Cabaret Voltaire

Industrial music pioneers from Sheffield close out five decades on their farewell tour

Cabaret Voltaire formed in Sheffield, England in 1973, when school friends Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson began experimenting with tape loops, ring modulators and DIY electronics inspired by Dadaist collage and William Burroughs' cut up technique. Taking their name from the Zurich nightclub that birthed the Dada movement, the trio became foundational figures in industrial music, moving from the abrasive early releases Extended Play (1978) and Mix Up (1979) through The Voice of America (1980) and Red Mecca (1981) into the sample heavy, dancefloor oriented sound of Micro Phonies (1984) and The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord (1985) on labels including Rough Trade, Some Bizzare and Virgin. After Watson left in 1981 to pursue field recording, later becoming a noted BBC natural history sound recordist, Kirk and Mallinder carried the group through a final studio album before disbanding in 1994, and Kirk revived Cabaret Voltaire as a solo project from 2009 until his death in September 2021. Founding members Mallinder and Watson reconvened in 2025 to mark the band's 50th anniversary and are now closing it out with a final world tour backed by a full band, releasing the live album But What Time Is It Really? in April 2026. Few acts did more to bridge industrial noise, EBM and house music, and this farewell run is the last chance to hear the Sheffield originators reckon with their own influence live.