THE JOHN OTWAY BAND TOUR - THE SET REMAINS THE SAME

Thirty years ago, four musicians joined John Otway to form a band. Otway had just had some success with his autobiography – Rock and Roll’s greatest Failure. The plan at the time was to rid their microstar of this title and to endow him with a degree of success. Over the subsequent years, in many ways, you could argue that this could be a project that had been achieved. The Otway Band went on to headline the Royal Albert Hall in 1998, appear on Top of the Pops with a Top Ten Hit Bunsen Burner in 2012 and become the first band since the Rolling Stones to record an album on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. However, his movie, Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure (voted the nation’s Second Favourite Movie of 2014 by Guardian readers and currently getting a large audience on Netflix), means that currently the label is firmly attached to his profile. In a brave attempt to move on, the Otway Band are embarking on a lengthy UK tour, The Set Remains the Same, with the material that has brought them those remarkable achievements over the past three decades. The chances of this working are not looking good, however. Otway has already made comments like: “Well, maybe we could put a couple of different songs into the show for a change.” The Otway Band John Otway – Vocals, Guitar, Theremin Richard Holgarth – Guitar Murray Torkildsen – Guitar Seymour – Bass Adam Batterbee – Drums The Otway Timeline 1977 With an audience of 5.5 million viewers, John attempts a daring leap on to his guitarist’s amplifier. He slips and crushes his testicles and finishes the song in agony – much to the nation’s amusement. This clip from the BBC programme The Old Grey Whistle Test still entertains and has had millions of views on YouTube. 1977 John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett’s TV appearance is rewarded by a hit record, Cor Baby That’s Really Free and an appearance on Top of the Pops. 1988 Many numerous and desperate attempts to have a follow-up and crack America do not work out well. Having cleverly worked out that he is responsible for his own downfall, Otway writes his autobiography Rock And Roll’s Greatest Failure. 1992 John teams up with four musicians from Harlow in Essex to form a band. 1993 The combination of John’s self-effacing humour and the fine musicianship of the band turns things around to such an extent that they sell out London’s Astoria theatre for John’s 2,000th gig. 1998 Things continue to go in the right direction for the Otway Band and they headline the Royal Albert Hall. 1999 To celebrate the millennium for Poetry Week, the BBC has a poll to find the nation’s favourite lyrics. John’s now avid fan base proves more resilient than Bob Dylan’s and the Otway Song Beware Of The Flowers (Cos I’m Sure They’re Going To Get You Yeh) is voted the UK’s seventh favourite. 2002 After 25 hit-less years, a campaign is launched for a long-awaited follow-up, Bunsen Burner, and John’s 50th birthday surprise – inspired by his daughter’s chemistry homework – is a Top Ten Hit record. And he is finally back on Top of the Pops. 2006 Fame once again goes to his head. After these successful campaigns, Otway feels that he is now in a position to hire his own 747 and fly around the world with 300 fans and play venues including Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall. He isn’t. 2008 The spectacular collapse of this Otway-like venture affords John the opportunity to write a sequel to his first autobiography, Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure – I Did It Otway. 2012 John continues to capitalise on this career disaster by making a movie about himself, also called Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure. 2013 After a premiere at Odeon Leicester Square, a launch at Cannes Film Festival and a UK run of 50 cinemas, Guardian readers (many of whom are Otway fans) vote this movie the second-best of the year – beaten only by Gravity. 2016 A successful crowdfunding campaign enables the Otway Band to travel to Montserrat and record the Montserrat album. 2022 A packed Shepherd’s Bush Empire hosts John Otway ’s 5,000th gig. 2023 The band fly out to Gibraltar to celebrate 30 years of the band who have managed to stay together that long without a line-up change. 2024 The band are about to embark on a nationwide tour, The Set Remains The Same. Tickets are £15 (£17 OTD, subject to numbers) and can be purchased via the ‘Get Tickets’ button or by text / call to the box office on 07770 636303. Can’t wait to have this legend back at the HUB… KEEPING IT LIVE!