The Book, The Documentary, The Boxset, The Concerts, THE THE

Like the old adage of waiting forever for a bus before three come along at once, news from Cineola HQ last week involved not one but three significant announcements about The The. Of course, if you are a fan you will already know what these are – more screenings of the Inertia Variations documentary, in London, Manchester, Sheffield and Bristol, the new Trilogy box set (which will be marked with a Classic Album Sundays event) and most surprising and exciting of all news of live dates at the Royal Albert Hall and the Heartland Festival in Denmark. Such was the online clamour for tickets that the Albert Hall gig sold out in seven minutes and an extra London dates were added at the Brixton Academy (also sold out) and Troxy. I can't reveal what I know about the band line-up so far, but trust me, you won't be disappointed.

The Inertia Variations has already been screened in Sweden, Denmark and at the Edinburgh Film Festival, none of which I was able to attend, so I am looking forward to the London screening at the ICA, where Matt and film-maker Johanna St Michaels will be doing a Q&A after the screening. For those who haven't yet seen it, the trailer below should whet your appetite.

THE INERTIA VARIATIONS trailer from THE THE on Vimeo.

Hopefully when these concerts take place the authorised biography will be on the shelves or about to hit the shelves. Progress has been good this year, despite set-backs and recent meetings with Matt have sped things along nicely. The delay in finishing means the above developments will all be covered in the book, though obviously I won’t be able to write about the actual live performances. I am confident however that I will be able to detail how they came to be, and talk to some or all the people who will be performing. Whilst working on the book I have had more than one conversation with Matt about the prospects of playing live and while I always suspected it would happen I must admit I was taken by surprise when I found it out last week. It's great news. He has always been a fan of boxing and right now I get this image of him as a fighter who is in training, getting fit again, ready to step back into the ring. Matt, being the perfectionist he is, has already planned a pretty intense rehearsal schedule so the band will be tight as the proverbial nut by the time next summer rolls around.

As I write this I am conscious that Mister Orange over the pond is giving it the 'big 'un' about bombing North Korea off the map, and though Trump is a bullshitter, the sort of guy who only offers someone out when his mates are holding him back, it seems somewhat fitting that The The are going to be on stage again. 'Armageddon Days' seems a shoo-in for set-opener, don't ya think?