The The Tickets

The The tickets: group to play first live dates in 16 years

Centreing around the creative efforts of prolific and mercurial singer-songwriter Matt Johnson, The The's eclectic back catalogue enjoyed both critical and commercial success during the final two decades of the 20th century. Despite the group's constantly revolving line-up (which has included the likes of Johnny Marr, Eric Schermerhorn and Brian MacLeod), The The scored two Top Ten albums Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993), while their most successful record Infected (1986) spent 30 weeks on the chart.

The The released their latest album of original material – NakedSelf in 2000 – and last performed live at a show on London's Southbank in 2002, as part of David Bowie's curation of the Meltdown festival. However, after re-emerging with a brand new 7" record titled "We Can't Stop What's Coming" with Johnny Marr in 2017, Matt Johnson delighted fans by announcing that The The will return to the stage in June 2018 for shows at The Royal Albert Hall, O2's Brixton Academy and The Troxy.  

What's more, the touring announcement was joined by news that The The plan to release a new triple vinyl limited edition box set Radio Cineola: Trilogy in 2018. Buy The The tickets now at StubHub to see the band's latest incarnation live. 

The The: Matt Johnson announces comeback

Originally consisting of Matt Johnson on vocals, guitar and piano and Keith Laws on synthesiser and tapes, it was the latter who coined the name 'The The'. The duo performed live and released debut single "Controversial Subject"/"Black and White" in 1980, before Johnson seized control of the creative process and was left as the sole member a year later. 

Spending the following years collaborating with a range of artists (such as Marc Almond and Jools Holland) and changing personnel from project to project, The The released their official debut album Soul Mining to critical acclaim in 1983. Johnson was still The The's sole member for the 1986 album Infected, which spawned four UK chart singles and would go on to become his most successful work. 

By 1988, The The consisted of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, ex-Nick Lowe bassist James Eller and ex-ABC drummer David Palmer with their album Mind Bomb debuting at number four in the UK Albums Chart. Keyboardist D.C. Collard was then added to the official line-up in 1989, before the band embarked on the The The Versus The World tour in 1989/90. In 1993, the five-piece released the album Dusk, which peaked at number two in the UK and spawned UK Top 40 singles ("Dogs of Lust", "Love Is Stronger Than Death" and "Slow Emotion Replay") before Marr, Eller and eventually Collard left the group after another world tour. 

After a quiet two decades, Johnson will step back into the spotlight in 2018, with The The tickets available now at StubHub. 

Similar artists to The The

After purchasing The The tickets at StubHub UK, why not check out some more great bands in 2018? Soft Cell have announced that they'll play one final gig before retiring later this year, while The Human League always put on a great show.