Cabaret Voltaire

On May 13, 1975, one of the most exciting chapters in British music history began: Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder took to the stage of the Sheffield Students Union Refectory with their band Cabaret Voltaire. Named after the Zurich Cabaret Voltaire, founded in 1916 and considered the birthplace of Dadaism, it was clear from the outset that anything could happen with this band. For example, an eight-and-a-half-minute track called “The Dada Man,” which in the mid-70s was already making the sounds that would only be heard from Gameboys decades later. During their active phases from 1973 to 1994 and 2009 to 2021, they developed their very own sound between industrial, proto-punk, and electro. Later, in tracks such as “Just Fascination” and “Sensoria,” they even blended techno, goth, and pop.

In this, their 50th anniversary year, Cabaret Voltaire founding members Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder reunited—and announced a final farewell. This month, they will give a series of selected concerts in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Brighton—followed by more shows in the UK in 2026 and the “Final EU Tour,” which will also take them to Berlin's Betonhalle at silent green on June 2, 2026. Mallinder and Watson promise in advance that they will try to bring “the essence of Cabaret Voltaire” to the stage on this tour. The set list will “span from early experiments to the first releases on Rough Trade and Factory to the band's video label Doublevision and collaborations with renowned producers such as Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson.”

Stephen Mallinder explains: “The live set has been completely rebuilt, but remains faithful to the original tracks. Everything has been carefully reconstructed using the original technology and processes to preserve the tracks. But as with all our live shows, there is an element of the unpredictable, of the new. Chance meets causality.”