John Cale setlists
Touring in the 10s
Long tours are a thing of the past, safe for the promotion of the Extra Playful EP in 2011 and the Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood album in 2012 and 2013. He focuses on one-off performances.
Excellent Artist in Residence
He is the Excellent Artist in Residence at the MOFO 2010 Festival in Hobart, Australia - January 2010. He plays a few shows and discusses films and the Dyddiau Du/Dark Days project, which has traveled down under with him.
Life Along the Borderline: a tribute to Nico
Cale once again organises Life Along the Borderline: a tribute to Nico in Wroclaw (March 27, 2010), Rome (April 11, 2010) and New York (January 16, 2013).
Performing "Paris 1919"
He performs the Paris 1919 album live in its entirety in London (March 3, 2010), Norwich (May 14, 2010), Paris (September 5, 2010), Bresica (September 11, 2010), Los Angeles (September 30, 2010), Melbourne (October 16, 2010), Barcelona (May 28, 2011), Essen (October 6, 2011), Malmö (November 21, 2011), New York (January 18-19, 2013) and Mesen (December 20, 2014).
Dyddiau Du/Dark Days goes to Essen and Wales
Dyddiau Du/Dark Days travels to Essen, Germany. Shows/screenings were held July 9 and 10, 2010.
The installation goes home for showings at the National Slate Museum in Llanberis, (March 25 - April 3, 2011) and as part of the opening of the extended new art galleries at the National Museum in Cardiff in Wales in the Summer of 2011.
John Cale’s five screen installation Dyddiau Du / Dark Days moves from representing Wales at the 53rd Venice Biennale to its first showing in Wales at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea from 8 October as part of the Swansea Festival of Music and The Arts. This follows a showing in the MONA FOMA festival in Australia early in 2010 and a presentation of a live version at the Theater der Welt Festival in Essen Germany.
Staged in Venice in an evocative old brewery on the island of Giudecca, the installation, titled Dyddiau Du/Dark Days, takes the form of four episodes in film and sound across five screens. It was made in several locations in Wales including the unoccupied former family home in Garnant, Ammanford and with the collaborations of a choir and young orchestral players.
Following its stint at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, Dyddiau Du/Dark Days is displayed during the Summer of 2011 as part of the opening of the extended new art galleries at the National Museum in Cardiff.
Promoting "Extra Playful" and "Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood"
He tours extensively in the Fall of 2011 in France, Switzerland and Scandinavia, promoting the release of the Extra Playful EP, his first new studio album since blackAcetate in 2005.
In the Fall of 2012 and the Winter of 2013 he hits the road again, touring in Europe and the USA, to promote the release of the Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood album. Those dates are his last "proper" tour until 2022.
Performing "Music for a New Society" in Aarhus
Cale performed the Music for a New Society album in full Aarhus Festuge, Aarhus, Denmark - August 29, 2013. The "New Society" part of the show ended with In The Library Of Force, a song that was included on the expanded 1993 CD re-issue of the album. Support acts: Beth Orton, KT Tunstall and Jim White.
He reworks the arangements for the occasion and would later turn out to be the stepping stone for the Music For A New Society + M:FANS album released in 2016.
Deconstructing songs in Raleigh
During a show at Hopscotch Festival @ Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, USA on September 7, 2013 Cale and his band go for radical improvisation, taking familiar songs apart and throwing in off the cuff lyrics. Some of them are barely recognizable for his casual fans. Most of the show is filmed professionaly.
LOOP>>60Hz: Transmissions from The Drone Orchestra in London
John Cale and Liam Young join forces for a new audio-visual collaboration, LOOP>>60Hz : Transmissions from The Drone Orchestra, at the Barbican in London on September 12 and 13, 2014:
Join two fearless innovators as the Barbican Theatre is transformed by a brand new audio-visual collaboration.
Musical pioneer John Cale believes so strongly in the power of sound that he once thought it was possible to alter the weather with musical frequencies. Now, for this world premiere performance, he joins forces with speculative architect and technology storyteller Liam Young to re-imagine another, increasingly pervasive, industrial innovation.
LOOP>>60Hz offers an unprecedented experience as John Cale and his band perform music from across his catalogue, expressly adapted to durational forms, unusual tunings and unorthodox audio delivery. Liam Young’s collection of drones escape their associations with surveillance and the military, becoming instead choreographed, disembodied instruments which take flight in the auditorium to create a profoundly immersive live music performance.
Set to explore and extend the link between art and technology like never before, LOOP>>60Hz will mark the final weekend of Digital Revolution – the Barbican’s immersive exhibition of art, design, film, music and videogames which will take over the Centre from Thursday 3 July.
‘Drone: a bleak tapestry of unholy noises, searing into the listeners ears and – with any luck – transporting them to a place they'll not want to leave for long while’ John Cale
Jamming with Patti Smith in Paris
He shares the bill with Patti Smith for a show the Cartier Foundation in Paris, France on October 23, 2014. She joins him on stage for three songs: People Have The Power, Sister Ray and Pablo Picasso.
Christmas Truce music in Mesen
He performed newly composed music inspired by the Christmas Truce in 1914 during the Great War. The world premiere is at the Concerttent Peace Village in Mesen, Belgium on December 20, 2014. Time Stands Still would be released on the Mercy album (2023). The music of the instrumental Caligula would be used for And Death Shall Have No Dominion, a poem by Dylan Thomas. The second set of the show features Paris 1919 in full.
"Signal To Noise" in Melbourne
Billed as Signal To Noise he performs at the Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic at the Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia, on August 9, 2015. He is joined on stage by Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) and electronic wizard Laurel Halo, plus a horns and strings ensemble.
"e;An artist whose biography incorporates some of the most adventurous, ecstatic and explorative output achieved by a single performer today, do not miss the iconic John Cale's Signal to Noise, a major new work commissioned for Supersense that traces the line of experimentation through his career spanning over five decades.
One of the towering figures of modern music unleashes a new cross-media extravaganza set to spark the fires of the imagination, featuring a stunning line-up of performers including Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard and Michigan electronic innovator Laurel Halo.
This genre-bending audio-visual trip furthers his quest to find new ways to startle and seduce the senses. Bespoke arrangements of both classics and rarely heard songs will be matched by intriguing glimpses into what the future holds for this fearless pioneer.
From co-founding The Velvet Underground to collaborating with the likes of Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Happy Mondays and LCD Soundsystem, John Cale seems to have had a hand in every major moment of musical innovation for half a century."
Re-imagining The Velvet Underground in Paris, Liverpool, New York & Shanghai
On April 3, 2016 all of The Velvet Underground & Nico and the bulk of White Light/White Heat are re-imagined at the Philharmonie de Paris. Besides his core band Cale is joined on stage by Carl Barât and Pete Doherty (The Libertines) on guitar and vocals; Avey Tqare, Geologist and Panda Bear (Animal Collective) on vocals and keyboards; Nick Franglen (Lemon Jelly) on keyboards and samples; Étienne Daho, Mark Lanegan, Saul Williams, Lou Doillon on vocals.
Repeat performances to coincide with the 50th anniversary album take place at Sound City in Liverpool (May 26, 2017), two shows at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York ((November 16 and 17, 2017) and Shanghai (July 11, 2018).
David Bowie tribute in London
He takes part in the BBC Proms concert the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK (July 29, 2016), reimagening the music of David Bowie. He brought his band and wrote the arrangments for his segment. He performs Valentine's Day, Sorrow (w/ Anna Calvi) and Space Oddity (w/ House Gospel Choir). The show is broadcasted live on BBC 4.
John Cale (2018-1964): A Futurespective in London & Paris
He dug deep into his back catalog for two career-spanning shows @ Barbican Hall in London (March 9-10, 2018) with Welsh singer Cate Le Bon, the London Contemporary Orchestra and the Houzse Gospel Choir. The shows are billed as John Cale (2018-1964): A Futurespective.
He reprises the shows in Paris with a 3-night stand at the Philharmonie de Paris (September 23, 24 & 25, 2019). Cate Le Bon joins the band on stage again for all three nights.
Since before his time as the Velvet Underground’s Avant-Gardist-in-residence, Cale has been a totally uncompromising artist, embracing manifold musical approaches across his remarkable career. Tonight, joined by the LCO, he's exploring the enormous scope of his musical output; playing selections from the Velvet Underground, the proto-minimalist songs of The Dream Syndicate – his collaboration with La Monte Young and others – and the richly enigmatic music from his landmark solo albums.
His is a difficult career to summarise succinctly – who else could have collaborated with both Terry Riley and the Happy Mondays? He’s a Classical composer and Pop genius; virtuosic violist and vitriolic Rock’n’Roller; moody Drone artist and pastoral Welsh songwriter.