Feb/March European Tour Dates

There has been a slight update to James' upcoming tour dates - please note the London show will not be at the Jazz Cafe. We are currently working on the situation & hope to have a new London venue to announce soon:

February 13
Feb 14 NANTES (44) - Pole Etudiant

Feb 15 CREIL (60) - Grange A Musique

Feb 16 VERDUN (55) - La Passerelle

Feb 20 RENNES (35) - Ubu

Feb 21 PARIS (75) - Silencio

Feb 22 PARIS (75) - Petit Bain

Feb 23 ANVERS (B) - Petrol

Feb 24 TOURNAI (B) - Water Moulin

Feb 25 LONDON (UK) - 

Feb 26 BRUXELLES (B) - Magasin 4

Feb 27 AMSTERDAM (NL) -OCCI

Feb 28 COLOGNE (D) - Gebaude9

March 13

March 01 STRASBOURG (67) - Laiterie

March 06 TOURS (37) - Temps Machine

March 07 LYON (69) - Sonic
March 08 CLERMONT FD (63) - La Coopérative de Mai

March 09 BORDEAUX (33) - I BOAT

Hello/Goodbye Contortions in February issue of Mojo Magazine!

James discusses the beginning & the end of the original Contortions in the Hello Goodbye column of the February 2013 issue of Mojo Magazine (Johnny Marr cover).

James Chance & The Contortions - Contort Yourself - Max's Kansas City (1980)

James Chance, Patrick Geoffries, Kristian Hoffman, Melvin Gibbs, Ronnie Burrage, Joe Bowie, Byron Bowie, Steven Kramer, & Bradley Field. Shot by Paul Tschinkel.

Solo Piano, 2000

James playing solo piano, circa 2000: Peggy's Blue Skylight, Just Friends, Blonde Lee, and Another Pompadour.

The Squat Theatre: Dec. 28-29, 1979

On December 28 & 29, 1979 (33 years ago!), James White & The Flaming Demonics made their their premiere performances at The Squat Theatre at 256 West 23rd Street. The photos in this post, including the astounding find of the Anya Philips guest list from the event, are courtesy of The Squat Theatre.

Besides the two night stand by James & his band, James & Anya had also programmed some dates leading up to the Flaming Demonics shows: "The Little Devils Club Presents a Week of Dance Party: After Hours Dance For Lost Souls," Dec. 24-27, 1979.

  

According to the Squat Theatre website: James previews his new band, which is essentially Defunkt with James as frontman. The only holdover from the old Contortions is Patrick Geoffries on guitar. The Defunkt lineup was augmented by Vernon Reid on guitar and John Purcell on saxophone. There would remain significant overlap between the membership of Defunkt and the Flaming Demonics/James White and the Blacks for the next few months, although eventually James established his own distinct rhythm section so that he could tour.