Cabaret Voltaire: Manchester for the last time.

Cabaret Voltaire play Albert Hall on Monday 19 October, their final Manchester date. It's a bit of a milestone for the Sheffield electronic pioneers, who've been around since the early seventies. They're fronted by original members Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder, with Elizabeth Bernholz, who records as Gazelle Twin, as special guest.

To understand why this one carries some weight, it helps to know where they started. Back in the early seventies, they set out to make 'music without musical instruments', working with tape loops and custom-built oscillators. They released on Rough Trade and kept close ties with Factory Records, putting out Yashar on the label in 1983. Their history with Manchester runs deep: they played The Factory in Hulme in 1978, Heaton Park's Cities in the Park in 1991, and the Hacienda four times between 1982 and 1990. After twenty years of dormancy, Richard H. Kirk revived the project in 2014, producing acclaimed releases like Shadow of Fear, BN9Drone and Dekadrone before he died in autumn 2021. Mallinder and Watson are touring in his name, and they've made it clear there are no new recordings planned under the band's name. 2025 marked their 50th anniversary, so this is the closing chapter for them here.

As for the show itself, they're not just plugging in a laptop and hitting play. The live set is built from scratch, reconstructed using the original technology and processes, with an added element of unpredictability they've built into the performance. It's a return to the way they worked in the beginning, rather than a trip through the hits. Gazelle Twin opens the night, so you'll get her set before the main act takes over. The whole thing runs from 7pm to 11pm, and tickets start from £35.