Handsome Tours is thrilled to announce that Billy Bragg will be returning to New Zealand with his “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back” tour. This time, it’s Wellington’s turn, after his sell-out series of Auckland shows in November 2018. Bragg will perform three unique shows on consecutive nights at San Fran. The first night’s performance will feature Bragg’s current set, which ranges across his 35 year career. The second will see Bragg perform songs from his first three albums: his punk rock debut Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy (1983), its similarly raw follow-up Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) and Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (1986). The third performance will see Bragg perform songs from his second three albums: the positively jangled Workers Playtime (1988), the pop classic Don’t Try This at Home (1991) and the back-to-basics William Bloke (1996).
Says Billy: “After more than three decades of travelling around the world in a van, or spending all day flying vast distances to play a gig, I’m looking forward to having some time to explore cities that I usually only get to see between the soundcheck and the show. And this three night stand format is a way of keeping things interesting, both for me and the audience. I tried it out in Auckland recently and had a lot of fun revisiting my back pages.”
Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for over 35 years. Politicised by a Tory government operating without love or justice, this previously adrift young man from Barking, whose failure at national exams had reduced his career opportunities to two, eventually bought himself out of the British Army in 1981 (‘the best £175 I ever spent’), determined to make a living out of song.
Don’t miss the orator, entertainer, rabble-rouser, negotiator, pamphleteer, the fabled ‘Bard of Barking’, Billy Bragg, across three extraordinary evenings.
BILLY BRAGG ‘ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK’ WELLINGTON
San Fran, Wellington
Thursday 28 May: Current career spanning set
Friday 29 May: Songs from the first three albums
Saturday 30 May: Songs from the second three albums
Tickets go on-sale Thursday 1 August at Midday, and are available from Just The Ticket – justtheticketnz.com.
