MUSIC: Helmet’s 30th Anniversary Tour to take in Button Factory

SEMINAL New York City rock band Helmet has announced a headline tour of 30 cities across Europe.

Beginning in Prague on September 3, the tour will take the band through 14 different countries including a headline Irish show in the Button Factory on Monday, October 7.

Helmet is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year and plans to mark the occasion by performing a 30-song set each night. They will be playing songs from across their catalogue of eight critically acclaimed studio albums, as well as rarities from older EPs and singles – with the possibility of a few covers mixed in for good measure. There will be no opening acts on any of the shows. 

Founder and frontman Page Hamilton reflected on the occasion: “The day John, Peter and I auditioned Henry is the day I consider to be the beginning of Helmet. The year was 1989 and I think the month was May. I love playing this music more than ever with my current bandmates, Kyle, Dan and Dave. To celebrate 30 years of recording and touring we decided to play 30 songs a night in 30 cities in Europe and 30 more cities in the USA. We hope to see you all there.” 

Helmet was formed in New York City in 1989 by founding members Page Hamilton, Henry Bogdan, Peter Mengede and John Stanier. The group soon after signed to Ampthetamine Reptile Records and released their first full length Strap It On in 1991. Interscope Records soon came calling and signed the band in 1992. Their label debut Meantime went on to sell over a million copies and earned a Grammy nomination.

The band has released eight albums over the last 30 years and has gone through different personnel before settling on the current line-up of Page Hamilton, Dan Beeman, Dave Case and Kyle Stevenson – which has proven to be the most consistent and longest running iteration of the band. 

The band has also contributed music to a number of films including Johnny Mnemonic, The Crow and Feeling Minnesota. Their most recent album Dead To The World was released in 2016 by German-based label earMusic.  

Helmet are Live at The Button Factory on Monday, October 7.