Important Changes to The Cult / Mission / Killing Joke tour

Here at Dominion we’ve seen a lot of rumours and speculation flying around about the forthcoming Cult / Mission / Killing Joke tour and have been asked to try to shed some light on it.

It looked like it was going to be one of the biggest tours the UK dark alternative scene had seen in decades, but  right now fans, venues and bands sit confused as to what is going on.

Firstly, the venues have changed.

The new venues are :

10^th September – Manchester 02 Apollo (date has also changed)
11^th September – Newcastle 02 Academy
12^th September – Sheffield 02 Academy
15^th September – Birmingham 02 Academy (listed as sold out)
16^th September – London HMV Apollo Hammersmith (listed as sold out)

The Cult and The Mission have added some dates of their own around this, these will not be with each other or with Killing Joke.  For all the above shows, doors are listed as 6pm with the first band due on at 7pm… eek.

Now this is where it starts to get complicated.

For some reason, original tickets are NOT valid.  If you have a ticket that reads ‘Arena’ you need to contact wherever you bought the ticket from ASAP in order to switch it for an ‘Academy’ or ‘Apollo’ ticket.

There’s been inconsistent reports of people getting replacement tickets or refunds, some ticket holders seem to have had no problem but others seem to have no joy.   Keep trying.   With the exception of Manchester (date change) you may not be able to get a refund on other shows unless they get cancelled (which, is probably unlikely…).

Now, to the piece that’s caused most confusion.  KILLING JOKE.  Are they playing? Have they pulled out?   Contrary to reports, they’ve NOT pulled out of the tour, however…

The confusion seems to have started when a statement alleging to be from Jaz Coleman was posted on forums and Facebook claiming the band had withdrawn from the tour.  It delivered a scathing attack on The Cult and also that the band found it insulting they were asked to open in venues they’d recently sold out.  It later emerged that this ‘statement’ was in fact from a fan who claimed to have run into Jaz in a bar in Prague and was paraphrasing what was claimed to have been said.

It took a few days, but Killing Joke have finally put out a (real) statement, which hasn’t shed any light on the situation.   Jaz has gone AWOL.  Dominion are obviously concerned for the health of Mr Coleman, however this has only fuelled confusion as to whether the shows will go ahead and in what format.

You can read the full statement below (Appendix 1)

Between the fan “statement” and the real statement, Wayne Hussey also gave his thoughts.   Wayne’s comments may be more reassuring for fans as he states that he is looking forward to doing the shows with The Cult, as are the rest of The Mission.   He also revealed, during the statement, that promoters are considering a replacement band in the event of KJ being unable to fulfil the shows – however he also states his preference that no replacement band is selected and instead The Cult and The Mission perform longer sets.  We will not repost Wayne’s statement here as it was written before it was revealed the original statement was from a KJ fan, not the band, so many of his points are not relevant – however Wayne makes his best reassurances that the worst case scenario is that The Cult and The Mission will play longer sets if KJ do not play.

The Cult have not made any comment on the tour.

So, to summarise :

-          The venues have all been moved from Arena’s to Academy and Apollo Venues

-          Original tickets are not valid, contact your reseller to change to a correct ticket

-          Killing Joke have NOT pulled out.

-          However, Jaz Coleman’s absence does put their appearance in doubt

-          In the event of a no show by KJ either (a) A replacement band will be booked to open (b) The Cult and The Mission will play longer sets

It’s been a bit crazy but fear ye not… the dates will go ahead! (We Hope!)

Appendix 1 – KJ statement

KILLING JOKE

KILLING JOKE