+ The Godfathers

Please note this show has moved from Fri 27th Nov to Fri 16th April. This bill no longer features The Beat. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Refunds are available up to 24 hours before rescheduled date from point of sale.

Alternative rock band The Alarm emerged from their native north Wales in the late seventies.

The band moved from Rhyl to London, and recorded 2,000 copies of their debut single Unsafe Building/Up For Murder. They developed their unique brand of predominantly acoustic, politically-minded anthems, and their recognisable fashion sense. The following year they signed a deal with IRS, and were offered the support slot on U2's War tour in America. U2 would continue to be a great influence on The Alarm in the years to come.

After headline tours in both Britain and America, the band recorded their first album Declaration in late 1983. The stand-out track was Sixty Eight Guns, a tale written by frontman Mike Peters about growing up in North Wales at the end of the 1960s. It was the band's first hit, reaching number 17 in the UK in September 1984, and was followed by Declaration early the next year.

For the follow-up album, Strength, they left behind the acoustic punk of Declaration and tried their hands at bombastic rock. It was a winning formula, particularly on songs like Spirit Of '76, an update of their first hit.

In 1987 they began work on the Eye of a Hurricane album, which was mainly acoustic sounding. After the album’s release and tour, The Alarm returned with a collection of new songs inspired by Wales. Producer Tony Visconti teamed up with the band to work on the next album Change. Change saw The Alarm go back to basics, rediscovering the true values of rock ‘n’ roll. It also spawned the group’s biggest modern rock hit in America, ‘Sold Me Down The River’.

After the release of their final album Raw in 1991, despite their success and relative longevity, Peters announced that he was leaving the band. This came as much of a shock to both his colleagues and fans and following the announcement Peters signed his legal right to one quarter of The Alarm name and logo over to the other three. Peters and Sharp both embarked on solo careers.

In 2000 The Alarm released a complete collection covering all recorded material by the band. It also included sleeve notes where all four members had contributed. This was the first project where all four original members had contributed since they split in 1991. To promote the box set Peters embarked on the Mike Peters Alarm 2001 tour, with the line up consisting of guitarist James Stevenson, bassist Craig Adams and drummer Steve Grantley. In 2004 this new line up of The Alarm released the album In The Poppy Fields.

The original members of The Alarm appeared together for a one off show on the VH1 TV show Band’s Reunited, in 2005.

2006 saw Mike Peters’ new version of The Alarm release their second studio album Under Attack, mostly about Mike’s battle with leukemia. It spawned another top 30 hit in the UK with the track ‘Superchannel’. A third studio album was released in 2008 entitled Guerilla Tactics.

The new Alarm tours constantly and appears to have been endorsed by all three other original members – all of whom have joined the band on stage at various shows over the past few years.