The Feast of Wire 20th Anniversary Edition is out today! Streaming for the first time ever is the addition of “Live at China Theatre Stockholm” — 10 tracks recorded live in Sweden on the 2004 Feast of Wire European tour.
In early 2003, Calexico released their seminal album “Feast of Wire”, the album that truly marked the duo’s critical and commercial breakthrough. Calexico first released their beloved ‚“Feast of Wire” album 20 years ago and today, to celebrate the anniversary, the band have announced a special deluxe reissue of the record due May 26th via City Slang. ‚”Feast of Wire‘ will be available on CD/LP/DSPs, and for the first time will include the studio recording of Calexico’s iconic version of Love’s “Alone Again Or“, released during the initial Feast campaign but never on vinyl.
Beginning in June, the band will play a series of headline shows across the year performing the landmark “Feast of Wire” in full as well as a slew of beloved songs from the band’s full repertoire. In addition to the headline dates, the band will play a handful of festivals as well across Europe
We recently unearthed a VHS of the original electronic press kit from 2003. It’s been digitized and the full video is streaming now. As we’ve done in our past few newsletters, Joey wanted to share a memory from the time “Feast of Wire” was first released:
Reflecting back on the making of “Feast of Wire‘, Joey says, „I’m reminded of how much time and space we had in the studio to try out all sorts of ideas. Most of the recordings started like they often do with John on drums and myself on guitar. And as we brought in the other band members it was like a river was flooding through our subconsciousness and we couldn’t get the ideas to analog tape fast enough.“
We played Austin SXSW quite a few times over the years. I’ll never forget seeing Johnny Cash walk out of Emo’s onto the street in 1994. His presence was massive. The true definition of larger than life. I wanted to say hello but it wasn’t the time or place. Fast-forward to September 12th, 2003 and Calexico is setting up for an outdoor concert at the Tucson Museum of Art and we hear the news of Cash passing away. I asked members of Mariachi Luz de Luna who were on the bill with us to join us for a version of “Ring of Fire”. It was an incredible version and reminded me of why I love touring so much. I love those spontaneous songs and collaborations on tour. It’s a big part of why I love traveling and playing music. It opens you up and introduces to so many people and experiences.
The 20th Anniversary Edition of “Feast of Wire” drops this Friday! To celebrate, we’re sharing the 2003 EPK — capturing the genesis of the album, unearthed from an old VHS tape.
City Slang releases a re-mastered deluxe edition of the album including bonus track and a bonus live album.
The Fat Angel Sings 