News archive.

Jan 12, 2009German tour and London show cancelled

Wire are sorry to have to announce the cancellation of January's German tour and the preceding warm-up show at Cargo in London. This is due to a domestic accident suffered by bassist Graham Lewis. Graham says: "I've injured my left hand. My doctor has advised me that I will not have recovered sufficiently, in time to undertake the German tour. Therefore we (Wire) felt it best to cancel the tour as quickly as possible to minimise inconvenience. We are very sorry about this and hope to reschedule the German tour as soon as possible, and to be back performing at full strength by the end of February."

November 10, 2008Wire - Daytrotter session FREE DOWNLOAD

US hipster indie internet "radio station" Daytrotter has just uploaded a session from Wire. Recorded in their Rock Island studios the day after the final show of the recent US Tour (which was in fact the final show of 2008), the session finds the band "match fit" and presenting a 4 song selection from the 2008 set. The session can be downloaded for free by following this link.

October 28, 2008Order Object 47 on Vinyl

The vinyl version of Object 47 is now available for order in the pinkflag shop (click on "buy now" under the "Object 47" cover to be taken to the order page). This is being released in 2 flavours with the first version being a limited edition also containing a vinyl version of Read & Burn 03 (the EP that preceded "Object 47"). Both flavours are on heavy vinyl with an inner bag featuring full lyrics. We expect the limited edition version to sell out quickly...

PLEASE NOTE THAT AS OF 28Th OCTOBER 2008 WE HAVE NOW TAKEN STOCK OF THIS ITEM. ALL EXISTING PRE-ORDERS WILL BE DESPATCHED STARTING ON 29th OCTOBER.

October 15, 2008Vancouver Cancellation

Due to factors beyond the band's control the gig in Vancouver on October 16th 2008 has been CANCELLED.

September 01, 2008Manchester WIRE - BBC

Wire will be making a short trip to Manchester this week to appear in session on both Radio 2's Radcliffe & Maconie show (Monday, 1st Sept) AND Marc Riley's 6 Music show (Tuesday, 2nd Sept). Radcliffe & Maconie are on between 8.00 PM & 10.00 PM UK time & Marc Riley is on between 7.00 PM 9.00 PM. The sessions were in fact instigated by Marc Riley who downloaded "One Of Us" from this very site and started enthusiastically playing it on his 6 Music show.

August 20, 2008"One Of Us" Video

We have posted a video for "One of Us' on Wire's youtube page, it can also be found on the video page of this site. The video was shot in New York and London by Malka Spigel who incidentally also shot the video for In The Art of Stopping.

In further news, the North American tour listing is now complete with shows in LA and NYC (the latter being a free show to celebrate WFMU's birthday) now announced.

July 17, 2008Autumn Gigs

We are now unveiling our Autumn schedule (see gig listing) and while we can't pronounce it festival-free, it is more than likely that residents of North America, The UK, Holland and Belgium will be able to see the band in more intimate surroundings.

There also remain a couple of US shows that are not yet confirmed, so keep an eye out on the gig listinge for further additions. More European shows should also join the line-up.

July 07, 2008Object 47 released today

Today sees the release of Object 47, Wire's 11th studio album. Following on from the well-received Read & Burn 03, it stands as a confident statement of where Wire are in 2008.

The album can be ordered now from Pinkflag mail-order, and the Object 47 page is now live on the website, including all of the album's texts.

June 10, 2008Festival Wire

There are quite a lot of reports online concerning Wire's last two shows. We have been reliably informed that over the course of two weekends we played to 17,500 people! Some of them appear to have written about it and photographed it... Amongst the "official" reports are Prefix Mag, Village Voice, Stereogum, Brainwashed, Billboard and QRO Magazine.

There are also of course a ton of youtube clips some of which (for the NYC show) can be reached from here and others (for Serralves in Porto) connected to here. There is doubtless more than can be found by judicious searching. If you find something good why not post it to the forum.

April 21, 2008Object 47 cover and release date

As Wire gears up to its first live dates in a few years, Object 47 is also nearing release. A sneak preview of the album's cover, designed by Jon Wozencroft, can be seen to the right, and a provisional release date of July 7 has been set.

Object 47 will be on sale later this year, direct from Pinkflag Mail Order and via record stores worldwide. Sign up to the mailing list to keep track of the latest Wire news.

April 06, 2008New Wire album details: Object 47

Wire is proud to announce that it has completed work on its 11th studio album, continuing the momentum that began with the band's 2006 reactivation and Read & Burn 03. Dubbed 'Object 47' - 47 representing its position as the 47th release in the Wire discography - the album finds Wire utilising the core writing partnership responsible for Pink Flag, Colin Newman and Graham Lewis. The latest release is described by the band as having "tunes with zoom", and this is best illustrated by the melodic and textural development already suggested by elements of last year's Read & Burn 03.

The full track-listing for the album is: One Of Us; Circumspect; Mekon Headman; Perspex Icon; Four Long Years; Hard Currency; Patient Flees; Are You Ready?; All Fours.

Object 47 will be on sale later this year, direct from Pinkflag Mail Order and via record stores worldwide. A final release date will be announced shortly, and so sign up to the mailing list to be the first to find out when the album will surface.

April 06, 2008Live Wire

As regular visitors to pinkflag.com will no doubt have realised, Wire now has a list of upcoming gigs in Europe. Those so far announced are just the initial dates showcasing a rejuvenated Wire, with the band fired-up after its lengthy hiatus from touring. Expect more gigs during 2008 to be announced in the coming weeks, not only in Europe (including London), but also in the USA. Again, ensure you're signed up to the mailing list to be the first to hear about upcoming gigs.

One announcement we can make right away, however, is that due to Bruce Gilbert's resignation from the group in 2004, upcoming Wire gigs will have Margaret Fiedler McGinnis augmenting the band on rhythm guitar. Known for her work in Laika (masterminds of one of the best Wire covers to date, the Whore version of German Shepherds), her live credentials are further enhanced by her being a part of PJ Harvey's touring band earlier in the decade.

March 06, 2008More gigs added

Today we are announcing some more dates for the late April / early May period.

These are: Ekko, Utrecht, Netherlands (April 30), Hedon, Zwolle, Netherlands (May 02) and Futuresonic Festival, Manchester, UK (May 03)

February 26, 2008 New Wire album in 2008

Critical and personal reception to Read & Burn 03 has been excellent, and while we are, due to reasons of copyright, unable to share full reviews with you, we have instituted a 'quote generator', which throws up a fresh quote each time one refreshes the front page of pinkflag.com. We are also pleased to announce that Wire is, of course, now well advanced in recording and mixing its 11th (as yet untitled) album, due for release later this year.

February 26, 2008 Gigs in the offing!

After a considerable absence from the live scene (the last show was at Benecassim, Spain in 2004), Wire is set to announce dates for new live shows this year. As yet unconfirmed dates will include European festivals during the summer season and a trip to North America in the autumn.

At this time, we are able to confirm the following early show dates: Stuk, Leuven, Belgium (April 29), 4AD, Diksmuide, Belgium (May 01, as part of their 20th anniversary), Nuits Sonores Festival, Lyon, France (May 07); The Nuits Sonores Festival is one Wire played previously, in 2004.

January 24, 2008 Pinkflag contact form

The contact form on this site has been doing some odd things over the past couple of weeks. If you have used it to send a message to Wire and have not received a reply, please resend your message. Apologies for the inconvenience.

January 08, 2008 Wire reach 14 on CMJ 200

Over the back end of 2007 Read & Burn 03 has been steadfastly scaling the USA based CMJ college radio charts and on the reporting of the week of January 8th 2008 has reached no 14. The chart, which is based on the playlists of the many highly influential College Radio stations, such as WUMD & KFAI, tends normally towards releases from newer bands so it is doubly amazing that Wire can continue to do well in such company.

December 15, 2007 New Track added to Free Downloads

The 3 minute 17 second "radio" edit of 23 Years Too Late from Read & Burn 03 is now available in the listen section of this site. This area carries tasters from most pinkflag releases ans well as a few exclusive unreleased items and best of all, the downloads are all free...

November 07, 2007 Pinkflag Christmas offers

In the weeks running up to Christmas 2007 Posteverything are offering special Christmas deals on either WIRE: On The Box 1979, The Scottish Play: 2004 or 'Live At The Roxy 1977 / CBGB 1978'.

To find out more go to the WIRE: On The Box, Scottish Play and Live - Xmas combo page on Posteverything.com.

Read & Burn 03 is also available digitally now, exclusively from the same source.

October 23, 2007 Read & Burn 03 release date moved forward!

The UK release date of "Read & Burn 03" which had been conservatively set at 12th November, due to worries about stock availability has now been moved forward to November, 5th, 2007. Those who have pre-ordered through Posteverything should receive their copies on or before this date.

October 22, 2007 Read & Burn 03 is on its way & now available for pre-order!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, Read & Burn 03—the latest in Wire's series of 'research & development' vehicles—is finished, mastered, designed and in production for a November 5th UK release. Featuring four new tracks—23 Years Too Late/Our Time/No Warning Given/Desert Diving—and with a total running time of over 25 minutes, Read & Burn 03 is both a substantial chunk of audio and significant signposting in the third reactivation of Wire as a recording and live entity.

The EP is available for pre-order through Posteverything and, we would be happy if you spread the word that Wire is most definitely back! Please note: unlike previous Read & Burn releases, this item is intended as a complete standalone entity. None of the tracks will be included on the next full-length Wire album, so there are no excuses not to buy it!

October 21, 2007 Help promote Wire

In general, Pinkflag uses the same promotional tools as any label—press officers, mail-outs, etc.—but we often wonder if we're reaching the right people with such a scatter-gun approach. This is where you come in.: if you've ever opened your local paper and wondered why Wire never gets written about in the culture pages, you can help. Use our contact form to send us contact details (preferably email) of people who'd be likely to review a Wire release. If you're responsible for helping get some Wire press published, contact us and we'll give you the correct address to send a scan of a piece or a website link to; in return, we'll make available to you an exclusive download of a completely unreleased track!

September 12, 2007 CBGB's Wire photos on show in New York from the 19th

Eugene Merinov the photographer, who took photos of Wire at CBGB's in 1978 included in the gallery and who has been described as "the ultimate and sharpest visual recorder of the emerging & amazing post-punk scene" by Jack Rabid of Big Takeover, has a show of work entitled Press the Eject and Give Me the Film: The Photography of Eugene Merinov, 1977-1981 opening at Etheria in Manhattan on September 19th. The show runs until December 12th and also features images of, Bauhaus, Gang of Four, X, XTC, New Order, Monochrome Set, The Contortions, The Voidoids, Suicide, Pere Ubu, Lydia Lunch, Only Ones, Bush Tetras, the Ramones and many more. www.eugenemerinov.com

September 10, 2007 Graham Coxon performs Sand In My Joints at V Festival

Wire's favourite ex-Blur member Graham Coxon performed Sand In My Joints (originally on Chairs Missing) as an encore during his set at this year's V Festival. Footage has been posted on YouTube. While on the subject of YouTube, a video clip has been located with an impromptu although somewhat literal reading of Two People In a Room. It's, as you might imagine, two people, in a room...

September 3, 2007 Pinkflag.com relaunched!

After a period in the doldrums, Wire finally launch a brand-new expanded super version of pinkflag.com. We hope to make this version the best and most comprehensive resource for Wire fans possible! This version features brand new sections, including a gallery and a place to download MP3s from various Pinkflag releases, past present and future!

The site also carries a discography (each release has complete lyrics alongside), and a skeletal gigography. This section, we'd like to expand, so can you help? Were you at a Wire show at which you took pictures? Were you at one of the early shows marked with a question mark? Can you say for sure that a show thus marked did or didn't happen? Were you at a Wire show not mentioned? Or were you at a Wire show we weren't at? If the answer to any of the above is yes, we'd like to hear from you. Get in touch via the feedback form and help us make the site an even better resource for Wire fans.

Site design: www.snubcommunications.com.

August 8, 2007 Save water: shower with Wire!

Wilson Neate (who is currently engaged in the task of writing a book about Pink Flag for Continuum's 33 1/3 series) found, during his research, a BBC news story from last year about water shortages in Australia that contains a Wire mention. The article talks about singing short songs whilst showering in order to conserve water and, in a side-bar, lists Three Girl Rhumba as an example of something people might want to try. The BBC journalist obviously hadn't heard Field Day For The Sundays!

August 1, 2007 Digital availabilities

After a rather protracted period of R&D PostEverything has quietly launched its digital service in the last few days. Pinkflag releases may be found by going to www.posteverything.com/pinkflag or www.posteverything.com/wire.

The site has a lot of new features, most notably the radio (tip: log in to hear full-length clips) and, of course, plenty of releases by projects associated with Wire. However of most direct interest to Wire fans will be the fact that all the long out-of-print, early Pinkflag releases are now available in digital format. These include The Third Day, It's All In The Brochure, and Twelve Times You. Also, we are making available Wir's Vien, a CD originally released by Touch in 1997. This item will mark the first of our digital-only availabilities, something we will be exploring further in the fullness of time. All PostEverything digital files are LAME-encoded 320kbps DRM-free MP3s. Unfortunately, neither Pinkflag nor PostEverything currently have the rights to sell items originally on EMI or Mute, but we are working on possible solutions to this.

July 29, 2007 YouTube Wire: the 'alternative' videos

Alongside its MySpace Wire also has an official YouTube page, which is a little sparse as we only post videos we have rights to. However, YouTube has more to offer the interested Wire fan than excepts from On The Box tagged as 'rare punk video', or Mute-era videos recorded from MTV, because there is now a small industry of video 'interpretations' of Wire songs. By far the most popular title is Outdoor Miner of which there are three versions: one, two and three. Alongside are videos for Champs and the vaguely unsettling reading of Love Ain't Polite. However, the most fascinating must be the 1990 'disco' video for I Am The Fly, which manages to be lo-fi, funny, psychedelic and groovy all that the same time. Congrats to Gaz, Stu, Ian and Nay.

June 25, 2007 Wire gets 10000

That's 10000 friends, NOT years! In spite of the advanced years of Wire's members, its collective age doesn't yet add up to 10000, but today we reached 10000 MySpace friends.

8500 have been added since we 'liberated' the page in July 2006, and that's despite the fact we didn't put in any friend requests at all! Visit Wire's MySpace page.

March 25, 2007 Wire's Secret

Rather extraordinarily lingerie company Victoria's Secret launch a new television advertising campaign in the USA today for their Ipex bra sound-tracked by Wire's "I Don't Understand" (from Read & Burn 01). The advert will run for 1 week only in the USA.

March 7, 2007 Six-hour special on VPRO

Dutch national broadcaster VPRO will feature a three-hour special on Wire as part of their series on the 30th anniversary of punk. The show will be broadcast in two parts on the 5th and 8th of April. Immediately after broadcast, the shows will be available for on-demand streaming via www.concertzender.nl (April 8) and VPRO (April 5).

February 5, 2007 Wire in Rotterdam

Wire were in Rotterdam during the last week of January/first week of February recording at Frank Lievaart's Metropolis 22 studio. While no release formats or dates can be currently discussed, subscribers to the mailing list will be the first to hear about any results becoming available.

December 5, 2006 '70s Wire vinyl at PostEverything

The vinyl re-releases of the first three Wire albums—Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154—are now available by mail order at PostEverything. These remasters are on 180 gram vinyl, come in bags (with inner sleeves) that echo the mini-vinyls of the 1977-1979 box set and shout 'collectable'! PostEverything is offering the three together for a special price.

November 13, 2006 New '70s Wire release

The much awaited Live at The Roxy, London (1977)/Live at CBGB Theatre, New York (1978) album set is released today as a double CD, cunningly packaged to look like two separate albums in one pack. The album catches Wire live at two key moments in its history. The Roxy set documents Wire's debut as a four-piece at the punk club's 1977 'festival' over the nights of the 1st and 2nd of April; the CBGB Theatre set catches the band on its first and only '70s visit to the USA.

The timing of these releases, coming just after the sad closure of CBGB and just a few months ahead of the 30th anniversary of Wire's debut as a four-piece at the Roxy, was not a factor in their releases, but does provide a special context for these performances to reach a wider public.