AN EVENT by rocker Mike Peters which attracts fans from all over the world is going on tour to Cardiff.
The Gathering will arrive in Cardiff, the birthplace and home of Mike and The Alarm, next January 2024.
The rock’n’roll special, which will run over the weekend of January 18 until 21, will take in a number of venues and historic sites across the captial.
Mike said: "Reflecting on the amazing 30th Anniversary Gathering this January and with the imminent release of our new album ‘Forwards’ (out June 2), I believe the time is right for new Gathering adventures.
"By reversing the role of fans travelling to my hometown, we will all now travel to Cardiff - the capital city of Wales - to once again celebrate our unique history and music; past, present and future.”
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of The Alarm’s classic debut album Declaration (1984), which will be honoured by The Alarm and played in full for the first time ever at Y Plas Cardiff Students' Union at Cardiff University on Friday, January 19. Other songs will also be performed from the band’s 1984 Sound And The Fury Tour.
Mike said: "In my opinion, Y Plas is one of the best venues to see a band in Cardiff.
"The Alarm played there during the Blood Red Viral Black Tour in 2017 and, with an audience packed onto the venue's main auditorium floor and fans looking down at the stage from all sides of the balcony, it was an electric atmosphere.
"For The Gathering 2024, Y Plas offers the perfect place for myself and the band to perform an album like Declaration which was honed in similar hot and sweaty halls and ballrooms across the country back when the sound and fury of The Alarm was first unleashed."
Saturday evening (January 20) will see The Gathering fraternity descend on The Great Hall at Cardiff University, where The Alarm will be performing a full-on electric set, armed with tracks selected from all the various eras of the Mike Peters and The Alarm songbook, from their earliest beginnings to the present day.
The hub and Fanzone for The Gathering 2024 will be situated at two locations - Temple Bar and The Old Arcade.
The Old Arcade is the oldest pub in Cardiff and the site of the Mike Peters mural whilst Temple Bar is one of the city’s newest music venues.
The opening night Ga’Thur’ing will be held at the Temple Bar. The same venue will kick-off proceedings on Thursday, January 18 with an event hosted by Alarm legend Gareth ‘Gaz Top’ Jones and feature special guests, live music and conversation.
The Alarm Film Festival, curated by Alarm archivist Gary Overington, will be hosted at the Temple Bar. There will be an exclusive screening, in broadcast quality, of The Alarm’s 1989 BBC TV documentary ‘Blaze Of Glory’ along with other rare and essential historic films that capture and document the story of The Alarm in Wales.
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The Gathering pre-concert (Friday and Saturday night) get togethers will be held at the Old Arcade meeting point and the Gathering Aftershow Party will be held after The Alarm’s Alarm’s concert in The Great Hall (Saturday, January 20).
Mike said: "Since the very first event at Rhyl Town Hall in December 1992, The Gathering has attracted Alarm fans from all over the globe who have themselves gone ‘on tour’ to see and hear the music of The Alarm in its hometown.
"The Gathering, whether it be held in Rhyl, Llandudno or (for a few years in-between) in Prestatyn has created some incredible Alarm moments in time, and become an integral part of the international folklore of the band.
"I can’t wait to bring The Gathering to Cardiff in 2024 where travelling fans will now get to see and hear The Alarm’s music in our capital city and home country, and experience a welcome in the hillsides like no other.”
Sunday, January 21 will involve an early morning Love Hope Strength Sponsored Walk, starting at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay. This will head across the Cardiff Barrage towards Penarth and back, with an acoustic Mike Peters/Alarm Singalong held at the footsteps of the Senedd Building. Ty Hafan, the children’s hospice based in Sully, will join the walk.
The 2023 Gathering, at Venue Cymru's Arena in Llandudno, marked the returned of Mike to the stage. The future of The Gathering was initally not certain; Earlier in 2022, following an acclaimed national tour with his band, Mike relapsed [Mike was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in 2005].
The rocker stopped responding to his medication and had to undergo a new gruelling treatment plan.
Fortunately, following treatment, the frontman was able to get back to doing what he loves.
The annual three-day event, which took place over January 27, 28 and 29, was hailed the "best ever" by Mike's wife Jules.
More than 1,500 fans attended.
The Alarm - Gathering 2024 Weekend Event
Passes will be on-sale on Sunday March 19 from 7pm.
Visit thealarm.com and www.cardiffboxoffice.com
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