Spandau Ballet Added to Line Up of Official SXSW Tribute to Lou Reed

Synth-pop and dance music pioneers, SPANDAU BALLET, have been added to line up of the official SXSW Tribute to Lou Reed. The SXSW Tribute to Lou Reed is a multi-artist, official SXSW concert event that will feature a curated roster of talent drawn from official Festival participants and special guests brought in specifically for this presentation. The concert will highlight the diversity of young and legacy talent at SXSW as well as the rich diversity of Lou Reed's highly influential catalogue. The artistic style and high quality production values will be reflective and worthy of Reed's esteemed career, and framed in the uniquely international cross-section of artists that is a hallmark of SXSW. Hosted by Richard Barone and Alejandro Escovedo, the event will be held at the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin on Friday, March 14, 20014 at 8 PM.

Spandau Ballet also premiered the official trailer to their documentary Soul Boys of The Western World on USAToday.com. You can watch the trailer HERE. Soul Boys of the Western World is a voyage through the 80s in the company of Spandau Ballet, one of the decade's most iconic bands. This archive-only documentary film tells the story of a group of working-class London lads who created a global music Empire, but at a price none of them imagined. Using the band's own home movies and showcasing newly discovered material, this film takes us into the heart of the era, and the cultural, political and personal landscape that formed the backdrop to the band's story. It is a film that speaks not only to fans of the band or those who harbor nostalgia for the 1980s, but also to anyone who has ever experienced friendship and loss.

Soul Boys of the Western World will be screened at 2:00pm on Wednesday, March 12th at 2:00pm at the Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave). Later that night Spandau Ballet will also stage their first performance in America in nearly three decades in Austin's legendary Vulcan Gas Company (The Vulcan).

Having emerged from Soho's ultra hip Blitz Club in 1979 during another economic depression, Spandau Ballet formed at school in North London before becoming the hottest unsigned band on the planet and one of the most influential British bands of all time. Spandau went on to sell over 25 million record sales, 6 multi-platinum albums and 23 hit singles, music lovers all over the world will remember Spandau's career highlights which spanned from their pioneering early singles "To Cut A Long Story Short" and "Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)", and the globe trotting smashes "True" and "Gold". From underground, fashion and music obsessed working class Londoners, to global superstars, the band set the pace, the styles and the sound of the 1980s. Their look and style influenced many in the fashion world and beyond. Spandau Ballet are commercially and culturally enormous. Rhino rereleased their 1983 smash album True this week.

photo © 1981 Lynn Goldsmith