Interview by: Mark Lacey
With The Almighty’s second round of re-union shows set to take place across the UK in November, the band recently convened at Gibson Guitars’ iconic London showroom on a bright sunny Autumn afternoon to play in front of a small invited crowd. It’s been a long time since Ricky Warwick, Floyd London, Tantrum and Stumpy Monroe have performed the songs acoustically together – and this unique performance, saw the band travelling from as far afield as L.A, Glasgow, and Oxford, Ohio.
After their set, the band sat down to share their thoughts on the re-union, their plans for the tour, and muse at what might happen next.
MGM: That was a special performance. It’s quite unusual to see The Almighty playing acoustic, and it’s been a long time since the last one.
Stumpy: We have not played Acoustic together for easily 25 years, and we didn’t actually rehearse. Possibly we should have done.
MGM: You guys came together for your re-union announcement at the Karma Sanctum in Soho last year. It was billed as ‘Never Say Never’, and announced a one-off, three date tour in 2023. Those shows went so well, and it’s obviously now it’s extended into so much more. Did you always expect it to extend beyond those three shows?
Stumpy: Not initially, we didn’t. It was just those three shows. We didn’t know how it was going to go. Then when Glasgow sold out so quickly and London sold out so quickly, it makes you think. We honestly quite enjoyed it all; getting back together in the rehearsals. We enjoyed the shows. Then when the promoter suggested we do another three a year later, we’re like, why not?
MGM: What’s been the biggest surprise for you guys, getting back together?
Floyd: There was one comment that we were just as good or the same as we were 30 years ago, and you could shut your eyes and you’d be sent back in time. So …. the ability to play!!
MGM: At the point of that press launch, you hadn’t played together at all. It was a risk that you’d still be able to perform at the highest level. And with the intensity of the drum parts, Stumpy probably had the toughest job of all to re-learn the material.
Stumpy: I hadn’t played at all for 15 years. I hadn’t lifted a stick. It wasn’t easy. But at that point we hadn’t rehearsed at all, and we didn’t rehearse at all until five days before we did the shows. We were all rehearsing at home, doing online stuff and things like that. Floyd came over to my house a couple of times. But the four of us together didn’t happen until the week before the shows.
Floyd: I don’t think we really were a band that rehearsed much in the first place anyway. We’d hire a studio. We make a good effort, but then we’d turn up and we’d go, OK, it’s lunchtime; let’s go get some lunch. Then we’d come back and make some noise. Then we’d go off, jump in the van and drive five hours for a laugh.
Stumpy: Anything but rehearse!
MGM: For Ricky, Floyd and Stumpy, it’s been 15 years or so since you last toured, including an emotional show at London’s Astoria. But for Tantrum, it’s been much longer; almost 30 years.
Tantrum: Over 30 years. 31 years, I think. And I hadn’t played the guitar for a long time.
MGM: How did it feel coming back together? It must have felt quite strange after so long.
Stumpy: To play together was actually very natural.
Tantrum: The first time we were actually together was the photo session in December 2022, and then the launch day in February 2023.
Stumpy: It’s like Oasis, we just get together for photo sessions!
Ricky: I just remember when we walked into Glasgow, we started with ‘Power’ and it was just like 30 years had never happened. We played it right through flawlessly from the start. I think we’ve got that West of Scotland mentality where we don’t give each other a pat on the back very often because we just don’t need to. If something’s right, it’s right. As Andy (Tantrum) said, we walked in the room and plugged in, went 1-2-3-4, and we were off.
MGM: The camaraderie between the four of you on the stage is clear to see, and there’s a lot of mutual respect and mutual love there. During the Gibson showroom performance, Ricky talked about rehearsing in a barn in your early days. Those experiences shape you for life, don’t they?
Ricky: It’s all true. Obviously, myself, Stumpy and Floyd …. I’ve known those guys since 1980. That’s 44 years. Then Andy came into the band in 1988. That’s a long time to be with somebody.
Stumpy: Somebody? Anybody! Double murder … you get less for that.
MGM: The Almighty played those three shows at the end of last year, and hopefully, it wasn’t a surprise for you that they sold out as quickly as they did.
Stumpy: I personally was surprised. I don’t know about anybody else. Of course, when you haven’t done it for so long, there’s that worry about who still remembers or cares. It was a very pleasant surprise.
MGM: You’ve been welcome back, and I think that’s because of the strength of songs like ‘Wild and Wonderful’, ‘Devil’s Toy’, ‘Free and Easy’ and many others. Why do you think that rock music, and your particular brand of rock music gets that reaction?
Ricky: I think there’s nobody like the Almighty. There’s nobody who sounds like us or has the vibe that we have, with the iconic logo that we have. There’s just nobody that sounds like us. I just feel that right now that’s more relevant than ever because rock music seems to be very formulated at the minute. When you turn on the radio, it’s all the same production in a lot of the songs. There’s nothing really that’s rebellious or jumping out at you. So, a bunch of old farts like us can still get together and play songs. The song’s meant a lot to a lot of people. You can see that just by today. They resonated with people and they still resonate with people. I think that’s a testimony to the band.
Floyd: And to Ricky’s songwriting as well, because you could strip apart any of the songs, play them on an acoustic, and they would sound great.
MGM: The re-union continues, and you’re about to play three more shows. But you’ve not only announced three shows for 2024, you’ve also announced three further shows for 2025, which is unusual. You’ve opted for venues across the country, like Wolverhampton, Cambridge, and Portsmouth next year.
Ricky: We wanted to play different venues, with different vibes. Obviously, Glasgow is a constant. It really looks like we’re doing Glasgow on St. Andrews Day. Glasgow is already sold out for this year, which is brilliant. The other two are doing really well.
Stumpy: There’s places we always used to enjoy playing. We always had good shows in Wolverhampton, and Nottingham Rock City, Glasgow Barrowands. They’re places we really enjoyed playing. Cambridge Corn Exchange as well. We had some great shows in there in ’92 and ‘94. Loads of good shows.
MGM: Fans will be pleased to see that you’ve decided to finish the shows in Glasgow this time because last time around it was the first show of the tour.
Stumpy: It’s St Andrew’s Day. That’s the reason.
Ricky: I think me and Stumpy must have walked about eight miles before the show last time, pacing. We kept passing each other outside the dressing room, just pacing and just going, “What the fuck! Why are we doing this? Why did we talk ourselves into this?” And then the minute the lights went down, and you head the crowd, it was OK.
MGM: You’ve now set a trend for the Almighty’s pre-Christmas tour every year. You’ve also just done this great festival in the summer. Do you think there’s room for the Almighty to play more than just a handful of shows a year? Have you discussed that as a group yet?
Floyd: It’s organic growth. If the need is there and if we’re selling out and it makes sense to try and look at it in a different way? Maybe. I don’t know. But at the moment, the three gigs are fulfilling the ask.
Stumpy: Everyone’s got different things going on, as we have done for the last 20 odd years. Doing a UK tour spread over three years is quite a good option for us because we can still carry on doing the other things that we do. Then jump back into the band now and again.
MGM: The inevitable question is whether there’s an appetite for you to write more music together, or whether it’s enough for you to just support the legacy of those great songs with a greatest hits tour ever year?
Stumpy: Who’s to know what will happen? The last time we were in the rehearsal room, we spent the time getting songs ready to play live. The more often we’re in the rehearsal room, then organically, things are more likely to happen.
Floyd: The reformation is fairly new at this stage, and it would be good for any songwriting not to be on a schedule. If it just happened naturally, then it’ll be a better song, maybe.
Ricky: I think a lot of people write remotely now, and they send the files backwards and forwards, and that’s OK. But I think we’re the kind of band that works better when we’re in the room, we’re jamming on the riff together. The way we used to.
Floyd: We were jamming today.
Ricky: Yeah, just playing an A-cord for about three minutes, ha ha!!
The Almighty will be playing shows in November 2024, and November 2025:
28th November 2024: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
29th November 2024: KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
30th November 2024: Barrowlands, Glasgow
28th November 2025: Guildhall, Portsmouth
29th November 2025: Rock City, Nottingham
30th November 2025: Barrowlands, Glasgow
For more information:
www.thealmightyofficial.com
www.facebook.com/thealmightyofficial
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