An Audience with Rusty Egan

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Last Show: Wednesday 30 th November 2022

PizzaExpress Live (Holborn)

Rusty Egan is one of the most colourful characters to have emerged from the late 1970s New Wave and 1980’s New Romantic movements - and he is still going strong today. The son of musical parents who ran an Irish showband, as a teenager Rusty chose to become a drummer. Soon afterwards he joined former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock in the Rich Kids, fronted by Midge Ure.

This led to numerous pioneering projects ranging from introducing young Britain to electronic music to playing a key role in the nightlife of successive generations of fashionable youth.

As a founder and DJ at the Blitz club in 1979 Egan found himself at the epicentre of what soon became known as the New Romantic movement. Combining cutting edge synth music with art school fashion and style, the Blitz championed acts like Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra as well as such icons as David Bowie, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry. Before long Rusty put together his own band, Visage, centred around his night-clubbing partner Steve Strange and Midge Ure

As the Blitz club grew in popularity, Egan began to be recognised as a central figure in London's nightlife. In 1982, he and Strange opened up the Camden Palace nightclub in London, where he continued to spread and influence the development of electronica in the UK. At the same time, he moved into the realms of the music industry by making the music instead of playing it, through his record label and publishing company Metropolis, which signed Soft Cell and Space, and Soho’s famous Trident Studios where Rusty re-mixed Madonna’s first record “Everybody”.

Further highlights of Rusty’s  amazing career include DJ-ing at the Isle of Wight festival in 2008. The following year Rusty won a lifetime achievement trophy at the London Club and Bar Awards. More recently, he released his first solo album, “Welcome To The Dancefloor” featuring guest appearances from Midge Ure, Tony Hadley  and Peter Hook. In March 2021 Rusty was featured in a Sky Arts documentary about The Blitz and in August 2021 Rusty and his band “Rusty Egan Presents” headlined W-Fest in Ostend, playing both the Visage albums live.

2022 will see the band releasing a new album and touring the UK and Europe and celebrating 40 years of Visage music.

Rusty will be talking about music new and old and DJ ing some of his old songs and some new releases.