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The Almighty / The best of mates reunite for three shows

A 30-year break, different bands, and different career choices, but finally, The Almighty, featuring drummer Stumpy Monroe, bassist Floyd London, guitarist Andy ‘Tantrum’ McCafferty and lead vocalist/guitarist Ricky Warwick, will reunite for three winter shows along with the news that a new boxset featuring their first four albums, will be released at the end of 2023.

“While we still can, why not have a blast at it again?” Stumpy said at a Press Conference at The Karma Sanctum Soho Hotel in London on Monday. “We just started talking again recently, not that we had stopped talking for any particular reason.”

“I think 30 years is a long time,” Ricky said. “Me and Stumpy have been friends since we were 14 years old. These two [Floyd and Tantrum] have been friends since they were seven years old. That’s a fuck of a long time. We’ve had some amazing times, some brilliant highs and some lows. It’s no secret that we argued like fuck. We always have, but I think that’s what makes it great. We love each other, and we’re still mates.

“We’re very proud of what we achieved. And the fact that people are still interested in it all this time later, as the big man said, everything’s been put into perspective. There are too many people who should be here today but are not with us anymore. It’s fucking rock ‘n’ roll, and there’s nobody like The Almighty, so let’s play some shows.”

The Almighty, Press Conference. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk
The Almighty, Press Conference. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk

“We had quite a big legacy,” Floyd said. “One year, we got an award, and we want to revisit that. We’re going to put our best effort into replicating what we did so many years ago. Come along and enjoy it like we did before.”

“For me, it feels brilliant,” Tantrum said. “I’m happy in my personal life, playing and recording with other people, but this is just like the cherry and icing on the cake. We did a lot in a really short space of time. But since we are all alive, healthy and happy, it’s a good time to get back into it. I’m looking forward to it.”

november

30nov7:00 pmThe Almighty | BarrowlandsBarrowlands, Glasgow

december

01dec7:00 pmThe Almighty | ManchesterAcademy

02dec7:00 pmThe Almighty | LondonKentish Town Forum

Hella Rock Festival

The band have not started rehearsals yet, “but that time will come,” Stumpy said. “We’ll do our homework, me more than most, as I’ve been playing less than most people.”

The press conference was smiles as Ricky reminisced about a sheet of LSD in the management company offices as they were preparing to go on tour with Iron Maiden, plus a great story about Lemmy’s hotel room. You can hear about that in the film on The Almighty Facebook page. Tantrum spoke about one highlight when they were supporting The Ramones, while the story of their first-ever gig was special.

“It’s nice to reconnect,” Ricky said, “and to have something in common and to be able to get out and play together again. It’s brilliant.”

The Almighty, Press Conference. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk
The Almighty, Press Conference. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk

The band said there were many highlights. “I think the Donington show was a highlight,” Ricky said. “You have to understand that we would sit in the pub [in the early days] and plan world domination. You always hope that it’s going to happen, but in the back of your mind… [shakes his shoulders]. We would go to Doningtion as punters, and then a couple of years later, we’re playing there. For me, personally, that was huge. Just to succeed and to achieve what we used to sit, drink and talk about in the pub. For it to actually come true was huge for all of us.”

“The highlights are varied,” Stumpy said, ” and it’s all kind of relative. You sit in a pub, then you play your first decent shows, and there were a lot of people there. The first time we play the Marquee. The first time we sell out the Marquee. The first time you play Barrowlands. The first time you sell out Barrowlands. There were all these key moments. Every week we got slightly bigger and better.”

“I remember when I first started buying records,” Floyd said. “I was buying Maiden records or UFO. I’d lie on my back with the speakers by my ears, turned up full, having the best time. A few years later, we’re on tour with Maiden. We’re on tour with Motörhead, and I’m pinching myself every day. From a little fucking village in Scotland. How often does that happen? It never happens. We were enormously fortunate to have got a deal in the first place. We kept going, we honed our art, and we met some wonderful people in the industry.”

The Almighty
The Almighty

“When I first moved over, obviously, I was the new guy at school in Strathaven,” Ricky said. “People grativated to the new guy who had a guitar. I remember Stumpy and Floyd coming up, ‘we’ve got a bass and guitar’. Within a week of moving there, we were rehearsing, and we couldn’t figure out who was going to sing. I remember going, ‘I’ll do it until we find somebody else.’ Forty-five fucking years later, I’m still having to sing. [laughs]

“But that’s how we started. We used to rehearse in a barn on a farm. Then we would rehearse once a week in a proper studio in Glasgow. We were all very dedicated. We used to fight and fall out, leave the band and come back in. But the core was always there, and it just developed from there.”

The four mates will be joined by Balaam And The Angel for the shows. Ticket go on sale 3 March 202 at 10 am.

The Almighty tour poster

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