July 23, 2026

Project Pitchfork mark 35 years with ’35 Years in the Heart of Darkness’ tour

Project Pitchfork celebrate 35 years with the “35 Years in the Heart of Darkness” tour, 11 German dates from October 16 to December 13, 2026.

Project Pitchfork 35 Years in the Heart of Darkness anniversary tour
🇺🇦 Side-Line stands with Ukraine - Show your Support

Project Pitchfork will celebrate 35 years as a band with the “35 Years in the Heart of Darkness” anniversary tour, 11 dates across Germany between October 16 and December 13, 2026. The November 14 concert at Kulttempel in Oberhausen has sold out, with a waiting list available for fans still hoping to attend; several other dates are also seeing strong demand.

Fronted by Peter Spilles, the band will bring their catalogue back to stages across the country, joined throughout the run by fellow German darkwave act Oberer Totpunkt as support. The tour opens at Waschhaus in Potsdam and moves through Dresden, Erfurt, Chemnitz, Munich, Rostock, Langen, Oberhausen, Bielefeld and Hamburg before closing at MusikZentrum in Hanover on December 13.

Tour dates for Project Pitchfork

  • October 16 – Potsdam – Waschhaus
  • October 17 – Dresden – Alter Schlachthof
  • October 23 – Erfurt – Central Club
  • October 24 – Chemnitz – Kulturbahnhof
  • October 31 – Munich – Backstage Werk
  • November 11 – Rostock – M.A.U. Club
  • November 13 – Langen – Neue Stadthalle
  • November 14 – Oberhausen – Kulttempel (Sold Out)
  • November 15 – Bielefeld – LokWerk
  • December 12 – Hamburg – Markthalle
  • December 13 – Hanover – MusikZentrum

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork was formed in Hamburg, Germany, by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber, who met in late 1988 and began working together as Project Pitchfork the following year. The duo picked the name at random from a dictionary. After Spilles had circulated a handful of self-distributed cassettes, the band played its first live show in Hamburg in February 1990 and released the demo “K.N.K.A.” that August. Their debut album, “Dhyani,” followed in May 1991, a release Side-Line covered again in 2026 when Trisol marked its 35th anniversary with a new black 2LP edition.

The band’s second album, “Lam-‘Bras,” arrived in February 1992 and introduced Patricia Nigiani as a backing vocalist, followed six months later by third album “Entities” – reissued as a limited 2LP deluxe edition in an April 2026 Side-Line report. A switch to the Off Beat label produced 1994’s “Io,” which gave the band its first German chart entry and was followed by a lengthy tour. In 1995 Project Pitchfork founded their own label, Candyland Entertainment, releasing “Alpha Omega” the same year and later signing to major-label imprint EastWest for 1998’s “Eon:Eon,” whose singles brought the band television airplay and an Echo Award nomination for the video to “Steelrose.”

Jürgen Jansen joined as a permanent member for 1997’s “¡Chakra:Red!” and remains in the band’s current lineup alongside Spilles. Project Pitchfork continued releasing albums through the 2000s and 2010s, including “Daimonion” (2001), “Kaskade” (2005), “Continuum Ride” (2010) and “Quantum Mechanics” (2011), the latter two also anniversary subjects of earlier Side-Line pieces. By 2011 the band had moved from Candyland to Trisol, the label under which they released “Black” (2013), “Blood” (2014) and “Look Up, I’m Down There” (2016) to mark their 25th anniversary. Co-founder Dirk Scheuber left the band in March 2021. Project Pitchfork’s most recent studio album, “Elysium,” released in 2024 as the closing chapter of a trilogy begun with “Akkretion” (2018), and the band toured Germany and the UK in support of it. The “35 Years in the Heart of Darkness” tour this autumn extends that momentum into a full anniversary run across Germany.

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.

Select a Donation Option (USD)

Enter Donation Amount (USD)