Credit Dean Chalkley
September 2022 – Suede have announced headline UK tour dates for March 2023, performing classics, hits and tracks from their forthcoming album, Autofiction, due for release September 16. The tour begins at Bath’s Forum on March 3 and closes at O2 Academy Brixton on March 25, 30 years after Suede made their iconic debut performance at the London venue in May 1993.
Those who have preordered Autofiction from the band’s official store can access a ticket presale, beginning at 09:00am on Wednesday 14 September, before tickets are on general sale from 09:00am, Friday 16 September. Full dates and information is listed HERE.
The news follows a pair of secret shows Suede performed under the guise of Crushed Kid – an idea that saw Suede taking the ‘back to basics’ nature of Autofiction to the extreme by playing live under a fake name. After sparking rumours following a week of mysterious online activity, including releasing new music under the moniker, Crushed Kid made their debut performance at London’s 300 capacity MOTH Club, followed by a set at Manchester’s Deaf Institute. Fans were treated to a high-energy surprise preview of Suede’s ninth studio album in its entirety. No encore, no greatest hits. The set saw The Telegraph champion Suede “a band reborn” whilst the Evening Standard confirmed, “like all the best new bands, Crushed Kid left us wanting more”, The Guardian praised “a euphoric return”, and CLASH heralded the set an “unrelenting display of where Suede stand in 2022”.
“Autofiction is our punk record,” Brett Anderson says. “No whistles and bells. Just the five of us in a room with all the glitches and fuck-ups revealed; the band themselves exposed in all their primal mess.”
Their aim was to create an album capturing the power and energy that exists between Suede and their audience at gigs. A theme that’s resonated since the day they announced the album, debuting bold opener ‘She Still Leads Me On’ live on stage at a surprise performance in Brussels that was live streamed for fans.
Autofiction also includes ‘That Boy On The Stage’ and ‘15 Again’. Mainstays on the BBC 6 Music and Radio 2 playlists, the tracks have seen Autofiction tipped as “a superb new album” by The Times and “their best album in decades” by Uncut. DIY Magazine described Suede “fiercely in motion” and MOJO praised Autofiction “so moving, the punk ferocity protecting a deeply vulnerable core”.
Suede recently released a companion piece to the new album with their first short film production, Autofiction: A Short Film. Directed by Katie Lambert (MrMr Films) and created in collaboration with Suede, the production was described as “essential and immediate” by AnOther Magazine, and explores the complexities of memory, the perceived truth, communication and anxiety in human relationships. Themes at the core of Suede’s new album, which, as its title suggests, is one of Brett Anderson’s most personal records yet.
“Autofiction has a natural freshness, it’s where we want to be,” Anderson says. And where Suede want to be is, in a way, the same place as they were when they began 30 years ago – a group of people living off the raw sensation of creating music together in a room.
In a move that recalled their most formative years, the writing process saw Suede becoming like a new band again – lugging their own gear to a Kings Cross rehearsal space, collecting a key, setting up, and starting to play. Later recording live at Konk studios in North London, Suede teamed with long-time collaborator Ed Buller. Ed first worked with the band producing their debut single ‘The Drowners’, which sees its 30th anniversary this year.
Ahead of their March 2023 headline tour, Suede will perform Autofiction at a series of very special shows through September and October 2022. A rare chance to see the band live in some of the UK and Europe’s most intimate venues – including two nights at London’s Electric Ballroom which sold out in twenty seconds. Suede will also perform at a series of in-store concerts and signing appearances at UK record shops in September.
March 2023 UK Headline Tour
3 The Forum, Bath
4 UEA, Norwich
6 G Live, Guildford
7 Corn Exchange, Cambridge
9 Albert Hall, Manchester
10 Rock City, Nottingham
11 O2 Academy, Sheffield
13 Music Hall, Aberdeen
14 O2 Academy, Glasgow
15 Barbican, York
17 O2 City Hall, Newcastle
18 Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool
20 Dome, Brighton
21 Symphony Hall, Birmingham
22 St David’s Hall, Cardiff
24 O2 Guildhall, Southampton
25 O2 Academy Brixton, London
September 2022 UK Record Shop Tour
15 Banquet Records, Kingston (live performance) SOLD OUT
16 Rough Trade East, Shoreditch (live performance) SOLD OUT
17 Crash Records/Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (live performance) SOLD OUT
18 Rough Trade / Fleece, Bristol (live performance) SOLD OUT
19 HMV, Liverpool (signing and Q&A) SOLD OUT
19 HMV, Manchester (signing) SOLD OUT
20 Bear Tree Records, Sheffield (signing) SOLD OUT
20 Rough Trade, Nottingham (signing) SOLD OUT
