In 1980, Kirk Brandon formed Theatre Of Hate from the ashes of heralded punk band The Pack. Joining Kirk on vocals were notable punk musicians Stan Stammers and Luke Rendall, along with old school friend, Steve Guthrie and Canadian born John “Boy” Lennard, who revolutionised the band’s sound with his haunting sax lines.
Theatre Of Hate’s debut double-A-side single, ‘Legion’/’Original Sin’, topped the independent chart in 1980, and ‘Westworld’, their debut album, produced by Mick Jones from The Clash and released in 1982, held the number one position in the independent chart for 21 weeks. The single taken from the album, ‘Do You Believe In The Westworld?’ has become an anthem and is still widely played in clubs and on international radio, as well as featuring on numerous compilation albums.
Supporting the likes of The Clash and Ian Dury led to Theatre Of Hate headlining major venues across the UK & Northern Europe.
Unfortunately Theatre Of Hate imploded in 1982, with Kirk taking Stan forward to form Spear Of Destiny, but the band has resurfaced over the years to play some very special shows. Having been asked by John Curd to join The Damned for a massive show at London’s infamous Roundhouse in December 2014, the band once again joined the fray. A short set of dates around the London anchor show attracted rave reviews, as did a 6 night sold out run in December 2014. The following year saw the band play two short jaunts across the UK in April and December both sets of dates wowed large crowds.
During touring in 2014 and 2015, the band constantly recorded at Oxygen Studios in Manchester, the first new studio album in 30+ years ‘Kinshi’ was released on 14th October 2016. The 12 new songs were simply stunning and signalled a true return to form. Four years ago the outfit dropped another long player in the form of ‘Utsukushi-sa (A Thing Of Beauty)’.
This afternoon Theatre Of Hate have announced a select 8 date tour where they will be performing their ‘Westworld’ album in full as well as all the singles a B-sides. The tour will kick off on 25th September 2025 and run until 5th October 2025. They will be calling in at Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Brighton, London, Leeds and Bristol. The Brighton gig will be happening at the Chalk venue in Pool Valley on Thursday 2nd October 2025. Special guests on the tour are West Yorkshire post punk/gothic rockers Skeletal Family.
Tickets for all 8 dates are available right now and they can be found HERE.
For more Theatre Of Hate information visit www.kirkbrandon.com.
