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Mike Peters fronts The Alarm at the State Theatre on Aug. 25, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Guitar-wielding swashbuckler Mike Peters and his rockstar crew highjacked the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia, recently on the strength of sheer charisma. Mike, a seasoned showman, wailed and strummed his way through a dramatic set celebrating the summer release of a new album, Sigma, and all of the Celtic power of the post-punk band’s famous numbers.
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Jan. 8, 2019. (Photo by Ben Eisendrath/Instagram+Twitter: Insomnigraphic/GrillworksBen)
A group of seasoned musicians threw a spirited celebration of Elvis Presley on The King’s birthday at Pearl Street Warehouse. Ben Eisendrath got rockin’ pictures of Vanilla Fudge, Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult, and Mike Peters of The Alarm!
Mike Peters fronts The Alarm at City Winery DC on Aug. 8. 2018. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
The National Health Service of the United Kingdom turned 70 years old in July, and Wales called upon native son Mike Peters of The Alarm to perform in a concert to honor the anniversary.
Seated directly in front of Mike in a special chair for the occasion was none other than Charles, Prince of Wales, the singer recalled in a story at City Winery in DC on Wednesday.
The Alarm (Photo courtesy Chart Room Media)
The Alarm released Equals, their most recent studio album, through The Twenty First Century Recording Company on June 29. Frontman Mike Peters and the band are on their most extensive North American Tour in some time, and they visit City Winery in DC on Wednesday, Aug. 8!
The Alarm perform at VANS Warped Tour at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland on July, 16, 2017. (Photo by Paivi.)
Perhaps the most unusual booking on this year’s VANS Warped Tour was the legendary British rock band The Alarm, led by the affable Mike Peters. The traveling music festival hit Merriweather Post Pavilion last month on July 16, and Paivi made it a point to catch the new wave turned folk rock outfit.
Mike Peters performs in Bristol, England, in February 2015. (Photo by the Mike Peters Organization)
The congenial Mike Peters, lead singer of The Alarm, welcomed his audience to the Hamilton Tuesday night with a round of handshakes from the stage.
The Welshman explained that he likes the personal touch of the audience, and that as a younger man, he always preferred touring before stage security barriers became a common occurrence in the mid-1980s. When security barriers started popping up regularly and creating a four-foot gap between himself and the audience, Mike began setting boards across the gap between stage and barrier so that he could at least temporarily transverse it and greet the audience at the start of the show.
Unfortunately, his ingenuity worked against him at a sold-out gig at the Hammersmith in London in 1985, when a health and safety inspector forced the removal of Mike’s temporary bridge immediately before a show began.
“Everybody knew the boards were gone except me!” Mike told the crowd at the Hamilton.
Mike Peters on the Strength Tour 2015 in Winchester at The Railway. (Photo courtesy Mike Peters Organization)
Mike Peters of The Alarm spent much of 2014 celebrating the 30th anniversary of his band’s first full-length album, Declaration. In doing so, he made a solo visit to Gypsy Sally’s in Georgetown.
“All in all, Peters put on an incredibly satisfying and entertaining show in a venue well suited for his solo performance and witty recollections,” I reported for the sadly defunct We Love DC on the show, held August 7, 2014.
A little over a year later, Mike is back, celebrating another anniversary! This time around, it’s the 30th anniversary of The Alarm’s second full-length album, Strength. And the celebration takes place locally in a solo show at the Hamilton Live on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
As a “one-man band,” Mike will play the album Strength along with other songs while sharing stories and images to honor the album, his band and their history. The album includes such beloved classics from The Alarm as “Spirit of ‘76” and “Walk Forever by My Side.” The album and much of its material is inspired by Mike’s own fight against cancer.
Watch a somewhat recent acoustic performance of the “Spirit of ‘76” in a video for the song on YouTube:
Mike continues his own cancer fight, but he also fights to help others. Over the last four years, Mike’s Love Hope Strength Foundation:
Mike Peters
The Hamilton Live
Tuesday, Sept. 8
Doors @6:30pm
$15-23
All ages
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