Will Clarke is retired from DJing—at least for his upcoming tour.
After 20 years of DJ sets, the veteran house and techno artist will tour a new live performance in support of his forthcoming debut album, Midnight Mass. Announced today, the six-date “Midnight Mass Experience” will see Clarke perform his own music with synthesizers and sequencers—as opposed to decks and a mixer—in front of a live audience for the first time.
The tour kicks off at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre on November 22 and will make its way through San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto, and Chicago before closing at New York City’s Irving Plaza on December 7. Check out the full list of tour dates below.
Clarke caused a stir on social media Sunday when he shared a video announcing his decision “that now is the time for me to hang up my headphones and retire from DJing.”
“I can’t really talk about the reasons why at this moment in time,” he added. “However, I will hopefully shed some light on the situation when I can.”
That announcement has now proved to be a bit of tongue-in-cheek promo fun, with Clarke’s retirement from DJing a mere matter of semantics rather than a withdrawal from music altogether.
“I might have retired from DJing, but we’re going back on tour, and I’m going live,” Clarke said in a video tour announcement posted to Instagram today. “Sorry again everyone, I had to troll you all as this is the biggest change in my career ever,” he wrote alongside the video.
Coinciding with the performance change, in a press release, Clarke said his upcoming LP debut “goes beyond just being suitable for a DJ set. I wanted each track to have a strong vocal presence and to work both in a club setting and for casual listening.”
Midnight Mass will arrive on November 8 via Armada Music and spans 13 tracks, including collaborations with vocalists like Hayla, Julia Church, Clementine Douglas, and the renowned House Gospel Choir. Fans can pre-save the album here.
Pre-sale registration for Will Clarke’s “Midnight Mass Experience” is now open here. Pre-sale ticket access will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, August 28 at 10AM local time. General on-sale will follow on Thursday, August 29 at 10AM local time.
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Will Clarke Midnight Mass Experience Dates
November 22 – Los Angeles at Fonda Theatre
November 23 – San Francisco at Public Works
November 29 – Detroit at Magic Stick
November 30 – Toronto at The Opera House
December 6 – Chicago at Concord Music Hall
December 7 – New York City at Irving Plaza
Featured image from Will Clarke. Credit: Gina Joy.
