Mott the Hoople ’74 are disappointed to have to announce the cancellation of their fall 2019 U.S. tour. The group’s singer and guitarist Ian Hunter has recently developed a severe case of tinnitus and has been advised by his doctors to discontinue performing until this condition subsides.
Tickets purchased for the show at the Fox Theater in Oakland on November 3 can be refunded at point of purchase.
$129.50 – Reserved Seating
$89.50 – Reserved Seating
$69.50 – Reserved Seating
$49.50 – Reserved Seating
*plus applicable service fees
For an additional $50.00, you can opt in to upgrade your experience to include access to the exclusive Telegraph Room before, during and after the show! Please note all Telegraph Room upgrades are subject to availability.
Join us at The Den one hour before doors for food & drinks!
All doors & show times subject to change.
Mott the Hoople
“Mott the Who?” … “What the Hoople?” … “Mouser Hoop…” … ah, Mott the Hoople … a band that would sculpt a history as sensational as its moniker. Oozing style, attitude and wild unpredictability, they believed they could … they almost didn’t … but they did!
In the Seventies, there were rock ‘n’ roll bands and there was Mott the Hoople. Adored by a cult following, Mott was different as their focal point, Ian Hunter, oozed image and was a creative force. Hunter combined homage, honesty and killer hooks in many incredible songs, was one of the most inventive and incendiary writers of the Seventies and captured the attention of countless bands and singers.
‘If it hadn’t been for Mott, there would be no us’ … Mick Jones, The Clash
Mott the Hoople recorded four albums at Island Records – Mott the Hoople, Mad Shadows, Wildlife and Brain Capers … the latter a record that would give credence to the “Godfather of Punk” and “Precursors-of-punk” claims subsequently levelled at Ian and the band.
David Bowie, was a secret fan of Mott and an admirer of Hunter’s commanding on-stage persona, and he offered them a classic song … ‘All the Young Dudes’ … which swaggered to No.3 in the UK singles chart and propelled the band towards a mainstream audience. Mott the Hoople was re-born and Hunter felt rejuvenated, writing most of the songs for Mott which is still regarded as a classic album of the Seventies chronicling the trials, tribulations, inspirations and desperation of rock and roll. Sell-out Mott tours were punctuated by a string of successful singles penned by Ian … ‘Honaloochie Boogie’ (No.12), ‘All the Way from Memphis’ (No.10), ‘Roll Away the Stone’ (No.8) and ‘The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ (No.16) … while Hunter blazed across the front pages of the world’s music press.
The band’s popularity was soaring but Verden Allen and Mick Ralphs left for pastures new and were replaced by Morgan Fisher and Luther Grosvenor, who adopted the name Ariel Bender … rock’s greatest alter-ego. Ian composed some fearsome and observant classics for their final studio album, The Hoople, which included the highly-charged ‘Crash Street Kidds’ and the dramatic ‘Marionette’ … Hunter’s “five-minute opera”, described as a nervous breakdown on record, and an influence on Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the David Essex movie Stardust.
In the spring of 1974 Mott the Hoople became the first rock band to sell out a week of Broadway concerts in New York and ‘Led Zep’ attended Mott’s opening night. Luther Grosvenor was wonderfully philosophical reflecting that, “Led Zeppelin had simply come to Broadway to see THE greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world at that time – MOTT THE HOOPLE!”