MARTIN McALOON from PREFAB SPROUT Extra Night

Due to amazing demand a 2nd night has been added for

MARTIN McALOON from PREFAB SPROUT

Two Wheels Good Tour

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Prefab Sprout's seminal album Steve McQueen, founding member Martin McAloon will be touring the whole album in 2025.

"I can't wait to take the full album out on the road, there's still a lot of love for those songs - that's the triumph of Steve McQueen".

Known as Two Wheels Good in the USA the album includes the hits; When Love Breaks Down, Faron Young, Appetite, Johnny, Johnny & Moving the River.

Steve McQueen went on to sell millions of records worldwide and was included in the NME's 100 greatest albums of all time.

He will also be playing other hits from across his brother Paddy's catalogue of exceptional songs.

-------

Prefab Sprout rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they released their debut album Swoon to critical acclaim in 1984. Their subsequent albums, including 1985's Steve McQueen and 1990's Jordan: The Comeback, have been described by Paul Lester of The Guardian as "some of the most beautiful and intelligent records of their era". Frontman Paddy McAloon is regarded as one of the great songwriters of his time and the band have been credited with producing some of the "most beloved" pop music of the 1980s and 1990s.

Nine of their albums reached the top 40 on the UK Albums Chart and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The band's other popular songs include "When Love Breaks Down" and "Cars and Girls".

----

Recent live review

From playing bass guitar in much-love art-rock band, Prefab Sprout, Martin McAloon has stepped forward to centre stage. He has swapped four strings for six to breathe new life into the best of the Durham act's material...

There's a very good reason some of the nation's major players have located their call centres in the North East. When you ring up in a fury because your broadband has been disconnected or you're frustrated at your lacklustre mobile phone deal, hearing the lilting sing-song tones of a genial Geordie on the other end of the line seems to have some kind of Jedi mind trick-like pacifying qualities.

Now 62, and a longstanding Newcastle native, Martin McAloon is also in possession of this type of winning repartée which soothes and calms. The bass-player in much-cherished 1980s art-rock outfit, Prefab Sprout, McAloon has pushed himself front and centre to take the songs penned by his brother, Paddy, out on the road.

Performing over two sets with five classics guitars and a couple of amps for company, McAloon kicks off with Moving The River from the trio's acclaimed Steve McQueen LP before swiftly slipping into the textured Looking For Atlantis followed by a request from a rowdy bloke in the first rows, the layered Technique, from the album Swoon.

A great anecdote about taking Martha Reeves home after finding her in a Newcastle pub nursing a Guinness causes much mirth before McAloon rounds off the first set with a stripped back version of the epic, When Love Breaks Down.

The second half sees Electric Cars flow into I Remember That and Nancy (Let Your Hair Down For Me) before McAloon leaves on a high with a quirky T-Rex-inspired rendition of The King of Rock 'n' Roll then Cars and Girls.

As he sweetly quipped mid-set, "My brother sure knew how to write".

Martin McAloon performed at Metronome on 7th November 2024.