full UK tour in May and June. Impressive.

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10 Longest Gigs That Went On Forever – And One That Was Over In A Second

How long should a good gig be, and conversely what’s the earliest a band or artist can exit the stage without the audience feeling ripped off? How long is a piece of string (perhaps you’d better ask a string theorist)? Also, there’s the old quality vs quantity conundrum: a concert can go on for days, but if the music played is awful then that’s of no use to man or beast. But how about if you were to get quality and quantity, like a giant musical Ferrero Rocher party and all your Christmases come at once? Here are 10 memorable concerts that went on seemingly forever, and one that was over in a heartbeat.

Bruce Springsteen at the Olympiastadion, Helsinki, 31st July 2012

Boy can the Boss go on, which if you’re a Bruce Springsteen fanatic, is a prolonged eternity in heaven with the fatted calf and all the trimmings. Famously, Bruce Almighty likes to sate his fans until they can barely walk with over-nourishment, but even he outdid himself playing at the Olympiastadion in Helsinki a few years ago, breaking his own personal best with a show that lasted four hours and six minutes. The gig no doubt featured his classic ‘Born To Run’, but nobody was running anywhere fast that evening.

Bruce Springsteen with Paul McCartney in Hyde Park, 15th July 2012

A few weeks before the Helsinki show, the Boss was at it again, and this time he’d brought Beatles legend Paul McCartney on stage to sing the band’s classics ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Twist And Shout’. For those who hadn’t fainted already, ecstasy was all but guaranteed. Or was it? As it turned out, Bruce had gone on far too long for Westminster Council’s liking, and some of the oligarch’s who own properties nearby weren’t too happy about the noise, and so the plug was pulled on America’s greatest modern rock artist and one half of the finest songwriting duo of the 20th century. Still, it had been quite a night. Imagine how good it would have been had someone actually turned the volume up? “When did England become a police state?” asked incredulous guitarist Steven Van Zandt, a member of Springsteen’s E Street Band, on Twitter. Van Zandt was miffed that “English cops” had stopped “80,000 people having a good time”. Quite right Stevie!

Muse at Olympiastadion, Helsinki on 27th July 2013

What is it they put in the Karelian pasties in Finland to give artists that extra stamina needed to break their own long standing records? Or is it just the clean Nordic air? According to Setlist FM, Muse performed their longest ever show at the same arena Springsteen managed his PB, performing two encores and 27 songs in all, lasting an entire age. The audience might have got Stockholm Syndrome had this happened next door in the neighbouring capital city of Sweden. Do you see what I did there?

Chilly Gonzales at the Ciné 13 Théâtre, Paris between May 16th and 18th 2009

Gonzo is the self-proclaimed ‘Entertainist’ where performing on the old joanna is concerned, and having held the attention of an audience in Paris for more than a day while managing to stay awake and break the world record for longest solo concert into the bargain, well, who could argue? The Canadian musician tinkled the ivories for an incredible 27 hours, three minutes and 44 seconds, getting through 300 plus songs and an awful lot of anecdotes in the process. Bravo!

Pixies at Teatro La Cúpula in Santiago, on October 13th 2010

Black Francis and co. performed an incredible 33 songs, one for each of the 33 previously trapped miners in Chile who were rescued while the eyes of the world watched, back in 2010. “We were so moved by this story,” said Frank in a statement “by how many lives had been affected by this, and how the Chilean people banded together to support what can only be described as a miracle.” And where better to play this incredibly long show than in a city named after their own guitarist, Joey Santiago?

Jarvis Cocker and friends at the Village Underground Gallery in Shoreditch, London 9th-11th November 2009

Not so much three gigs as a three day-long installation (with two sleeps), Monsieur Cocker of Pulp fame dragged the kids of Shoreditch in to jam with him over three, long and occasionally challenging days, while others performed yoga and headstands. This all-inclusive concept and free-for-all was sometimes more delightful than the execution, but how heartwarming that hundreds of young musicians could go away and tell their mates they’d played on stage with Jarvis Cocker.

The Cure at the Foro Sol in Mexico City, April 23rd 2014

If you have a phobia of long silences then The Cure have the antidote, playing endless sets that are the enemy of quietness. Debate on some seriously crepuscular fan message boards rages regarding the longest ever show from Fat Bob and the boys. Was it Berlin or was it Paris? All of these shows were suitably protracted, but Robert Smith celebrated his 54th birthday in Mexico City with an incredible fifty song set lasting 4 hours and six minutes. Not even a 5.9 magnitude earthquake could deviate them from the path of righteousness.

Live Aid on the 13th July 1985

You must have heard of it. 75 acts played for 16 hours linked by satellite between Wembley and Los Angeles, beamed live into the homes of millions, raising many more millions for starving children in Africa. And most importantly Phil Collins got to fly across the Atlantic and play at both events, including a stint on drums for Led Zeppelin! The mother and father of all telethon events kick started a glut of similar – and some might say – inferior imitations. Or Freddie Mercury punching the air and making the world realise it needed Queen again? Or Bob Geldof shouting “give us yer fookin’ money”?

Radiohead at the Great Stage Park in Tennessee, 17th June 2006

Radiohead are a band that like to give back, and have done so often with preposterously long live sets. There’s some confusion as to which show is longest, but their most robust this century was almost certainly at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, lasting 2 hour and 20 minutes and featured two encores and 28 songs. Despite the massive offering, they couldn’t find room for their breakout hit, ‘Creep’.

Grateful Dead at the Winterland Ballroom, 31st December 1978 to 1st January 1979

The Grateful Dead made the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco their second home, and it’s here where they supposedly played a number of six-hour shows; the suggestion that all their shows were that long is somewhat apocryphal though. One set that may well have surpassed the six hour mark (there were 36 songs, and Jerry Garcia and the band’s songs do go on a bit) was the New Year’s Eve show of 1978 that rolled well into New Year’s Day 1979. A somewhat shorter show at the Winterland earlier in that same year saw the Sex Pistols bow out with the now infamous line: ‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’

As for the shortest show…

The White Stripes achieved one that lasted less than a second when they played one note – believed to be C# – at a venue in Newfoundland, Canada in 2007. Hundreds of fans showed up for the event, and were warned in advance of the brevity of what would transpire, but the Guinness Book of Records failed to honour the stunt as an official record. Jack White had to wait until last year to break one when he released ‘Lazaretto’ in the fastest time during 2014’s Record Store Day.

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