As the 15th anniversary of Black Fingernails, Red Wine, the first chart-topping record Eskimo Joe, draws ever-closer, the WA icons have unveiled a special set of 2022 tour dates alongside the release of their latest single.
Having teased new single ’99 Ways’ with a preview snippet early last week, today brings with it the official release of the group’s “isolation love song”, which frontman Kav Temperley explained was written following a bad fever in the first week of 2020’s isolation period.
“We didn’t know what it was and as I’d just returned from the states, we thought it best to isolate me from the rest of the family,” he explained. “Luckily I had a piano in my room!
“Isolation is something the whole world has had to go through, and it’s been tough but sometimes you can only understand what someone else is going through if you have been through it yourself.”
The new track follows on from the release of June’s ‘Say Something’, which itself was the group’s first single since 2013. However, while it currently remains unclear whether both of these new singles are set to appear on a new record, Eskimo Joe will be taking a look back at their old albums before thinking ahead.
The group have also shared details for a 2022 retrospective tour which will see them playing their classic albums A Song Is a City and Black Fingernails, Red Wine back-to-back across the country.
Releasing the former in May of 2004, A Song Is a City served as the commercial breakthrough for Eskimo Joe, hitting #2 on the ARIA charts and spawning singles such as ‘Older Than You’ and the beloved ‘From the Sea’.
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Two years later, the group returned with Black Fingernails, Red Wine, which gave them their first chart-topping record, and spawned numerous singles, including ‘Sarah’, ‘New York’, and the now-iconic title track. In 2018, the group played the album in full during a one-off hometown show, but plans for it to be performed further afield seemed unlikely at the time.
With widespread touring put on ice due to a global pandemic, the group are now looking ahead to March and April of 2022 as the chance to properly give these iconic records the live anniversary that they deserve.
“We are super excited to announce that we’ll be hitting the road in 2022 and playing our albums A Song Is a City and Black Fingernails, Red Wine in full, back-to-back,” Eskimo Joe said in a statement. “We’ve had this planned for quite some time but were unable to go ahead due to Covid outbreaks and restrictions.
“So, in the interest of wanting to give our fans something to look forward to after this crazy year we’ve just had, we’re announcing our 2022 tour now. This gives us a chance to plan a really spectacular show!
“Some of these songs have never been played live before, but every song on each of these albums means so much to us and signifies such an important time in our lives and our career as a band,” they concluded. “We can’t wait to relive them all with you.”
Kicking off in March of 2022 with a hometown show at the Fremantle Arts Centre in Perth, the group will travel around the country with headline dates in Adelaide, Hobart, Melbourne, Thirroul, and Sydney, before wrapping things up in Brisbane on April 8th. Tickets to all shows are on sale from 1pm local time, Friday, February 19th, while a Frontier Touring members pre-sale runs 24 hours from 1pm AEDT, Tuesday, February 16th.
Eskimo Joe’s ’99 Ways’ is out now, with details regarding their upcoming ‘Black Fingernails Red Wine in The City’ tour available below.
Check out ’99 Ways’ by Eskimo Joe:
Eskimo Joe ‘Black Fingernails Red Wine in The City’ Tour
Saturday, March 5th, 2022
Fremantle Arts Centre, South Lawn, Perth, WA (18+)
Tickets: Oztix
Saturday, March 12th, 2022
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA (18+)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Saturday, March 19th, 2022
Odeon Theatre, Hobart, TAS (18+)
Tickets: Oztix
Friday, March 25th, 2022
Forum Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC (18+)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Thursday, March 31st, 2022
Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul, NSW (18+)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Friday, April 1st, 2022
Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW (All Ages)
Tickets: Ticketek
Friday, April 8th, 2022
The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD (18+)
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Frontier members pre-sale runs 24 hours from 1pm AEDT, Tuesday, February 16th
General public on sale from 1pm local time, Friday, February 19th
