British glam rockers Mott The Hoople are coming to America for the first time since their tour in support of 1974’s The Hoople. They’re using the moniker Mott The Hoople ’74 to mark the return of guitarist Ariel Bender, who hasn’t played with the band since 1974. Also returning for the tour is keyboardist Morgan Fisher, who wasn’t a part of Mott The Hoople’s other reunion tours this past decade.
“Both toured extensively with Mott and both were featured heavily of The Hoople album after Mick Ralphs and Verden Allen left the band,” Mott The Hoople frontman Ian Hunter said in a statement last year. “I know many people were disappointed when neither appeared on the 2009 and 2013 get-togethers. Hope this makes up for it!” The eight-city tour begins April 1st at the Miller High Life Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and wraps up on April 10th at the Beacon Theater in New York.
Mott The Hoople are best known in America for their 1972 cover of David Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes,” but they were far more successful in their native England where they scored hits with “Honaloochie Boogie,” “All The Way From Memphis” and “The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Ian Hunter left the group in 1975 and they briefly limped on as Mott before calling it quits in 1980.
The group reunited in 2009 with much of the “All The Young Dudes” lineup still intact, though drummer Dale Griffin was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and was only able to play during the encores. They toured again in 2013, but since then they’ve been faced with a series of tragedies including the death of Griffin in 2016 and the death of bassist Pete Overend Watts in 2017. Guitarist Mick Ralphs is still alive, but in 2016 he suffered a stroke and has been out of commission ever since.
These devastating losses forced Ian Hunter to recruit Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher when he decided to reform Mott The Hoople last year. They’ll be joined for the American tour by James Mastro (guitar, saxophone, mandolin), Steve Holley (drums, backing vocals), Mark Bosch (guitar), Paul Page (bass) and Dennis Dibrizzi (keyboards, backing vocals). If the 2018 shows are any indication, expect to hear all the classics in addition to numerous songs from The Hoople like “Alice” and “Marionette.”
Mott The Hoople Tour Dates
April 1st – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre
April 2nd – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
April 3rd –Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
April 5th – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
April 6th – Cleveland, OH @ Masonic
April 8th – Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
April 9th – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
April 10th – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre