The Mission Box

21/03/2024

20/03/2024

MWIS News!

It gives us huge pleasure to announce more Mission shows for the coming summer.
In addition to the previously announced North American i5/24 Tour we will be playing a short series of European shows in July and again in September entitled D-Tour 24. Tickets for the newly announced shows go on-sale tomorrow, Thursday 21st March, at 10am BST. Come back here then and we’ll have the ticket links for you, okay?

Wayne says: “I know, I know, we said we were gonna take some time off and that really was our intention but we were offered a few festivals and it would’ve been rude not to do ‘em.
And to make these work financially for us we needed to add some extra shows in and around ‘em. We DO like playing, just don’t like those long, gruelling tours anymore. Anyway, we’ve had some six months off now, how much more do we need? Alex has gotten married, I’ve been working on the Archèometre project with Cin, Simon has been worrying about his hearing, and Craig has been shovelling snow (no, that’s not a euphemism) and mowing his lawn (and neither is that). So we’re all itching to get back together to make that big ol’ glorious noise that we can sometimes conjure up. We are are looking to add a few songs or maybe even a new cover version to our already extensive repertoire for these upcoming shows. Any requests? Any suggestions? Let us know, eh. I’m sure you will. Ta-ta for now and hopefully see you soon!”

D-Tour 24
July
Weds 10: Belgium - Arlon Entrépot
Thurs 11: The Netherlands - Utrecht Tivoli Vredenburg Pandora
Fri 12: Germany - Cologne Live Music Hall
Sat 13: Germany - Berlin Metropol
Sun 14: Poland - Castle Party, Bolkow – ALREADY ON SALE (https://castleparty.com/tickets,bilety.html)

September
Thurs 19 – UK - Holmfirth - The Picturedrome
Fri 20 – UK - Holmfirth - The Picturedrome
Sat 21 – UK - Cambridge - The Junction
Mon 23 – France - Paris Petit Bain
Tues 24 – France - Toulouse Le Rex
Weds 25 - Spain - Barcelona Razzamatazz 2
Thurs 26 - Spain - Madrid Changó
Fri 27 – Spain - Murcia (Visor Festival) – ALREADY ON SALE (https://visorfest.compralaentrada.com/eventos/)
Sun 29 – Portugal - Lisboa LAV
Mon 30 – Portugal - Porto Hard Club
Tues 1 October - Spain - Bilbao Santana 27

01/01/2024

34 ans aujourd’hui ! Non pas pour moi mais pour ce titre iconique de The Mission. Sorti le 01/01/1990 il reste à ce jour le « meilleur » morceau du groupe. Bien que jugé trop pop par certains ce morceau tourne en boucle sur toutes les radios mondiales et est toujours présent lors de leurs concerts. Un morceau qui vous pénètre jusqu’au plus profond de votre être que peu d’artistes ont à leurs répertoire. Le statut « goth rock » du groupe a malheureusement laisser hors de son écoute le public mainstream mais la n’est pas l’important car aujourd’hui encore The Mission rassemble un public fidèle et rempli les salles all over the world. Un groupe avec une éthique et un sens du contact et d’amitié hors du commun, approchable et convivial. Alors merci, Wayne Hussey, Simon Hinkler, Graig Craig Adams et Alex Baum pour tout ces moments musicaux exceptionnels et ces contacts amicaux que 2024 soit encore une belle année pour vous et nous - Meilleurs Vœux

FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLYTHE IMAGES BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERSALL RIGHTS RESERVEDDASBUNKERLATINAMERICAhttp://www.dasbunkerlatinamerica.com/DASBUNKERRAD...

07/12/2023

We received a bit of a surprise recently when we were invited to join the line-up for 2024’s line-up at the Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, SoCal. How could we say no to join a line-up as stellar as this? Hello Cruel World! So we’ll see you May 11, 2024 at Brookside at the Rose Bowl. Register now for access to passes starting Fri, December 8 at noon PT at cruelworldfest.com.

Cruel World Festival
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Brookside at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA

https://cruelworldfest.com/ (for purchasing passes)
/st /actriz

09/11/2023

From Wayne: Yesterday I had the sincere pleasure while in Cordoba of meeting Jose Rodriquez, renowned luthier & master craftsman Spanish guitar maker. An absolute honour to see where and how he works. And of course I just had to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning a completely hand made Spanish classical guitar. It is a beauty, a work of art. It sounds & plays beautifully, and just playing it in our hotel room last night serenading Cinthya was inspirational. No doubt at some point you will be hearing this guitar on some new recordings, probably on a future Archèometre piece or two, and maybe even on other future musical projects…:)

15/10/2023

And so…..tonight it ends. In Brooklyn at Saint Vitus, perhaps the coziest venue on the whole tour. It promises to be hot & sweaty. And emotional. Doors at 6:30, TOH at 7:10, Chameleons 8:10, and us, The Mission at 9:20.
Despite it’s up & downs, trials & tribulations, the dreaded ‘tour cold’ sweeping through the entourage, this has been one of our favourite tours EVER! We have grown to genuinely love all members of both Chameleons & TOH AND every single member of our relentless, hard working crew - Joe, Christophe, Cesar, Charlie, & Liam, & Michael our bus driver. All have performed above & beyond, as have all 3 bands. And thanks Mark & Ceri while they’ve been around. And Tim at home in the UK keeping us organized and on track.
Thank you to Joady & Andrew, our agents at Rocky Road Touring, for putting the whole thing together.
But most of all, thank you to all of YOU that have come out to support all 3 bands over the last 6 weeks. Genuinely, thank you, you’ve been brilliant. We’d love to come back again sometime, perhaps not leaving it quite as long next time as you’ve had to wait for this one.
One more show tonight - it will be emotional - before we all make our way to separate destinations tomorrow.
Don’t forget though that we will be kicking off a handful of UK shows in just over a week’s time in Nottingham at Rock City for one last hurrah before this epic Deja Vu tour ends at the Roundhouse in London on Saturday 28th. Thank you all. Keep the faith.
With love & gratitude from Alex, Craig, Simon, & Wayne. X

14/10/2023

Just two weeks today at the legendary Roundhouse in London the final destination of the Deja Vu tour will be reached. This tour, which kicked off in Brighton in April 2022, has seen the band perform well over 120 shows in more than 30 different countries since then. And this show at the Roundhouse, London, will be The Mission's final show before the band take an extended break. It promises to be an emotional night.
And we have the added bonus of having our friends, Theatre of Hate, (who have been touring North America alongside Chameleons with us for the last 6 weeks) as well as the awesome IST IST in support.
You cannot miss this one. As the song lyric goes 'we may never know when the last kiss will come'. If you haven't yet gotten your tickets then get 'em soon as this show WILL be sold out.

13/10/2023

Well, NYC, that was fun last night, wasn’t it? Chaotic & messy but so much fun. We told you it would be, didn’t we?
Both Chameleons & Theatre of Hate joined us onstage last night for the encore. When we were in Detroit we played an Iggy & The Stooges song, in Canadá a Neil Young song, and last in NYC it just had to be Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground classic ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’, didn’t it? And then we followed with T. Rex’s ‘20th Century Boy’…….Mayhem but beautiful.
We’re just arriving now in Ardmore (near Philadelphia we believe), PA, for tonight’s show at the Ardmore Music Hall. Strangely, unlike the last 6 or 7 shows which have all been sold out this one isn’t quite yet, we’re told. So if you fancy it & don’t yet have a ticket get down early as there will be a few available on the door. Doors at 7, TOH at 7:40, Chameleons 8:40, & The Mission at 9:50. Don’t forget it’s Friday 13th so be careful out there.

13/10/2023

Another great show last night in Boston. Thanks for coming out and supporting us, Chameleons, & TOH. Just a shame that about 1/4 of the audience left before we hit the stage. We realize that they were probably Chameleons & TOH fans & it was pretty late by the time we hit the stage for a week night BUT you gotta stay to the end as we have something pretty special lined up for the end of our show tonight in NYC at Poisson Rouge. You won’t wanna miss it!
Doors at 6:30, TOH at 7:30, Chameleons 8:30, & The Mission at 9:40. Stay to the end tonight as you won’t regret it! It’ll be a blast!

12/10/2023

Two of the three bawlers (Kirk hasn’t arrived yet - he’s on his way) that will be appearing tonight in Boston, Mass., at Brighton Music Hall. Another sold out show with just 4 more to go after this one. It’ll be a sad day when this ends on Sunday in Brooklyn as it’s been a fantastic tour.
Doors tonight open at 7, TOH onstage at 7:40, Chameleons at 8:40, & The Mission at 9:50. Don’t be late, it’s well worth seeing all 3 bands!

11/10/2023

Just woke up on the bus in Boston. Back in the USA after two fantastic shows in Canada - Toronto on Sunday & Montreal last night, both sold out cracking shows with great audiences. Took awhile to get through the border last night but it feels good to wake up in Boston and see this outside the bus window! We’ll post stage times etc later as we don’t yet have that info. Now, to find some breakfast!
P.S. please be aware of online scammers that claim to have tickets available. There might be 1 or 2 that are genuine but most are scammers who don’t have tickets available but are just after your money. Please be careful.

10/10/2023

From Wayne: Happy 70th birthday to my occasional pal, Midge Ure. Midge has seemingly been around ever since I was buying my very own records & is one of those musicians whose craft & artistry has often gone under the radar & is not lauded & revered as he should be, certainly within the music media. My suspicion for that travesty of justice is because Midge is a maverick, and has been part of many successful & different projects, a musician who is consummate & versatile. For some reason music journos don’t seem to like artists that don’t stick to one ‘genre’. Midge also helped me out with the ReMission Intl. release of TOS2020 too so thanks for that. It’s hats off to Midge Ure day! Happy birthday.

10/10/2023

What a cracking night that was last night in Toronto! All 3 bands were superb as was the audience. Thanks to all that came out on a wet, cold & windy Sunday evening! We hope you thought it was worth it.
So, as The Mission alongside Chameleons & Theatre of Hate hit the home stretch of their North American tour - and what a tour it has been with just 6 more shows left to go starting with Montreal tomorrow - we thought it time to remind our people back in Europe (UK included whether they like it or not) not to forget that our Deja Vu Tour, which started back in April 2022 in Brighton, will be finishing up with a run of 5 shows in the UK which kicks off in two weeks time at one of our all time fave venues, Nottingham Rock City, on Tuesday 24th October with the fabulous IST IST supporting. There's still a few tickets left for this one. We gotta say that the band have really been on fire recently and it's well worth making the effort to see them one last time before they take an extended break. Grab your tickets before they all go.

08/10/2023

Last night’s show in Ferndale (Detroit) was a full on ‘rock’ set. (See set-list) Had to be in the Motor City from where Iggy & The Stooges & the Alice Cooper Band originally hailed. Jolly good fun, all witnessed by a sold out Magic Box audience. Hot, dripping with sweat! Poor ol’ Slink is under the weather (it’s his turn) but he’s s trooper & managed to carry off his soaring, savage solo’s. What a guitar player. During the night we crossed the border from USA into Canada and of course we all got woken up and instructed to exit the bus while they sent the dogs on. Twice. Both US & Canada did it to us. What do they think we are? A hard drinking, druggy rock band? Those days are long gone (says he as his nose grows ever longer…)
Tonight we’re in freezing cold Toronto at the sold out Danforth Hall. An earlier one today. Doors open at 6, TOH onstage at 7, Chameleons at 8, and us, The Mission at 9:10. Any requests? See youse later.

06/10/2023

04/10/2023

From Wayne: Sat in the hotel room this early morning waiting for my ride to Milwaukee to arrive. Andrew Harper, partnered by his wife Joady, are our agents, Rocky Road Touring, and by coincidence they live in Minneapolis where we had a r**t good evening last night at the PNA Hall. Our bus has still not caught up with us - it will apparently be there waiting for us tomorrow in Columbus (big collective cheer of relief). So Andrew has kindly offered to drive 3 of us - myself, Mark, & Craig - in his car to Milwaukee today, just a mear 6 hour drive. Bless him.
I’ll message again on arrival and let you know stage times etc for tonight at Turner Hall Ballroom.
In the mean time, here’s last night’s set list that poor ol’ Joe has to decipher each night before printing them out for the rest of the band……let’s see if you can guess what’s what, eh? Later…….x

02/10/2023

An update on our tour bus situation: Firstly, apologies again to our people in Kansas City last night that we couldn’t make it there. We hope we can make it back sometime in the not too distant future.
So, the bus is in the repair shop today in Denver. Meanwhile, a 12 seater mini-bus was procured yesterday along with a big van so we could transport all the equipment for all 3 bands. TOH were already traveling separately by car so it’s business as usual for them. The Mission & Chameleons and the crew were all traveling on the tour bus. Todd & Stephen from the Chams are driving the equipment van while the rest of our motley lot are in the mini bus being driven by Christophe. After the 20 minute drive from the truck stop to the hotel in Denver late yesterday afternoon, the two divas in our party, namely Wayne & Mark (singers, eh!), decided ‘bugger this for a lark, we’re flying to Minneapolis’ so they are already in town ready for tomorrow night’s show at the PNA Hall. The band minibus will be stopping overnight in Omaha while Todd & Stephen, bless ‘em, are planning to power on through to Minneapolis and arrive very late tonight.
After Minneapolis we will travel by the same vehicles to Milwaukee on Wednesday where we are hoping, praying, casting spells & voodoo chanting that our ‘fixed’ tour bus will be meeting us. So that’s it for the time being, this latest missive from the front line. We WILL see you tomorrow in Minneapolis and in Milwaukee on Wednesday and the tour will proceed as scheduled. Again, our apologies to all those that were planning to come to the Kansas City show last night, we’re very sorry that you didn’t get to see what has been such a great show thus far with all three bands in tip-top form.
Below is the Mission set-list from Denver.

01/10/2023

From Wayne: Thank you Salt Lake City for an overwhelming turnout and extending such a wonderful welcome last night. It was a goodie for sure. Sadly we had to say goodbye (for the time being only) to the Brit/Aussie contingent, however the locals were just as up for it last night which made a nice change. Thank you to all of you. Also got to see my niece Erica and her husband Jared after the show which was lovely.
And so, what is it that singers fear more than anything else while on tour? I’ll tell you: it’s the dreaded common cold. And I have it. I could feel it coming on yesterday, waking up with a sore throat, a slight headache and tingly skin. Bu**er. Well, I dosed up on (legal) drugs and with a croak or two here & there I got through the show & genuinely enjoyed it. Today I wake up on the bus and I feel as rough as hell. Unfortunately the ’cold’ is going through the bus, me & Christophe (sound engineer) being the latest victims. I’ll sleep some more, take some more drugs (from Walgreens) & I will give it my all. Will need the audience to help & sing-along tonight as I’m not sure I’ll be able to sing ALL the songs ALL the way through. We’ll have fun though, I’m sure. We’ll certainly give you all we have to give.
Today we are in Denver at The Oriental Theater. Doors open at 7pm, TOH onstage at 7:40, Chameleons at 8:40, and us, The Mission, at 9:50. See youse later.

29/09/2023

From Wayne: Hey ho, how’d d’ya go…..
Here we are in Ontario, OR, stopping off for a few hours so our bus driver can get some kip. There’s a Denny’s nearby where a fair few of our party grabbed some nosh. Others walked a bit further to Taco Bell. Living the dream. The hoity toity among us went to the supermarket & bought some sensible stuff like fruit & salad & cheese. It’s more difficult for me being a veggie & a veggie that doesn’t much like vegetables. I was once asked in an interview what my favourite food was & after some deliberation I answered ‘bread’. It was during the same interview I was asked what car I drove and my answer was ‘I dunno, a black one’.
Anyhow, I digress. The show in Seattle last night at El Corazon was a cracking one. Great audience, great fun. Thank you to all youse that came along to help make it so. That venue has been a music venue since 1910, apparently, and all the greats have played there. Including us…😎 I’m gonna put forth the theory that the stage lighting is probably the same light rig they originally installed in 1910. Ah, who needs a light show if you are really good? And all 3 bands last night put on a rousing show. Well, we enjoyed it, hope you did too. And it was good to see my old friend Dana Sims, who now owns the club. It’s always been good to see Dana - lovely man.
We’re on our way to Salt Lake City where, around this time tomorrow night I’ll be deciding which of my cool shirts I’ll be wearing on-stage. I think I may go pink tomorrow. Raised as a Mormon I remember the first time we played in SLC & on entering the stage I announced ‘so Utah, this is the Mormon state. Well, tonight, you’re gonna see this Mormon in a right ol’ state’. My comment barely raised a titter.
Anyway, times have changed & I’m sensible now. I live my rock ‘n roll hedonism vicariously these days through some of the others in our traveling entourage. Someone needs to fly the flag…….
We’ll let you know on the morrow stage times etc.
And soz for not posting set lists for the last 6 shows, I’d been a bit busy. They’re here now below. Anyway, it’s all getting a bit predictable now, isn’t it? We need to change it a bit for tomorrow…….any suggestions?
Right, I’m off to Denny’s for some nourishment before the bus departs at midnight……
Ah, we’re living the dream…..

26/09/2023

From Wayne: San Francisco - I love this city. Been out for a wander & to get me some breakfast. I can recommend Lori’s diner on the corner of Sutter & Powell. Top nosh. The 1st show at The Chapel in San Fran last night was sweaty fun with a nice bit of banter going on between us & certain members of the audience. We had a few technical issues going off onstage which we’ll try to rectify for tonight, our 2nd night at The Chapel. Again, sold out. We are, however, gonna swap things around a bit tonight by us playing a completely different set (there’ll be a couple of songs we played last night that we just have to play EVERY night - you know which ones they are) but the biggest change is that we’ll be going on stage 2nd tonight after the thundering Theatre of Hate with the brilliant Chameleons closing the show and playing a slightly longer set than they have been playing. We thought it only fair to give them the chance to play last and longer than us tonight as we are here for 2 nights & their audience is as zealous as ours. And I trust our people will stay and watch the whole of their show as they are really on top form.
So…. doors at 7, TOH at 8, The Mission at 9, with Chameleons finishing the evening starting at 10:10. It’ll be fun!

24/09/2023

What can we say about the Belasco in LA last night? Those who know us know we have history in LA; that it was never certain in the late 80s that we’d get out of the city intact, alive, or without one of us being incarcerated. Well, none of those shenanigans took place last night although there was certain members of our general party that partied perhaps a little too hard & may be still feeling the effects of it today. It was a great show, and in LA which is notoriously ‘cool’, with all 3 bands receiving rapturous welcomes and all playing stormers. Thank you to those that came to help make it such a memorable night. And thanks to Michael Ciravolo from Beauty in Chaos who joined us onstage for a rousing version of Tower of Strength. What a way to end the evening!
This bill is really good value for your money.
So it’s a shame if you’re in the San Francisco area over the next couple of days and think ‘ooh, I fancy a bit of that’ and didn’t already buy tickets for the two shows at The Chapel in the Mission (weird, that) area of the city as both shows, today & tomorrow, are sold out. Should be hot, sweaty fun.
Tonight’s schedule is doors open at 7, Theatre of Hate onstage at 8, followed by Chameleons at 9, while we, The Mission, finish off the evening starting at 10:10. We’ll see you lucky ticket holders later, okay?

23/09/2023

Hey now, hey now now, sing these songs back to me…..
Ah, Pomona last night! What a super hot night, so much so that Wayne’s shades were steaming up on stage……thanks to all that came and participated. So much of a Mission show is about the interaction, the rituals, the communion between the band & the audience. We don’t enjoy that same level of communion with most audiences thus far on this North American tour that we are blessed with in the rest of the world. There are always a few that make the valiant effort to sing-a-long but we find that most of the audiences kind of just stand & stare. So, we are hoping that tonight in LA you will sing, dance, move, stamp yer feet, scream, holler, heckle, we don’t mind, just be involved.
You have 3 bands to see, all of whom are playing like they’re top of the league. All worthy to be top of the league. Come, join in, show your appreciation by being a part of the party!
Tonight in LA at the wonderful Belasco, doors open at 7, Theatre of Hate onstage at 8, Chameleons at 9, and The Mission wind up the ceremonials starting at 10:10. Come and prove to us that the LA audience is the best in the US…..