If British post-rock/glam-wave icon Adam Ant—a perpetual musical gadfly and pop antagonist—had somehow traveled through time and released his defining musical statement Kings of the Wild Frontier in 2005, people would have said he was copying a bit of Bowie and a bit of Animal Collective. But the music would have still sounded immediate. The thing is, of course, that when the album came out in 1980, ahead of its time, there was no Animal Collective (though Bowie was certainly a touchstone to Adam Ant for how strange pop music could be).
Kings of the Wild Frontier, Mr. Ant's sophomore effort with his band The Ants, incorporated elements as disparate as African percussion, glam-rock, disco, cock-rock, surf, and punk. It topped the UK albums chart when it came out, delivered classic singles "Antmusic" and "Dog Eat Dog," and generally set the tone for the arthouse bravado that would permeate the New Wave that Adam Ant helped shape.
Now, after making a return to music-making in 2013 (following an 18 year dearth of new released material), Adam Ant is touring relentlessly and reminding us of the odd and vital music he's made in his career. As a part of his Kings of the Wild Frontier Tour (which marks the 35th Anniversary of the album), he'll be coming to the Majestic next February to perform the album in its entirety. Tickets for that show, which will no doubt go fast, officially go on sale Friday, September 30 at 10:00am.
Adam Ant performing Kings of the Wild Frontier
$20, Wed, Feb 5, 8:00pm, Charline McCombs Empire Theater, 226 N St Mary's St, majesticempire.com
