Fresh from the success of his recently released ‘I Live Too Fast Too Die Young’ album, which received some of the best reviews of his career, Michael Monroe will be joining Black Star Riders on their 2023 UK tour along with Motörhead’s Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. The tour will kick off on February 13th at Nottingham’s Rock City and conclude at London’s 02 Shepherds Bush Empire on February 26th. In the meantime, Michael has released a cool new video for ‘Derelict Palace’ a standout track from the record. More about the video and those tour dates follow:
On All Hallows’ Eve Michael Monroe releases the video for the majestically dark single, 'Derelict Palace', taken from the album, I Live Too Fast To Die Young, out now via Silver Lining Music.
"'Derelict Palace' is about watching someone that you care about disappear into drug addiction’ guitarist Rich Jones explains. Musically, the track takes on a melodic sombre tone. “I had been listening to a lot of post-punk when I wrote it - Echo & The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, The Church - and I wanted to see if we could push the band in that kind of musical direction” adds Jones.
The single is aptly accompanied with an eerie yet mesmerising video showing the band performing in a desolate, gothic, manor house, including scenes of Monroe flicking a switchblade knife gifted to him recently in Milan by none other than Alice Cooper himself.
Michael Monroe adds, “The song was written about people who get a little too into drugs and before you know it, they kind of disappear from all of the people and things that they used to love. Of course that’s sad but that said, there’s something cool about being an outcast and not fitting in… This is one of my favourite songs off the I Live Too Fast To Die Young album and it adds a nice new dimension to my band’s sound and style. Plus, we found the perfect place to film the video for it!”
At a time when it seems increasingly hard to remain positive, I Live Too Fast To Die Young encompasses eleven lean, mean, raw slices of rock ‘n’ roll joy. Even when the key goes minor, Monroe’s music always seems to retain at the very least a hopeful edge, something he ascribes to a specific Finnish quality.
“Finnish people are experts in melancholia,” Monroe affirms, “and a lot of that melancholia - certain chords and sounds, even though they’re minor keys - is not necessarily sad. It’s just kind of a melancholic feeling that feels good in the end.”
2023 UK Tour Dates (with Black Star Riders and Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons):
13 Feb – Nottingham, Rock City
15 Feb – Norwich, UEA
16 Feb – Ipswich, Corn Exchange
17 Feb – Manchester, O2 Ritz
18 Feb – Wolverhampton, KK's Steel Mill
19 Feb – Leeds, O2 Academy
21 Feb – Cardiff, Tramshed
22 Feb – Bristol, O2 Academy
23 Feb – Glasgow, SWG3
24 Feb – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
26 Feb – London, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
