MOTT THE HOOPLE ’74: ONE OF BRITAIN’S GREATEST BANDS ANNOUNCES FIRST U.S. TOUR IN 45 YEARS

by | Jan 22, 2019 | New Releases, News

This April, Mott The Hoople ’74 will tour the U.S. for the first time in 45 years. The tour, featuring core ‘74 members Ian Hunter, Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher, celebrates the 45th anniversary of their famous 1974 U.S. tour, as well as the original release of The Hoople and Live, the final albums of the classic Mott The Hoople era. The eight-date run of theatre performances begins April 1 and concludes at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on April 10. Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 25. 

Mott The Hoople ’74 is Ian Hunter (vocals and guitar), Ariel Bender (guitar) and Morgan Fisher (keyboards) joined by James Mastro (guitar, saxophone, mandolin), Steve Holley (drums, backing vocals), Mark Bosch (guitar), Paul Page (bass) and Dennis Dibrizzi (keyboards, backing vocals).

In 1974, the last time Mott The Hoople performed in the U.S., they played theatres and arenas across the country in support of The Hoople, an album that features Mott classics like “The Golden Age of Rock n’ Roll” and “Roll Away The Stone,” both Top 20 hits in the UK. The groundbreaking band, with Top 15 UK singles “All the Way From Memphis” and “Honaloochie Boogie” and whose big US hit was the Bowie-penned “All the Young Dudes,” became the first rock group to play on Broadway in NYC, with a sold-out week at Uris Theatre. They recorded a set at the Uris, too, which yielded their Live album. At the height of their popularity, they brought along their protégés, Queen, to make their U.S. debut. This was also the year that front man Ian Hunter published ‘Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,’ his 1974 tour memoir that Q Magazine has called, “the greatest music book ever written.” 

In this pivotal year, Mott The Hoople established themselves as one of rock’s most beloved bands. Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen both credit them and the ’74 tour for helping inspire Queen’s theatrical stage show. A young Aerosmith earned national exposure when they opened a handful of shows on the ’74 tour as well. The Clash, Cheap Trick, Kiss, Def Leppard, Primal Scream and more have championed Mott’s genre-bending transformation of rock. Writing for Creem Magazine, Lester Bangs called another of the group’s albums, 1973’s Mott, “an unqualified rock ‘n’ roll masterpiece,” and Rolling Stone around this time called them “the most productive band of the last three years, with only the Rolling Stones…in the same category.” 

Mott The Hoople recently reunited in Summer 2018 to headline the Ramblin’ Man Fair in the U.K. In its five-star review of their set, Classic Rock magazine cited “Sweet Jane,” “Honaloochie Boogie” and their epic encore of “Saturday Gigs” as monumental moments: “Mott the Hoople are simply brilliant. Their energy, passion and obvious skills are a joy to behold…a band at the top of their game.”

Mott The Hoople ’74 U.S. Tour dates – tickets on sale at these links Friday, January 25

Mott The Hoople have also announced a UK tour for April 2019.

Mott The Hoople Class of ‘74
with support from Tax The Heat

Mott The Hoople have announced a UK tour for April 2019. With a set based around the 1974 albums The Hoople and Live, plus the non-album greatest hits, ladies and gentle-men, please welcome the “Golden Age Of Rock ’n’ Roll”, as Ian Hunter, Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher, regroup once more for seven shows across the UK.  

From 1969 to 1973, Mott The Hoople were a two-headed beast, with songwriting duties split between Ian Hunter and Mick Ralphs, as well as the odd notable exception from Verden Allen. By the end of 1973, Mick and Verden had both left the band to see what else was out there for them. This left Ian Hunter as the sole songwriter, with the notable exception of Overend Watts fan favourite, ‘Born Late ’58’.

With Hunter now given free reign, 1974’s “The Hoople” explored ideas and concepts that are now widely credited as having influenced everyone from the punk movement to Queen, with the latter supporting the band and cited by Brian May as the only band that Queen ever supported. 1974 was also arguably Mott’s most intensely creative period with the studio album, four hit singles – ‘Roll Away The Stone’, ‘The Golden Age Of Rock ’n’ Roll’, ‘Foxy Foxy’ and ‘Saturday Gigs’ – plus a live album, half of which was tak-en from their week long stint at the Uris Theatre, Broadway.

The live album highlighted the talents of Mick and Verden’s replacements – Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher respectively, who breathed new life into classics and crowd favorites alike, ‘All The Young Dudes’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’, ‘Honaloochie Boogie’, ‘Rose’, ‘Rest In Peace’ and ‘Walking With A Mountain’ forming the core of the live al-bum.

In 2009 and 2013, the 1969 / 1973 line up completed two highly successful reunion tours. At the time, many fans asked whether it would ever be possible to see the “Class Of ’74” – Ian Hunter, Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher – back together again. 

As it would have been impossible to try and replace Mott’s rhythm section, Overend Watts and Dale “Buffin” Griffin, who are both now sadly deceased and with Mick Ralphs having suffered health issues which would preclude him appearing, the time seemed right to try something a little different. 

In 2018, the trio of Hunter, Bender and Fisher, augmented by Ian’s long-term backing band, The Rant Band, played three festivals, their first live shows since 2013. It’s fair to say that the festival performances took people by surprise, the band showing a renewed energy and spirit and the press claiming their songs to be “the soundtrack to a genera-tion” and still sounding “as fresh as they did back in the day” , whilst describing Ian Hunter as “the epitome of rock and roll cool, and one of the great singer-songwriters of our time.” (National Rock Review, 2018) 

Tickets for Mott The Hoople’s shows go on sale Friday 16 November at 10am.

Full tour dates – Mott The Hoople Class of ‘74

APRIL 2019

Friday 19 – Academy, MANCHESTER
Saturday 20 – Barrowland Ballroom, GLASGOW
Sunday 21 – Symphony Hall, BIRMINGHAM
Monday 23 – Sage, GATESHEAD
Friday 26 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, LONDON
Saturday 27 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, LONDON

Official website
https://mottthehoople.com/classof74/