¡Forward, Russia! Map Out First Live Dates Since 2008 With ‘Give Me a Wall’ Anniversary Tour

Leeds band ¡Forward, Russia! will play their first live shows in nearly two decades this February. The three-date UK run marks 20 years since their debut album ‘Give Me a Wall’, with the quartet set to perform the 2006 LP in full in Glasgow, London, and Leeds.

The band carved a distinct lane in the mid-00s. Their sound pulled from post-punk urgency, indie angularity, and math rock precision, but what really set them apart was the live energy. Vocalist Tom Woodhead notes that between July 2005 and the end of 2006 they played 268 gigs. That pace left little room to sit with the album they’d made in the middle of it all. “Twenty years later I think we’ve finally gained some perspective,” Woodhead says, describing ‘Give Me a Wall’ as “youthful and uninhibited.” The return is not packaged as a nostalgic victory lap. It carries an edge of directness that feels in line with the band’s early ethos.

Alongside the tour, the group has confirmed a 20th anniversary vinyl pressing of the album and a rarities collection. The dates land at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow on February 6, Oslo in London on February 12, and two nights at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on February 19 and 20.

A less expected thread in the announcement is the band’s public discomfort with their own name. Guitarist Whiskas addresses it plainly: “It was seemingly relatively meaningless 20 years ago, and I worry that someone affected by world events may see our name and be negatively affected by that. We’ve talked about it and aren’t sure how to address it, so for now I just want to mention this discomfort.” It’s a rare moment of a band openly flagging a problem they haven’t solved yet. It reframes the reunion as something more complicated than a simple celebration, and it says something about how the ground can shift under a name you chose when you were young.