Doctors Of Madness

The Harveys

Presented by: Rain Soaked Productions

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0	MANCHESTER: The Castle
P	Friday 12th April, 2024
N	7:30pm

Event information

The Doctors of Madness are “the missing link between David Bowie and The Sex Pistols” (The Guardian May 2017).

Exploding onto the music scene in 1975 with their theatrical, William Burroughs-inspired Sci-fi nightmare, they were misunderstood by many, but those who knew understood the importance of the band’s dangerous, uncompromising approach to lyrics, to music and to performance.
The blue hair, exotic stage-names, the lyrical themes of urban decay, political propaganda, mind control and madness were all taken up by the punk bands who followed in their wake. Combining the avant-garde approach of The Velvet Underground with a distinctly European aesthetic the band counted among their fans members of The Damned, The Adverts, The Skids, Joy Division and Spiritualized. The Doctors may not have been Jesus Christ, but they were, arguably, John The Baptist!!!
They were trailblazers, pioneers, adventurers…pushing the boundaries of rock music and theatre to see how far it would go before it bust.
After producing 3 brilliant albums the Doctors called it a day and front man / lead singer and songwriter went on to have a successful and varied career as a solo artist; producer; actor and writer.
40 years after their initial split The Doctors Of Madness are back with a new album Dark Times and an incendiary energy and a passionate fury that would be the envy of many bands just starting out. Their songs are political, tender, and genuinely edgy, complex but forthright, melodic and epic, and their live shows have been critically acclaimed in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia and Japan.
Support is provided by Manchester's The Harveys. Known in a previous life as Harveys Rabbit when they did radio sessions for John Peel amongst others, toured with The Fall and had an underground hit with their version of Robert Forster's "Is This What You Call Change?" the band have now re-emerged as The Harveys. The band are known for their powerful live performances, and their strong songs. They have had a number of singles released and made available on Salford based German Shepherd records and are currently finishing off some new recordings, soon to be ready for release