Cabaret Voltaire announce live album ‘But What Time Is It Really?’ and final 2026 tour dates
Cabaret Voltaire (Live photo by Leon Chew)
Sheffield industrial and post-punk pioneers Cabaret Voltaire will release the Cabaret Voltaire live album “But What Time Is It Really?” on 24 April 2026 via Memetune, tying in with the band’s final North American, European and UK tour dates. The album will be available on CD and vinyl through the Cabaret Voltaire online store, Bandcamp and at the 2026 shows, and documents last year’s sold-out UK anniversary tour.
Table of contents
‘But What Time Is It Really?’ live album details
Recorded on the 2025 UK tour marking 50 years since Cabaret Voltaire’s first live appearance at Sheffield Students Union Refectory in May 1975, “But What Time Is It Really?” captures the current stage line-up of Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson joined by Eric Random and Oliver Harrap. Fans travelled from across the world to see new arrangements of key catalogue tracks presented alongside recent material and a new live piece, “Tinsley Viaduct”.
The recordings were engineered and mixed by Benge at Memetune, recorded by Joe Peat, and mastered by James Trevasus. Visual artist Dan Conway created the album artwork together with Paul Burgess, based on Conway’s live visuals from the tour.
Chris Watson says that the record “captures the powerful essence of contemporary live performance and establishes a visceral connection to the history of the band.” Stephen Mallinder describes it as “an opportunity to capture the shows as a unique moment in time” and as a memento that honours the memory of the late Richard H. Kirk while stepping outside strict chronology.
The CD edition of “But What Time Is It Really?” includes 16 tracks recorded on the 2025 UK dates:
CD tracklist – ‘But What Time Is It Really?‘
- 24-24
- Animation
- Why Kill Time (When You Can Kill Yourself)
- Tinsley Viaduct
- The Set-up
- Landslide
- Crackdown
- Spies in the Wires
- Just Fascination
- Taxi Music
- Yashar
- Sex Money Freaks
- Easy Life
- Do Right
- Nag Nag Nag
- Sensoria
The vinyl version condenses the set into 10 tracks across two sides:
Vinyl – Side One
- The Set-up
- Spies in the Wires
- Just Fascination
- Crackdown
- Tinsley Viaduct
Vinyl – Side Two
- Yashar
- Sex Money Freaks
- Easy Life
- Do Right
- Nag Nag Nag
Ahead of the full Cabaret Voltaire live album, the band have released a live version of their 1979 single as a digital track. “Nag Nag Nag (Live 2025 Single Edit)” is streaming now and can be purchased directly via Bandcamp as a high-resolution download.
Cabaret Voltaire final 2026 tour dates
The Cabaret Voltaire live album coincides with the final run of shows announced for 2026, spanning North America, mainland Europe and a closing UK and Ireland tour. The band have confirmed that there will be no new studio recordings under the Cabaret Voltaire name beyond this activity.
On the North American dates, support comes from I Speak Machine, with ISM founder Tara Busch stepping in for Chris Watson on synths and samples. Composer, producer and performance artist Gazelle Twin (Elizabeth Bernholz) will support the autumn UK shows.
The 2026 shows will present material from across the entire catalogue, from early Industrial Records and Rough Trade work through the Doublevision video period to collaborations with producers such as Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson, closing the project’s five-decade arc.
Cabaret Voltaire final tour 2026
UK / Austria
- 21 Feb – Norwich (UK), Synth East Festival – SOLD OUT
- 6 March – Graz (AT), Elevate Festival
North America – West Coast (^ with I Speak Machine)
- 4 May – Seattle, WA (US), Moore Theatre^
- 6 May – Vancouver, BC (CA), Commodore^
- 8 May – Portland, OR (US), Roseland Theater^
- 10 May – Denver, CO (US), Summit^
- 12 May – Los Angeles, CA (US), The Bellwether^
- 15 May – San Francisco, CA (US), The Warfield^
Europe – Spring / Summer
- 29 May – Malmö (SE), Plan B
- 30 May – Stockholm (SE), Slaktkyrkan
- 31 May – Oslo (NO), Søn
- 2 June – Berlin (DE), Betonhalle
- 5 June – Paris (FR), Elysée Montmartre
- 12 June – Brussels (BE), Ancienne Belgique
- 13 June – Amsterdam (NL), Paradiso
- 18 June – Barcelona (ES), Sónar
- 19 June – Lausanne (CH), Docks
- 26 June – Zagreb (HR), Tvornica Kulture
North America – East Coast (^ with I Speak Machine)
- 11 September – Dallas, TX (US), Granada Theater^
- 15 September – Chicago, IL (US), Metro^
- 16 September – Chicago, IL (US), Metro^
- 18 September – Toronto, ON (CA), Phoenix Concert Theatre^
- 19 September – Montreal, QC (CA), SAT^
- 21 September – Boston, MA (US), The Wilbur^
- 25 September – New York, NY (US), Knockdown Center^
- 26 September – Philadelphia, PA (US), Underground Arts^
Ireland / UK – Final Tour (*with Gazelle Twin)
- 7 October – Dublin (IE), The Academy
- 8 October – Belfast (UK), Limelight
- 10 October – Birmingham (UK), Town Hall*
- 11 October – Liverpool (UK), Arts Club*
- 13 October – Nottingham (UK), Rock City*
- 14 October – Cardiff (UK), The Globe*
- 15 October – Bath (UK), Forum*
- 17 October – Newcastle (UK), Boiler Shop*
- 18 October – Glasgow (UK), Barrowland*
- 19 October – Manchester (UK), Albert Hall*
- 21 October – Bexhill (UK), De La Warr Pavilion*
- 22 October – London (UK), Roundhouse*
- 25 October – Sheffield (UK), Octagon*
About Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire formed in Sheffield, England, in 1973 when tape-experimenter Chris Watson joined forces with multi-instrumentalist Richard H. Kirk and vocalist-bassist Stephen Mallinder. Early performances at Sheffield Students Union in 1975 and guerrilla appearances around the city mixed home-built electronics, tape loops and distorted visuals.
Through the late 1970s the trio released material on labels such as Industrial, Rough Trade and Factory, including early singles like “Nag Nag Nag” and albums such as “Mix-Up” (1979) and “Red Mecca” (1981), recorded at their Western Works studio, which also hosted sessions for other Sheffield acts including The Human League and Clock DVA.
After Watson’s departure in 1981, Cabaret Voltaire continued as a duo, moving further toward electronics-driven dance music on releases like “The Crackdown” (1983), “Micro-Phonies” (1984), “The Covenant, The Sword And The Arm Of The Lord” (1985) and “Code” (1987). These albums, issued through labels including Some Bizzare/Virgin and Parlophone/EMI, integrated drum machines, sampling and a more club-oriented production. The early 1990s saw further exploration of house and techno with “Groovy, Laidback and Nasty” (1990), followed by “Body and Soul” (1991) and “The Conversation” (1994), after which the group went dormant.
From 2009, Richard H. Kirk revived Cabaret Voltaire as a solo studio project, culminating in the 2020 album “Shadow Of Fear” and the long-form companion works “BN9Drone” and “Dekadrone” on Mute. Kirk died in 2021, closing that chapter of the band.
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