Gigography

The Gigography for The Stranglers and Hugh Cornwell

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Hugh Cornwell

A gig-by-gig archive of Hugh Cornwell's solo career, 1985–2026.1,596 entries across 38 years, compiled from web research, bootleg trade lists, and the themeninblack forums.

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  1. 19855 entriesAlongside The Stranglers, Hugh pursued several solo projects during 1985: the single “One In A Million,” acting and soundtrack work for Bertrand Fèvre's French short film *L'étoile de sang* (called *Bleeding Star* in the contemporary British article), and stage acting at London's Almeida Theatre. A September *Record Mirror* interview documented these projects while Hugh was preparing to begin recording The Stranglers' next album.Photo montage from 1985
  2. 19884 entriesWhile still a member of The Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell released the solo album *Wolf* in June, preceded by “Another Kind of Love” in April and followed by “Dreaming Again” in July. “Another Kind of Love” also led to an unusually ambitious collaboration with Czech surrealist filmmaker and animator Jan Švankmajer. The production took about six months and required repeated short visits to Prague; the resulting four-minute film was Švankmajer's only music video for a rock song.Photo montage from 1988
  3. 19916 entriesHugh Cornwell's first full year after leaving The Stranglers, spent largely working with Roger Cook and Andy West on what became the CCW project. The CCW album was recorded in December 1991 at Kohsan Studios in Bath, and included ten tracks co-produced by Neil Davidge. Only a handful of shows are documented online for this year — likely an incomplete list rather than his full 1991 schedule.Photo montage from 1991
  4. 199215 entriesThe year the CCW album (Hugh Cornwell with Roger Cook and Andy West, on UFO Records) was released. Dates here are as CCW to promote the album. For live shows the core trio was backed by additional musicians to form a 7-piece band, with support from warm-up act The Deep Six. Work begins on "Wired" in early 1992 with Art Of Noise producer Gary Langan after Hugh sifts through around 50 home demos before settling on a shortlist of songs for the album.Photo montage from 1992
  5. 199323 entriesThe year of Hugh Cornwell's second solo album *Wired* (released 21 June 1993, produced by Gary Langan). A London launch show followed the release, then a UK tour in November–December.Photo montage from 1993
  6. 199414 entriesA quieter year between studio albums (following 1993's *Wired*, ahead of what became *Guilty* in 1997) — a short French leg in March and a run of small UK club dates in October.
  7. 199528 entriesAnother year between studio albums, mixing small club shows with a run of HMV in-store appearances in late August (Leeds, Derby, London, Manchester) — likely tied to that year's Griffin Records reissue of *Wired*.Photo montage from 1995
  8. 199618 entriesThe year Hugh Cornwell recorded what became the *Guilty* album (released 1997). Only a handful of shows are documented for this year.Photo montage from 1996
  9. 199712 entriesA quiet year on the road around the release of the third solo album, *Guilty* (27 May 1997 on Madfish): a London club date in June, a Dingwalls show in August, two promotional dates in Greece in October, and a private party in November. From the end of September, Hugh slimmed the live band down to a four-piece—two guitars, bass and drums—for his first performances without keyboards, producing a more psychedelic live sound. Hugh's version of the Stephen Stills song For What It's Worth was released on 24 November as part of the three-CD charity collection *Peace On Earth*, alongside artists including Mary Black, Carter USM and Billy Bragg. Released on Dressed For Peace and distributed by Pinnacle, the collection was delayed from its planned Remembrance Day release by legal issues and was originally titled *Poppies*. David Buckley's authorised and uncensored Stranglers biography *No Mercy* appeared in hardback and paperback that autumn. A website release of Hugh's unreleased 36-minute soundtrack to the 1985 French short film *L'étoile de sang* was also being considered but had not been confirmed. The ambient soundtrack featured Alex Gifford and Dagmar Krause and comprised Whales; Whaling On The Beach; English Walk; Out Come The Tears (instrumental); Siren At The Abyss; Encounters; and Out Come The Tears (vocal by Krause).Photo montage from 1997
  10. 199819 entriesThe "Heads and Tails" tour was a joint-headline UK and Ireland run with Spear of Destiny, running 20 April to 3 May, and introduced a new Hugh Cornwell Band line-up: Hugh and Mike Polson were joined by bassist Michelle Marti and drummer Justin Chapman. *Nosferatu* was remastered and reissued by Eastworld Recordings on 27 April (EWO001CD), with the instrumental version of Losers In A Lost Land and new artwork by Hugh. The 1 May Manchester show was recorded and later released as *Mayday* (1999). In February, Hugh contributed commentary to the *Evening Standard* on *Destroy: Punk Graphic Design in Britain*, reflecting on punk artwork and Kevin Sparrow's role in The Stranglers' early visual identity. On 16 November, Booth-Clibborn Editions and Candy Records published the 18-track CD-and-112-page-book collection *We Love You*, pairing musicians and visual artists. It featured Hugh's music for Mantra Of The Awoken Powers, a Sex W. Johnson poem narrated by sculptor Barry Flanagan over the telephone from New York; other contributors included Brian Eno, Derrick May, Boy George, Pet Shop Boys, Arthur Baker, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, and Gilbert & George. Further live dates followed into December.Photo montage from 1998
  11. 199938 entriesHugh's album *Black Hair Black Eyes Black Suit* was released in the US by Velvel Records on 23 February (catalogue P321 79766). The US edition of the European album *Guilty* had a new cover and added Jesus Will Weep and Not Hungry Enough, while omitting Five Miles High. The live album *Mayday* was also released this year (recorded at the 1 May 1998 Manchester show). Hugh spent much of the year playing plugged-and-unplugged solo shows, including his first US appearances as a solo artist. In November he returned to the US East Coast for roughly 25 acoustic shows tied to Velvel's American reworking of *Wired* as *First Bus To Babylon*. Its packaging was changed because the original UK artwork could not be located; Make It With You was dropped, while Hugh's previously unreleased version of Jimi Hendrix's Stone Free and the first release of the 12-inch mix of My Kind Of Loving were added. US releases of *Nosferatu* and *Wolf* were under negotiation but not confirmed. Other dates included UK club shows and a Norwegian festival appearance.Photo montage from 1999
  12. 200048 entriesThe year opened with a March–April UK tour by Hugh Cornwell & Sumyunguise, Hugh's return to full-band touring after spending much of 1999 playing solo. The shows mixed material from *Guilty*, *Wired*, *Wolf* and The Stranglers with new *Hi Fi* songs, an acoustic middle section, and closing instrumentals Mothra and Summer Samba before Hanging Around. Cherry Red's March compilation *Miniatures 2* (CDBRED 165) included 2000 Lights, a sub-one-minute Hugh Cornwell track written and performed in 1994. All 60 tracks on the album were under one minute; other contributors included Gavin Bryars, David Cunningham, Robert Fripp, Howard Jones, John Paul Jones, The Levellers, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Sun Ra and Terry Riley. Hugh recorded *Hi Fi* with producer Laurie Latham, drummer Justin Chapman, bassist Michelle Marti and assistance from Mike Polson; the album was released on 2 October by Koch Entertainment. The Hi Fi dates comprised an extensive UK club tour through October–November, followed by three Dutch dates. For this tour Sumyunguise featured Mike Polson on guitar, John Miller on drums and Midus on bass; each show paired a solo acoustic Hugh set with a full-band set.Photo montage from 2000
  13. 200132 entriesA quieter touring year, mixing regular club shows with bookshop appearances promoting *The Stranglers: Song by Song* (Hugh Cornwell and Jim Drury, Sanctuary Publishing, 2001) — his book responding to David Buckley's Stranglers biography *No Mercy* (1997).Photo montage from 2001
  14. 200228 entriesThe year of *Footprints in the Desert* (April 2002), a Track Records compilation distributed by Plastichead that Hugh regarded as his “lost album”, collecting writing and recording from the period after leaving The Stranglers in 1990 and before *Guilty* in 1996. A handful of dates scattered across the year, from a February bookshop appearance to a December Guildford show.Photo montage from 2002
  15. 200351 entriesThe year of the *In the Dock* album. A handful of UK dates plus a US festival appearance at CBGB, New York, as part of the Vive Le Punk Festival 2003. In November, Hugh toured as Hugh Cornwell's 3 Piece Sweet with Windsor McGilvray and Steve Lawrence.
  16. 200439 entriesThe year of *Beyond Elysian Fields* (produced by Tony Visconti and Danny Kadar, released 4 October 2004 in the UK; worldwide release followed in 2005). UK club dates through the summer and autumn, picking up around the album's release.
  17. 200589 entriesThe worldwide release year of *Beyond Elysian Fields*, and of the *A Multitude of Sins* autobiography. A long UK "Electric" club tour ran February–April, ending with a three-night stand at Islington Academy (a different set each night), followed later in the year by a run of larger UK venues in November (Royal Albert Hall, Cardiff), then a full December run as support on Blondie's UK/Ireland arena tour, from Blackpool through to Belfast.Photo montage from 2005
  18. 200683 entriesThe year of the *People, Places, Pieces* 3CD box set and *Dirty Dozen* compilation. A globe-spanning but sparse schedule: Australia, Canada, and a UK/Germany autumn run.Photo montage from 2006
  19. 200742 entriesA SXSW appearance in Austin, European festival dates, and a September UK club run. The announced July US West Coast dates were postponed, with the revised tour due to begin on 26 September. Robert Williams was confirmed on drums for the US dates and UK electric shows, with Caroline "Caz" Campbell on bass for the US dates. The limited-edition tour-only CD *Beyond Acoustic Fields* (HISCD005) presented nine *Beyond Elysian Fields* songs as acoustic guitar-and-vocal performances originally recorded by Tony Visconti at Looking Glass Studios, New York, to demonstrate the material before the full-band album sessions: Cadiz, Beauty on the Beach, The Land of a Thousand Kisses, 24/7, Henry Moore, The Story of Harry Power, Picked up by the Wind, Do Right Bayou and Under Her Spell.
  20. 200872 entriesA US and Canadian full-band run supporting From the Jam in early winter, followed by a UK spring leg. In June, Hugh released the *Hooverdam* album (recorded at Toe Rag Studios with producer Liam Watson) as a free download — following Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails' lead. Festival appearances at The Wickerman Festival and Rox Festival followed in July and August, and an October trip to Tennessee for "The JD Set" — a Channel 4 concert film shot at the Jack Daniel's distillery.Photo montage from 2008
  21. 200977 entriesA busy year in the *Hooverdam* cycle. The autumn shows presented *Hooverdam* in full followed by The Stranglers' *Rattus Norvegicus IV* in full—the first announced complete performance of that album by Hugh and the band: a UK spring leg, a Glastonbury Festival slot in June, a US East Coast run in September, European dates in October, and a full UK autumn tour in November.
  22. 201046 entriesThe year of *New Songs for King Kong*, issued as a double-CD digipack and deluxe double vinyl after being recorded during the November 2009 Hooverdam/Rattus tour. The early North American run featured Caroline Campbell on bass and Chris Bell on drums in support of *Hooverdam*, produced by Liam Watson. Sets mixed the album with Stranglers material including No More Heroes, Peaches, (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), Walk On By, Duchess, Nice 'n' Sleazy, Always the Sun and Golden Brown. The May Hooverdam/Rattus shows paired material from the two albums. A widely-scattered schedule: US Midwest, UK, Brazil, US West Coast, US East Coast, then a European December run.
  23. 201195 entriesThe biggest touring year found so far: a full-band US/Canada West Coast and Midwest run in March, opening with Hugh's solo material and Stranglers hits before *Rattus Norvegicus IV* was performed in full; a full UK leg followed in April, an Australian tour in late April–May, festival dates in summer, a German run in September–October, and further US/UK dates through the rest of the year. The April UK shows featured *Guilty* in full, six extended Stranglers songs and five fan-selected encores, with The Brothers of Brazil as special guests. Twenty VIP places per show included 16:30 soundcheck access and *You're Covered* — an exclusive album limited to 250 signed copies; general doors were advertised for 19:00 and the show for 20:00. The Dark Shadows supported Hugh on the subsequent Australian full-band tour, which opened with solo classics and Stranglers hits before *Rattus Norvegicus IV* was performed in full.Photo montage from 2011
  24. 201291 entriesThe year of *Totem and Taboo*, released in the UK by Cadiz Music on 10 September after being recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago and engineered and mixed by Steve Albini. It opened with an eight-date solo-acoustic UK tour offering six PledgeMusic VIP places per show, followed by a North American run, a European tour in spring and a full UK autumn tour around the album's release. The autumn concerts presented *Totem and Taboo* in the first set and *No More Heroes* in full—with keyboards added to the lineup—in the second.Photo montage from 2012
  25. 201360 entriesContinued touring behind *Totem and Taboo*, plus a *Hi Fi* reissue this year, and the most travelled year of the solo career to that point. UK festival dates through summer, a US west coast tour into Canada in October, a Netherlands date in November, the nine-date "Hugh Cornwell Plays Acoustic" UK tour, then a US/Canada east coast run through December. The two American tours were full-band throughout bar one solo acoustic show apiece — Eugene in October and a record-store appearance in Bordentown in December. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2013
  26. 201455 entriesUK festival dates through summer, two Netherlands shows in October, then a full UK winter tour through November–December, closing with a German date.Photo montage from 2014
  27. 201592 entriesThe busiest year found so far by date count: a Japanese leg in May, UK festivals through spring/summer, a North American run in June, more UK festivals in July–August, a German date in September, and a full UK autumn tour through November–December. *The Fall and Rise of Hugh Cornwell*, a career-spanning compilation, was released this year.Photo montage from 2015
  28. 201635 entriesThe year of *This Time It's Personal*, a collaboration with punk poet John Cooper Clarke, capped by a full-band UK tour together in November–December performing the whole album plus classics from both careers.Photo montage from 2016
  29. 201743 entriesA UK-only year: two summer festival dates followed by a UK club tour in October–November. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2017
  30. 201841 entriesA spring UK run as special guest of Wilko Johnson, summer festivals, a one-off in Dubai, then the extensive UK/Ireland "Monster Tour" in the autumn, supporting the *Monster* album (his ninth, released via a solo deal with Sony) and its acoustic companion disc *Restoration*. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2018
  31. 201936 entriesContinued *Monster Tour* dates, including a first documented run through New Zealand (three shows) and Australia (six) in May, European dates in autumn, and a full UK November–December tour of 15 full-band shows. That UK run had no support act, with Hugh playing two sets a night, and each show offered a limited number of VIP tickets giving soundcheck access to hear the band rehearse a song or two kept out of the set, a meet and greet, and an exclusive t-shirt presented by Hugh — VIP tickets did not include admission to the main show. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2019
  32. 202023 entriesOnly two dates are confirmed as having gone ahead, both before the COVID-19 pandemic halted touring worldwide in March 2020 — consistent with the wider live music industry that year. A May/June tour of fifteen shows had been announced and was on sale: Hugh and band as special guests of The Undertones, interleaved with his own headline shows and festival appearances, plus a further festival date in August. The headline shows were to be two sets with no support act, and offered VIP tickets giving soundcheck access to hear the band rehearse a song or two kept out of the set, a meet and greet, and a Monster-branded black mug presented by Hugh — VIP tickets did not include admission to the main show. None of those dates went ahead. The whole May/June run was pushed into March/April 2021 (see the 2021 page for the rescheduled dates), and the Stone Valley South festival appearance moved from 22 May to 29 Aug 2020. Both August festival dates remained on the live dates page after the reschedule; neither is recorded here as having taken place, and given the UK's autumn 2020 restrictions they were near-certainly cancelled too, though the archived announcements supplied do not confirm the outcome. The originally scheduled dates are kept below with their rescheduled dates noted.Photo montage from 2020
  33. 202119 entriesLive touring resumed slowly as COVID-19 restrictions eased — just two UK festival dates are confirmed for the year, both in the second half. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording exists The March/April dates listed below are the 2020 Undertones support tour and headline shows as rescheduled on the official live dates page. England was in its third national lockdown until late March 2021, with indoor concerts not permitted until 17 May and unrestricted only from 19 July, so these dates fell inside the closure and none went ahead: the whole run was postponed a second time into March/April 2022 (see the 2022 page). They are kept for the record, each annotated with where it moved to.
  34. 202268 entriesA packed year around the *Moments of Madness* album (released 21 October 2022, self-produced with all instruments recorded by Cornwell himself). A full UK spring tour — the twice-postponed 2020 run, alternating Undertones support slots with Hugh's own headline shows — then a solo acoustic leg in Ireland, summer festival dates, and an extensive UK autumn/winter tour either side of the album's release. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2022
  35. 202321 entriesA European tour in spring, running six weeks across Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, England, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, and billed together with the November–December 2022 UK dates as a single 2022/23 itinerary behind *Moments of Madness*. The Irish leg was a solo acoustic run, postponed a full year from April 2022; the five Scandinavian dates in late April were played as special guest of The Undertones. A one-off show in Tel Aviv in October closed the year.Photo montage from 2023
  36. 202442 entriesA huge global year: a January UK tour (recorded and later released as the live double album *All the Fun of the Fair*, announced on 4 March for release on 18 October 2024), a Netherlands leg in April, summer festival dates in England and Belgium, an Australia/New Zealand tour in July–August, and a UK/Ireland tour in November–December that carried the "All the Fun of the Fair" tour name into 2025's European leg. 🎙️ marks dates where a recording existsPhoto montage from 2024
  37. 202544 entriesA busy solo year for Hugh Cornwell: the "All the Fun of the Fair" European tour across the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Italy and Spain in April–May, a Glastonbury Festival appearance in June, a spoken-word appearance on animation in October, and the "Come and Get Some" UK tour in November–December performing the *Nosferatu* album in full alongside Stranglers and solo material, with support from The Courettes. Compiled from web research (Bandsintown, official site, press) rather than a single source thread — likely not fully exhaustive; treat as a working list.Photo montage from 2025
  38. 202642 entriesThe current year (in progress as of writing). A French festival date in March, Croatian and Serbian dates in April, two Hong Kong shows in June, a run of summer festivals in Poland, England and Ireland, a five-date "Nosferatu" UK club run in August, a full-band festival date in Poland (Soundedit '26) in October, and the "Never Say Goodbye — Final Solo Acoustic Tour" in November–December — billed as his last solo acoustic shows — closing with a six-date Australian run rescheduled from June. The tour's announced opening night at Epic Studios, Norwich was cancelled in July.Photo montage from 2026