The Magic Gang announce split and farewell shows

The Magic Gang have announced that they are splitting up and will be performing a trio of celebratory farewell shows this May.

• READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with The Magic Gang

After more than a decade together, the Brighton-formed band – Jack Kaye, Kris Smith, Gus Taylor and Paeris Giles – have “decided to call time” on the group to “spend some time exploring their own creative pursuits”.

“It’s clear to see how incredible the journey has been,” the group said in a press statement.

They’ll perform three shows across May in Glasgow (21), Manchester (22) and London (23) to celebrate their time together and bid farewell to the band. Tickets go on sale Friday (January 26) at 9am GMT from here. An O2 pre-sale for the London date at Electric Ballroom also goes live Wednesday (January 24) at 9am GMT.

“This band started in 2013 in a bedroom in Kris’ parents house. I remember it was a sweltering hot day and me, Kris and Paeris were arguing over band names,” Kaye began of the band’s time together in a statement. “Kris wanted to start a band with around ten members, playing an array of percussive instruments and acoustic guitars. With this in mind, we settled on The Magic Gang and Paeris wrote it on the front of a kick drum to make it official.”

“We recorded our first song ‘Bruises’ in our shared house in Brighton. Gus happened to be home at the time and was drafted in to play bass. There was something truly magical about that recording; a lightning-in-a-bottle moment you take for granted when you first start a band.”

He continued: “A decade on (and some time after our most recent gig), it’s clear to see how incredible the journey has been. We’ve travelled the world and have had the opportunity to share our music with anyone who cared to listen (and some who didn’t). We dedicated everything to the band and I’m so glad we did, because we got the world in return.

“For now, we’ve decided to call time on The Magic Gang. This band has always been a sum of its parts – four songwriters working in collaboration and doing our best to honour each other’s ideas. The most natural thing now is for everyone in the band to spend some time exploring their own creative pursuits.”

Kaye concluded by assuring fans that they’ll be “hearing a lot more from all of us”, but for now The Magic Gang would like to “thank everyone who’s supported us over the years by playing a handful of extended shows”.

He said the band would be playing a lot of songs they haven’t performed in years, covering everything from ‘Bruises’ up to now.

The Magic Gang released their self-titled debut album in 2018, followed by their Northern Soul-influenced second record, ‘Death Of The Party’, in 2020.

NME described the latter as “timeless and genre-blurring”, adding: “This is an album that, despite its recognition of the downside of things, ends up as a more reassuring – and more real – listen than their debut. With its collage of genres and refusal to co-opt modern trends, album two finds the band moving towards something timeless”.